New timetable with more international services, more Sprinter and direct connections in Germany
More direct services to the Baltic coast • Additional services to Berlin and Switzerland via Stendal • A new regular Intercity service to Hamburg via Salzwedel • Frequent, modern ComfortJets via Dresden • better organised services in the Saale valley
Following the timetable change in mid-December, Deutsche Bahn (DB) will be offering a greater number of international train journeys. Within Germany, DB is further expanding its range of Sprinter trains and transfer-free ICE direct connections.
Dr Michael Peterson, DB Board Member for Long-Distance Passenger Transport:
'International long-distance transport is experiencing significant growth. There is a clear demand for rail travel in Europe. At the same time, we are implementing a measured expansion of our timetable in Germany, responding to the needs of our passengers. The introduction of new Sprinter and transfer-free ICE connections is enhancing the railway's competitiveness, offering attractive journey times compared to other modes of transportation.'
Information and tickets will be available from 16 October. The pre-booking period has been extended to up to twelve months.
The new timetable will apply from 15 December 2024 and tickets will go on sale from 16 October. The previous pre-booking period of a maximum of six months will be extended to up to twelve months. National offers such as the Super Sparpreis, Sparpreis and Flexpreis can therefore be booked well in advance and with maximum savings, e.g. for the upcoming summer holidays or other plannable events. For tickets travelling abroad, the maximum lead time is six months.
All information and tickets are available at bahn.de and in the DB Navigator as well as at DB Travel Centres and DB agencies.
The new timetable at a glance
Transfer-free ICE from/to the Mecklenburg Lake District and Baltic Sea coast
From 8 March 2025, an ICE from Eisenach, Erfurt (14.28 hrs), Leipzig (15.16 hrs) and Lutherstadt Wittenberg will continue daily beyond Berlin to Waren (Müritz) and Rostock (arriving at 18.36 hrs) without changing trains. In the opposite direction, trains will leave Rostock at 11.21 hrs from 9 March, arriving in Eisenach at 15.54 hrs, for example.
In addition, an ICE train from Berlin to Halle (12.13 hrs) and Erfurt (12.45 hrs) will now depart from Stralsund (8.04 hrs) on Mondays to Fridays all year round, with new direct connections from Greifswald and Prenzlau, for example.
Stendal: more early and late ICE trains from/to Berlin and overnight to Switzerland
For Stendal, an additional ICE train pair (outward and return journey) now offers direct overnight connections from Switzerland, the Upper Rhine and the Rhine/Main region as well as overnight connections from/to Berlin. The ICE stopping in Stendal at 5.39 a.m. comes, for example, from Zurich (from 6.59 p.m.), Freiburg im Breisgau (8.55 p.m.) and Frankfurt Airport (0.04 a.m.). It reaches Berlin early in the morning at 6.50 am. In the opposite direction, the ICE also offers a late night connection without changes, e.g. from Berlin (23.28 hrs) to Stendal (arrival 0.23 hrs) and from there onwards overnight, e.g. to Frankfurt Central Station (5.37 hrs) and Zurich (10.00 hrs). With the additional ICE night connection between Berlin and Switzerland, DB is responding to the high demand for seating carriages on the existing night train connection.
New for Salzwedel: Intercity to/from Hamburg
The Intercity train pair between Magdeburg and Hamburg will run on its originally planned route via Salzwedel, Uelzen and Lüneburg in the next timetable, rather than the previous temporary route via Wittenberge and Ludwigslust. Consequently, Salzwedel will now have a direct connection from Magdeburg to Uelzen, Lüneburg and Hamburg (arriving at 9:26 a.m.) at 8:04 a.m. and back from Hamburg (4:38 p.m.), arriving in Salzwedel at 5:56 p.m. Please be advised that the new IC connection will be suspended due to construction work from August 2025.
More modern trains between Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden and Prague
The new ComfortJet trains from Czech Railways (ČD), which have been in service since the end of September, will be used on more journeys between Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden, Bad Schandau and Prague in future, replacing older Eurocity trains. The new trains have 555 seats and a dining car.
The new Berlin-Prague late-night train service will also be available from mid-May to mid-September 2025, operated by the new ComfortJet trains. For travellers heading south from Berlin, an additional stop at BER Airport at 0.43 a.m. will provide convenient access to Dresden and Bad Schandau.
In the Saale Valley: Leipzig-Jena-Nuremberg intercity service to be optimised in terms of time
The Intercity service, which has been expanded to five train pairs since the end of 2023, for example between Nuremberg, Erlangen, Bamberg, Lichtenfels, Saalfeld, Jena, Naumburg and Weißenfels and Leipzig, will be optimised. In terms of time, a new early morning connection will be available Monday to Saturday from Nuremberg (6:20 am) via Saalfeld (8:25 am) to Jena Paradies (9:00 am) and Leipzig (10:09 am). In the opposite direction, an evening IC will also run from Leipzig at 5.49 pm and from Jena at 6.56 pm to Saalfeld (arriving at 7.32 pm), Rudolstadt and Nuremberg (9.34 pm) on Sundays to Fridays. Please be advised that a train pair with low demand is cancelled in the afternoon. The affected services are the 12.56 pm train from Leipzig to Nuremberg and the 2.24 pm train from Nuremberg via Jena.
Use of other Intercity 2 trains via Magdeburg from August
From summer 2025, Intercity 2 trains of the 'KISS' type, capable of speeds of up to 200 km/h, will be used on approximately half of the two-hourly Dresden-Leipzig-Halle (Saale)-Köthen-Magdeburg-Hannover-Cologne-Mainz-Stuttgart line. The new trains will largely replace Intercity trains with lower maximum speeds, thereby contributing to improved punctuality. They will also replace a previous ICE train pair with the same journey time: at 5:09 a.m. from Dresden via Magdeburg (8:04 a.m.) to Hanover/Cologne or in the opposite direction with arrival in Magdeburg at 8:01 p.m. and in Dresden at 10:40 p.m.
Connections to Chemnitz in the Capital of Culture year
Both IC train pairs Chemnitz-Berlin-Rostock-Warnemünde will once again run daily via Freiberg (Saxony) and Dresden. In the 2024 timetable, one of the two train pairs had to run via Döbeln and Riesa on Saturdays instead for capacity reasons.
However, an additional fast IC train pair is also planned from Berlin non-stop to Chemnitz in the morning and back in the late afternoon for the weekends during the Capital of Culture year, when demand is expected to be higher.
Individual service improvements at the weekend
Following a two-year hiatus, an additional Intercity train pair will resume service via Eisenach, Gotha, Erfurt and Weimar to/from Cologne, Dortmund, Paderborn and Kassel. On Sundays, the route will also serve Apolda, Naumburg and Weißenfels to/from Leipzig. The latest arrival in Weimar from North Rhine-Westphalia is 4:13 pm, with the latest departure to North Rhine-Westphalia at 5:47 pm.
Furthermore, additional IC journeys for Eisenach, Gotha and Erfurt will run from Stuttgart to Leipzig on Fridays and back on Sundays. On Sunday, two additional ICE trains will run late in the evening, with departures from Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Fulda. One train will run via Erfurt to Leipzig (11.10 p.m.), Bitterfeld, Lutherstadt Wittenberg and Berlin (0.36 a.m.). The other will run late via Eisenach to Erfurt (0.30 a.m.).
For a strong railway. Construction at DB in 2025
In order to enhance the quality and punctuality of rail travel for customers, DB will continue to refurbish the rail network without interruption in 2025. The nationwide focus is on renewing and modernising the existing network and stations. The pilot project for the general refurbishment of the Riedbahn between Frankfurt/Main and Mannheim is scheduled for completion by the timetable change in December. The modernisation of the Hamburg-Berlin and Emmerich-Oberhausen lines is scheduled for next year. DB is renewing the entire infrastructure on these busy routes, including the stations, with positive effects for train traffic throughout Germany. Due to these and other construction sites, the railway will temporarily adjust services on some connections. Diversions and timetable changes have already been incorporated into the timetable or will be announced as required.
DB kindly requests its passengers' understanding and apologises for any inconvenience caused by the unavoidable disruption resulting from construction work.
The new timetable will come into effect on 15 December 2024, with tickets going on sale from 16 October. The previous pre-booking period of a maximum of six months will be extended to up to twelve months. National offers such as the Super Sparpreis, Sparpreis and Flexpreis can therefore be booked well in advance and with maximum savings, e.g. for the upcoming summer holidays or other planned events. For tickets travelling abroad, the maximum lead time is six months.
All relevant information and tickets are available at bahn.de and in the DB Navigator. They can also be obtained from DB Travel Centres and DB agencies.