Until last week, my most recent trip from Paris to Berlin on a direct daytime train was way back in early 2015 with RZD Russian Railways. The train had a Polish restaurant car with a quirky menu featuring caviar, kangaroo steak and South African wines. The journey between the two capital cities was scheduled to take 13 hours, and despite dawdling along the way, we arrived in Berlin bang on time. It was a day with breakfast by the Seine, lunch (without caviar) on the train as we crossed the Rhine and nightcaps by the Spree in Berlin.
More recently, the only direct service between Paris and Berlin has been a thrice-weekly overnight train. Branded as a Nightjet, there is nothing jet-like about it. It takes even longer than the Russian daytime train did 10 years ago. But as of last week, there is now a faster direct option. Germany’s national rail operator Deutsche Bahn and its French counterpart SNCF have just launched a much faster direct daytime Paris to Berlin train.
I join the debut service from Paris on Monday 16 December, which clocks a travel time of 7hrs 59mins, symbolically important in ushering in a new era of rail travel between the capitals of the EU’s two most populous states. Fast, but some say not fast enough. On board are assorted media and rail industry officials, plus some regular travellers who unwittingly find themselves bit-part players in a piece of railway history. An Australian family on the train is surprised to find garlands, ribbons and gifts. “It’s our first train in Europe. Will we get this on every train?” they ask.
This new direct Intercity Express (ICE) train from Paris to Berlin leaves from the Gare de l’Est, one-time departure station for such illustrious trains as the Orient Express. On Platform 29 a German ICE train, handsomely turned out for the occasion, is ready for boarding.
The new train serves just three intermediate cities en route to Berlin: Strasbourg, Karlsruhe and Frankfurt am Main, in the latter case serving a secondary station (Frankfurt Süd) in the city’s trendy Sachsenhausen district. Departure from Paris is at 09.55 with arrival in Berlin Hauptbahnhof scheduled for 17.58. Along the way, travellers experience a fine sweep of European geography as they travel from the Seine to the Spree, crossing six other major rivers along the way: the Moselle, Meuse, Rhine, Neckar, Main and Elbe.
I am struck by the engaging mix of landscapes. On a fast run east from Paris, the train speeds by Champagne vineyards then crests the Vosges hills in the Saverne tunnel before dropping down to Strasbourg, reached in just 1hr 45mins from the French capital. The Russian train in 2015 took over four hours merely to reach Strasbourg. The city is keen to promote its position as Capitale de Noël, but on this particular Monday, Santa is sidelined by an enthusiastic group of flag-waving Strasbourg députés delighted to see this first direct daytime train to Berlin for nine years.
A few minutes beyond Strasbourg we cross the Rhine, arriving in Germany at Kehl. Back before the days of Schengen, even the Orient Express was forced to stop at Kehl for customs and immigration formalities. Our ICE to Berlin glides through without slowing. Once in Germany, progress is more measured than on the initial fast leg from Paris to Strasbourg. As we slip through reedy flatlands towards Karlsruhe, with misty views of the Black Forest away to the east, I repair to the restaurant car for that most quintessential of German delicacies: currywurst and chips.
Karlsruhe comes and goes, and now we are sedately running along the flank of the Odenwald, a range of forested hills dotted with attractive villages and vineyards on their western slopes. The Odenwald is one of those blocky uplands, not particularly mountainous in character, which dominate central Germany.
Beyond Frankfurt, our train follows main rail routes north-east towards the Fulda Gap, taking advantage of a lowland route between the much higher Vogelsberg (to our left) and the Rhön uplands (to our right). Fine views of lovely hill country, then at Kassel we pick up a high-speed line to Hanover, where we swing off to the east and leave the hills behind as we make tracks across the North European Plain towards Berlin. The beauty of this journey is that you get a real feel for changing landscapes.
Paris to Berlin as the crow flies is about 550 miles. The route taken by the new train runs to 770 miles. So our train averages 96 mph from Paris to Berlin, which is not particularly “high speed” by the standards of French TGV services.
Winter darkness falls before Wolfsburg where our speed is tempered by a slower train on the track ahead. We slip by the striking Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, partly festooned with Christmas lights and a huge Santa Claus beside the railway. A few moments later we cross the former frontier between the two German states and dash through sparsely populated terrain to Berlin.
Upon arrival at Berlin Hauptbahnhof, happily a few minutes early, there is a low-key but joyous celebration of all things European. Two leading capitals now linked by a direct and very comfortable daytime ICE train gives good cause for many smiles and handshakes. But many will still ask just why it has taken so very long to launch this service. And how many years will it take before an hour or two can be trimmed from the journey time, so that this new link can offer real competition to air travel.
Way to go
The new direct ICE leaves the Gare de l’Est in Paris daily at 09.55 and Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 11.54. One-way fares from €59.99 second class or €69.99 first class. On such a long daytime journey the first-class upgrade, if not excessive, is probably money well spent. Purchase online at int.bahn.de or raileurope.com. Interrail passes are valid, but pass holders need to pay a supplement (usually €19) on journeys to or from Paris or Strasbourg. This can be bought on Rail Europe.
Nicky Gardner is lead author of Europe by Rail: The Definitive Guide (18th edition, Hidden Europe, £20.99), available from guardianbookshop.com
