With increased airport security and all the inevitable delays, traversing Europe by train is often quicker than flying. But in Germany, that hasn't always been the case: For example, for those hoping to trade Berlin’s nightlife for the Bavarian capital of Munich, train travel has always been time-consuming (six hours, to be exact).
Today, however, German railway company Deutsche Bahn celebrates a soon-to-open route connecting Berlin and Munich via high-speed train; it’s a trip that will now take just three hours and 55 minutes, reports The Local.
The 387-mile route is part of the Travel Project for German Unity, a plan developed back in 1991 to reconnect the country via train after reunification. And given that Central Germany's Thuringian Forest was smack dab in the middle of where a new 66-mile stretch of tracks now exists, it was quite the undertaking (22 tunnels and 29 bridges were built to accommodate the route).
Everything will officially be up and running Sunday and trains carrying over 700 people will travel at speeds of up to 186 mph. (To put that in perspective, the Acela never hits above 150 mph; and the world’s fastest train—the Shanghai Maglev—reaches speeds of about 267 mph).
Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz hopes the speedy trains will give air travel, which currently dominates the route between the cities, a run for its money. (A direct flight between the two hubs takes about 90 minutes.)
Before this, the Intercity-Express already connected cities such as Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne; and it also serves international connections to Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Austria, and Switzerland. The new line closes an important gap in the service and brings it up to par with its European neighbors, France and Spain, where the TGV and the AVE offer high-speed rail connections all over both countries.
Trains are set to depart from both Berlin and Munich three times every day at 6 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m. and tickets cost about $150 one-way. We can only hope that someday, the company's "Idea Train"—complete with spin bikes and big-screen TVs—joins the fleet.
