Chancellor Angela Merkel, Federal Minister Christian Schmidt, Richard Lutz, CEO of Deutsche Bahn and other officials inaugurated Germany’s most modern railway line between Berlin and Munich.
The 500-kilometre long high-speed line will be operated by 35 ICE Sprinter trains daily, covering the distance in less than four hours. Passengers travelling on Berlin-Munich HSR will save up to two hours.
“High-performance infrastructure in all parts of Germany is an essential requirement for the unity of our country. A major and final step has now been accomplished in rail transport. That is also the reason why the Federal Government provided funding of around 10 billion euros for the project,” Federal Minister Christian Schmidt said.
The inauguration of the Berlin–Munich line ties in with the largest change of timetable since Deutsche Bahn was founded and is accompanies by numerous improvements to services. “This is a historic day: this superlative railway line has helped Germany to grow closer together. In future, Berlin and Munich will be linked in the record travel time of less than four hours, from city centre to city centre. This service is sure to encourage more people than ever before to travel by rail,” Richard Lutz, CEO of Deutsche Bahn said.
17 million people in Germany will benefit from shorter journey times, new direct services and better connections. DB expects its market share on this route to double, reaching a figure of 40 per cent, that is twice as high as today, and higher than the share of air travel.
The new service campaign is part of the quality programme entitled “The Future of Rail Operations in Germany”, with which DB intends to make rail travel more comfortable and dependable.
Completion of the new-build line from Erfurt to Ebensfeld (near Bamberg) has closed the final gap in the German Unification Traffic Projects. As the new rail hub in central Germany, Erfurt now offers fast connections in all four directions, with long-distance trains departing every hour. These services have been timed to optimise the connections to regional services so that more distant regions will also benefit from the advantages of the new line.
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