International train connection
From Berlin to Paris in eight hours – first trip for ICE
So far, Berlin and Paris are only connected by rail with a night train. Now a direct ICE is added. The premiere trip from Berlin Central Station starts with much fanfare.
From Berlin to Paris with the ICE without changing trains: From now on, once a day you can travel from the German capital to the French capital via Frankfurt Süd, Karlsruhe and Strasbourg – and back. The trip is scheduled to take eight hours.
The premiere trip is scheduled to start on Monday at 12.02 at Berlin Central Station – with much fanfare. Among others, railway boss Richard Lutz, Transport Minister Volker Wissing and the French ambassador to Germany, François Delattre, want to say goodbye to the ICE. Arrive in Paris Est at 7:55 p.m.
There is also a large train station for the new train in Paris, where the ICE also starts in the opposite direction to Berlin for the first time. At the Paris East Station, SNCF boss Jean-Pierre Farandou and Transport Minister François Durovray send the train on its way.
From the end of December, the ICE 3, operated in cooperation with the DB and the French railway SNCF Voyageurs, will start at Berlin’s Ostbahnhof and make intermediate stops at the main station and in Spandau.
In France, the ICE is supposed to travel at speeds of up to 320 km/h
In the opposite direction it starts at 9.55 a.m. Arrival at the main station is scheduled for 5:56 p.m. every day.
The ICE 3 offers 444 seats and reaches a top speed of 320 km/h in France.
According to Deutsche Bahn, the new offer has been well received by passengers. This is proven by the booking figures so far. The premiere trip was also very well utilized.
So far there are only night trains operated by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) as a direct connection between Berlin and Paris. The connection was launched in December 2023 and lasts around 14 hours.
dpa
Source: Stern
