Paris to Berlin in 8 Hours at 320 km/h on the New ICE First Class

[@Cinnuh]

It is a huge milestone for German-French amitié and I’m happy for a direct ICE connection between these two capitals

[@marioluigi9599]

Huge milestone? bro, EIGHT hours! The 2 cities are 1000km apart. so at 320km/h, how many hours is that? How does it go from 3 to 8? where are the extra 5 coming from? That's crazy

[@The99x99]

@@marioluigi9599 its probably that some parts are slower lines

[@flopunkt3665]

​@@marioluigi9599 If you knew the German rail network you'd appreciate a direct connection 😅

[@markusschmidt7513]

Yes, they could have made it 7 hours at least if the train passed via Cologne and Brussels, instead of Frankfurt and Strasbourg. Seems including the Belgian rail in this was already too difficult..

[@flopunkt3665]

@@markusschmidt7513 NRW ist das schlimmste Nadelöhr im deutschen Netz....

[@NgKhTh]

While this connection is not as fast as an airline it will be an important route for the future. Also it‘s a point-to-point connection between two major European capitals and certain national hubs like Frankfurt with its airport and financial district. There‘s hope that Germany will invest more into high-speed-rail in the future to improve time and consistency. Also it‘s always good to have alternatives if a route is unavailable.

[@mrvwbug4423]

Yeah hopefully this route gets popular enough to encourage DB to expand their high speed network. This entire route should be on high speed lines, but with the average speed of 130km/h, that tells me they're on PZB line for most of the trip in Germany.

[@dogukantosun5547]

It is both slower and more expensive. Not to mention DB's notorious delays. I think this connection will remain symbolic.

[@SeverityOne]

Yes, Germany should invest more, but it doesn't have the money. France doesn't really have the money either, which is one reason why they have such a massive national debt.

[@maxster_8989]

I believe this is the first time the Velaro D ICE train goes to Berlin in regular scheduled service

[@Patrick-on2ty]

Wäre Klasse so nach Amsterdam, Kopenhagen oder nach Warschau oder Prag

[@bee_happy9969]

It is actually

[@bee_happy9969]

​​@@Patrick-on2tyGut für Dänemark und Niederlande haben die keine Zulassung. In die Niederlande dürfen z.b. nur die ICE 3 neo, also BR 408. Und in Polen sowie Tschechien wäre nur theoretisch der ICE L einsetzbar, entsprechende Lok und vorherige Zulassung vorausgesetzt.

[@Patrick-on2ty]

@bee_happy9969 die Fahren doch nach Amsterdam - Brüssel, nur nicht von Berlin aus! Bad Bentheim Richtung Amsterdam ist nur 160 angesagt, wäre aber Mal Zeit dafür. Zulassungen kann man ja bekommen. ICE via Prag - Wien wäre doch nett, statt via München. Fehmarn-Belt Tunnel wird ja wohl hoffentlich auch der ICE nutzen und Polen könnte auch Mal aus der Hüfte kommen.Die warten sicherlich auf die EU Kohle zwecks Verbindung aus Finnland, Baltikum, Per Len nach D. Mich graust es jetzt schon vor dem Talgo von Berlin -Amsterdam

[@wasmic5z]

@@Patrick-on2ty Der Verkehr Hamburg-Kopenhagen wird mit DSB Litra EC (Talgo 230) betriebt. Berlin-Kopenhagen vielleicht mit DB ICE L (auch Talgo 230), vielleicht mit DSB Litra EC, und einmal pro Tag mit CD Railjet Praag-Berlin-Hamburg-Kopenhagen. Keine strecken des korridors Berlin-Hamburg-Kopenhagen sind für eine Höchstgescwindigkeit über 250 km/stunde gebaut.

[@rogertemple7193]

Merry Christmas Everyone.🇨🇵🎄🚂🚃🚃🎄🇩🇪

[@BurningTrapezoid]

This connection will get a lot faster once all the improvements around Frankfurt are done. Looking forward to it.

[@geirmyrvagnes8718]

How fast, realistically, with the same train? And roughly when?

[@BurningTrapezoid]

@@geirmyrvagnes8718 - mid 2025 a part of the track will be 200 km/h again, which is 160 km/h now. This is probably not a big difference - There is a new rail line planned from Frankfurt to manheim, increasing the speed from 200 km/h to 300 km/h there. Should decrease the time by 20 min. Will probably not be done before the 30s - Frankfurt central station will get a tunnel for long distance trafic. Minus eight minutes. Will probably not be done before the 40s - Improvements betwoeen Frankfurt and Fulda could bring another eleven minutes. Will probably not be done before the 30s so something like 40 min overall. Ok, now that I looked all of that up, it seems a little less impressive than I had in my head, but still nice to have, I guess. :)

[@geirmyrvagnes8718]

Thanks. Interesting. 40 minutes is significant, but as you say, not impressive. Cutting a couple of hours off would of course be awesome, but that would require some serious upgrades. A dedicated high speed line (or a fast motorcycle and no fear of death), and you are at 4-ish hours? THAT would be fantastic. it is "just" 1000-ish km by road.

[@wasmic5z]

@@BurningTrapezoid 40 minutes is pretty good when that's all just in the area around Frankfurt and Mannheim. It's a long route and there's a lot of places where they can save some time. Actually this train is a bit slow; it takes 4:09 from Paris to Frankfurt. There's another one that takes 3:38 to cover the same route. So with a different scheduling, they could actually cut half an hour out. Then add the 40 minutes from the Frankfurt area and you're down to 7 hours instead of a bit over 8. Then there are also more improvements in the pipeline, e.g. by taking the route via Erfurt instead of the detour via Hannover, if they get around to building the connection between Fulda and the Thüringer Bahn. Also, if they're okay with skipping Strasbourg, they can run the train via Saarbrücken and save some time that way, too. All in all, there's a potential for getting it down to around 6 hours, maybe even a bit less.

[@captainb4]

13:15 I can not say for this specific train, but all ICEs that went nonstop Frankfurt-Berlin before the recent "timetable change" (=Fahrplanwechsel) had the stop in Kassel. This stop was for the driver or conductors to begin/end shifts

[@SimplyRailway]

I think that's why ! Thanks for your comment :-)

[@BJHolloway1]

Between Starsburg and Karlsruhe you causally mentioned some extra work going on. That casual work happens to be part of the second most expensive project on German Railways at the moment behind Stuttagrt 21. The Karlsruhe - Basel High speed line. 171km long including a tunnel under Rastatt (which has been problematic). Quite a significant bit of work actually internationally.

[@bbpete8349]

I want to take this trip one day!!! Thanks for the virtual trip!

[@viaduct_world]

Great video! Happy to finally see the first direct ICE between Paris and Berlin

[@viewwwwer]

Ça doit être sympa de passer ces 8 heures sans changement de train. Cela devient compétitif avec l’avion car pas besoin de transfert entre l’aéroport et le centre ville et besoin de se présenter 2 heures avant le départ.

[@MrLuddis]

This train needs more than 6 hours for the app. 700 km from Berlin to the french border, and then about 1:50 hour for the app. 500 km in France until Paris. This shows the huge difference in efficiency between the German and French train system imo.

[@LL-gw5ks]

It shows that Germany isn‘t as centralized as France is towards Paris as there are more other significant regions than like two (if you want to go between any two French cities by train, that aren’t Paris, there is a good chance you will have to go through Paris even though Geographically that wouldn’t make sense) - also there are some major projects in Germany on the way that will reduce travel time drastically

[@neptune1525]

@@LL-gw5ks Yes Paris' dominion over France is too much!

[@MrLuddis]

@@LL-gw5ks The rails in France are built for 350 km/h. Most tracks in Germany only for 250km/h. This is the main reason imo.

[@Nitramrec]

Not efficiency, philosophy! There are reasons for that: In Germany the highspeed trains have to share their rail tracks with the other trains, from freight trains to light rail traffic, because they couldn't built enough new tracks straight across the densely populated country, which has a lot of natural obstacles in addition. And the average distance between the stops of the highspeed trains is shorter. That means that passengers need to travel a shorter distance to get to a railway station of the highspeed train than in france and more people consider to use it.

[@Nitramrec]

@@MrLuddis And do you know why? Read my previous comment.

[@arnomrnym6329]

Danke für die schöne Mitfahrt. 👍🏾😎

[@jackdrew8286]

From Paris to Berlin and every disco I get in...

[@AnetaMihaylova-d6f]

Nice

[@GaryJohnWalker1]

This is real progress. Rail's so much more on a human level than flying imo

[@scottyerkes1867]

Interesting ride from Paris to Berlin aboard ICE. First Class all the way. Thanks Thibault🥰👍👌🚊🚊

[@alexandrepascal3573]

Salut ! Bravo pour tes vidéos, et pour l'invitation presse ! Ça témoigne du boulot de qualité 👏 safe travels

[@Letsgobyland]

Love the connection love the ice! Will definately check this out!

[@pierremichelld]

Lovely! Can't wait to try it. Thank you!

[@michaelmacdonell4834]

What a scoop! Nice work, SR!!!

[@tinyubergeek9051]

That thing sounded like a jet taking off, LOL

[@suspiciousafternoon]

unbedingt fantastisch 👏👏

[@pritamkoli]

Five star coverage

[@Cerce7]

In my opinion the market was already ready 3 years ago when the Milan-Paris opened but better late then never :)

[@bee_happy9969]

Yeah but then we had the pandemic. Wouldn't been ideal.

[@matthieu.dellavalle]

Paris-Milan high-speed route has been opened since 1995; in 2021, Trenitalia just started using their own trains to operate it.

[@SimplyRailway]

Agreed. The market is ready since 2021 :-)

[@matpk]

​@@SimplyRailway WHY 50% OF SEATS ARE REVERSE FACING? INFERIOR PRODUCT COMPARE TO EAST ASIA

[@5thElem3nt]

@@matpk Because Germany and France have a 150 years old railway network with a lot of terminus stations.. So sometimes the train needs to change direction while not being at the end of the line. It's not practicable to change the direction of the seats while there are passengers in the train. Also most people have no issue with facing the wrong way, but during reservation you can freely choose the a seat with the direction you prefer. So, in my opinion no issue at all.

[@CJWJR]

Wow - 8 hours! I love high speed trains, but unless I were taking a red eye sleeper train (if such exists) I would probably just fly it. In my book, if it takes more than about 5 hours to get somewhere by high speed train, then just fly it.

[@haisheauspforte1632]

Yes, though some people really dislike flying, want to see landscapes, save the climate, bring a larger than usual bag or whatever. Some might just want to go Paris-Frankfurt or Strasbourg-Berlin. Many cases where using this train might be a nice option, especially if you would want to take a connecting train from a city centre station instead of going to some airport first

[@ronylouis0]

there is a 13 hour night train between Paris and Berlin that is already running

[@lours6993]

Not just in your book. This train is mainly 'posturing.' The night train is for me.

[@Benjamin0c]

Superbe vidéo !

[@batliff]

Thanks for sharing, enjoy your videos.

[@popop4044]

"From Paris to Berlin And every disco I get in My heart is pumping for love"

[@thunderstrom7157]

Long distance high speed train is great option for future travel

[@johnmehaffey9953]

Super post thibault, it’ll be interesting to see if they run more trains on this route if it’s popular

[@Porschedude8]

Excellent! 👍👍

[@kristinajendesen7111]

Love being able to see out of the front of the ICE-3s. Pity that later models don't have that feature. Glass screen kept clear by an electric current. Funny when entering an isolated section of the overheads because the glass goes an opaque white momentarily.

[@martinbitter4162]

Not the shortest possible route but I am glad its here.

[@maxshenkwrites]

Your comments about people opting for rail travel to avoid flying even if the rail journey takes longer is interesting and resonates. I HATE FLYING and one thing that has kept me from coming to Europe is the fact that in order to do it, unless I find passage aboard a cargo ship, I will have to fly, and as the former USA football coach John Madden said once when asked about his preference for trains over planes, "once the landing gear goes up, we're all hostages." I hate everything about flying-- cramped seats, baggage check, waiting in airports, ridiculous layovers, and add in, particularly in the USA, post-9/11 airport security etc. I'm glad it's not just me who feels that way. BRING BACK TRANSOCEANIC LINERS and I'm there! ;)

[@dennisud]

Frankly I hope within my lifetime the U.S. has some sort of high speed intercontinental train. I'm in my 60s so all I can do is hope.

[@theobrattinga500]

Great video !!

[@ringo7561]

Good stuff Thibault

[@aleksandarbrzic8351]

FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY 😇

[@alexandrajones2040]

very exciting! (but I miss your voice overs!)

[@skodass1]

A DB train that arrives before the scheduled arrival? highly unusual! :)

[@mrvwbug4423]

I've heard Germans get confused if DB is actually on time haha.

[@dogukantosun5547]

It happened to me once. My train arrived 5 minutes early. It turned out to be the previous train, 55 minutes late. 😂

[@FoCoBuzz]

I am a railgeek - hence, why I watch this channel! - and I would be tempted to take this journey if I were going between Paris and Berlin. However, 8h versus 2h flying, which we did once, would be a hard sell for my wife who just wants to get from point A to B and doesn't really care about the journey itself.

[@wkaemena]

From Paris center to Berlin center with a suitcase the travel time by flying would be at least around 6h minimum. 6 hours of queuing, standing waiting and crammed into a plane - if the timing is suitable I would prefer to spend 2 h more and having a relaxed journey on the train

[@Geonet1]

I see your point, but... 2 hours? Centre to Centre? Really? Paris Centre to CDG - 1 hours (all in) Pre-flight 1 1/2 hours (to allow for checked baggage, security, etc...) Flight time, what... 1 1/2 hours (shall we make it 2 to allow for taxi, etc...) BER Arrival, Bag Reclaim 45 mins Transit BER to Berlin Central Station 30 mins Makes it in total... 5 hours and 45 mins (unless I am mistaken) I am more inclined to agree with you if, e.g. one would go from BER to CDG and to carry on long-hauls on AF's extensive network - here indeed the train would hardly make sense...

[@FoCoBuzz]

@@wkaemena You don't have to convince me. I love taking the train, even if it takes a little more time. Far more comfortable. Enhanced class is far more affordable than enhanced class on a plane (and for intra-European flights, business is largely pointless unless it is part of a connection to a long-haul business class flight). But, the wife would balk at 8 hours on a train! LOL!

[@ThongvanNonsithanh]

Thank you. Beautiful video.

[@samtrak1204]

Thank you.

[@tdtm82]

It's DB so anything can happen but this is a great concept which I hope to do.

[@geldikgidiyoruziste]

I think it is the same train set as the high-speed train set in Türkiye, which is produced by Siemens

[@SimplyRailway]

Indeed, it's the same :-)

[@tranmere292]

Great to see rail getting better and tempting people off planes. But 440km in two hours to Strasbourg - 444km in New South Wales from Sydney to my nearest station seven and a half hours! The flight is 50 minutes.

[@hmg-d7e]

Add the required 2 hour early arrival at the airport, put up with security screening, not to mention travel time to and from the airport. And of course the uncomfortable airline seats.

It would be so strange, yet awesome if the other pair is done by a TGV!

[@peterhans8905]

5:34 so cute :(

[@ceaabe]

5:32 Not quite the german flag on the bisquits. 😆🇩🇪 Great to have this direct connection, but the german side has to speed up.

[@morbvsclz]

~2-3 hours faster than by car. That's a very important metric. But compared to Air this might not do it. BER - ORY is a ~2 hours flight. With waiting times before boarding and travel to and from the airport from centre to centre maybe a 5 hours journey. I can have that this Thursday or Friday for 110€. This train in first class, booking now for Thursday would be 156€, for Friday 196€ (DB Website). Cheapest second class option would still be 120€. So with the train you will still pay more and take longer. And that's really what High speed rail needs to look at. Yes, the experience is a lot nicer. Without all the waiting around etc. and the seats in the ICE are better, especially the legroom and overall I much prefer a calm journey just getting on at place A and off at place B. So I would choose the train if the arrivals times fitted what I wanted to do at destination... With 1 connection per day. That unforturnately is pretty unlikely. So the other rail options all include changes of train (can be risky). And are slower (from a few minutes to 2 hours) and if they involve a TGV we're talking 230+ € all of a sudden. Good first step, but still a niche and limited offering unfortunately.

[@TheSargentsam]

Kinda fitting that Berlin and Paris are connected via train on the same day that Cardiff and Edinburgh are 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇫🇷🇩🇪🚂

[@MICHALMALACHOVSKY]

wow wow wow wow wow

[@Sacto1654]

While the part from Paris to Strasbourg is fine with very fast speeds, going through Germany is a big problem because of the patchwork nature of their high-speed lines. Deutsche Bahn really needs to build a lot more 270+ km/h lines connecting their major cities.

[@jiahaochen2936]

Christmas 🎄🎄⛄⛄

[@railroadmovie]

First time for me to appear in one of your videos in person 😄

[@ВиталийБойко-з5й]

Only peculiarity is that the train arrived to lower level platform at Berlin Hbf despite having a west-east line. Overall, that's great news!

[@loligo83]

Yes, it’s way more common to arrive on the upper platform when coming from the west via Spandau. But some few trains - like this one apparently - are also being directed to the lower platforms. Maybe because they are used for a southbound route on their subsequent journey? What puzzles me more is that even though it doesn’t stop between Frankfurt and Berlin, it is still running via Kassel and Wolfsburg instead of the shorter route via Erfurt and Halle.

[@gilliantracy7991]

Will Strasbourg be a stop on this line going forward? I live in Strasbourg and would love to travel on it to Berlin!

[@damcoentertainment3956]

Did you watch the video? The train stopped at Strasbourg.

[@rykilg]

1:36 Barrrrrrrrr le Duc du du du du du du, Bar le Duc du du du du du du, Bar le Duc du du du du du du BAR LE DUC.

[@christophsaviation2045]

Glad that I'm not the only one who recognized that place haha

[@johncrwarner]

Interesting to see the connecting up of various fast lines in Germany and Frankfurt (Main) Süd is interesting as it is a through station but isn't that "big" / "prestigious" as I recall.

[@MrEddy-bm3eo]

Once you are in Germany, the connection changes from high speed to medium and sometimes even low speed. In Germany, the welfare of car drivers always has top priority, fast rail connections are not considered important.

[@johnburke1317]

Nice video

[@NautilusShell-s2o]

The average speed for this trip appears to be about 130km/h. For a wonderful high-speed piece of equipment, and notwithstanding the extra stops in Germany, this appears surprisingly slow, especially as the speed of train between Paris and Strasbourg appears to be about 220km/h.. I'm thinking that I could fly from London to Chicago in the 8 hours it takes to get from Paris to Berlin by train. I'm sure that things will indeed get better. Perhaps my expectations are unrealistic.

[@tymoteuszbuhl1731]

Is this route planned to be covered by the French TGV trains as well, or only by the German ICE? Btw thank you so much for yet another amazing trip report! The new connection is very exciting, looking forward to trying it out :)

[@RVail623]

Looking at the route map, they could have picked a more direct path. Maybe: via Paris - Brussels - Amsterdam - Hamburg - Berlin?

[@arminpunyx]

I think that this route is the faster one, despite being maybe a little longer.

[@oadka]

I think that's the route taken by nightjet so they chose something different. I think route via aachen/cologne might have been more direct.

[@bee_happy9969]

This route is faster tho. The line between Amsterdam and Hamburg is pretty slow and between Hamburg and Berlin it's 20 kph less than the high speed linie between Göttingen and Berlin.

[@wasmic5z]

Railways in the Netherlands are terribly slow. If you're doing long-distance internation routes, you always want to avoid the Netherlands.

[@Patrick-on2ty]

@@wasmic5z yes !!! 160

[@ingo_8628]

Cross-multiplication: You have 900 km to go, your speed is 320 km/h, how long takes your journey? Cant i calculate or is there something wrong? The answer is off course: Deutsche Bahn.

[@Bharath-j2i]

Isn't Paris-Brussels-Cologne-Berlin a better route? Or is DB only allowed to use Paris Est and not Paris Nord?

[@alaintouzelet3865]

Très intéressant comme tous vos reportages. Cependant il faut rectifier la distance. Elle n'est pas de 1050 km mais de 1230; soit; km 439: Strasbourg, km 523: Karlsruhe, km 660: Frankfurt-Süd (à noter que le passage par Darmstadt est sans doute provisoire et qu'il y a 3 km de moins par Mannheim), km 850: Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe, km 895: Göttingen, km 1048: Wolfsburg, km 1215: Spandau et Berlin Hbf km 1230. La vitesse moyenne est donc un peu supérieure à 150 km/h.

[@SimplyRailway]

Merci pour la correction 🙂

[@Bharath-j2i]

Is there any reason for taking the line through Darmstadt? Isn't the line through Mannheim much faster? Is it just congestion on the Mannheim line?

[@christophsaviation2045]

@@Bharath-j2i The Train should be taking the Mannheim-Frankfurt line. The db website or app shows it wrongly sometimes.

[@rorschak47]

I'm casting from the android YT app, and can't get the subtitles to work through that ☹️ Anyway, I'm a bit disappointed this train isn't faster. There's a connection with change in Mannheim that's only 11 minutes slower, despite many more stops and a 16 minute wait.

[@cez8017]

Looking at the map of the route, it is obvious that a more straight line should be built. Nice video.

[@txquartz]

That would need Dutch or Belgian cooperation for a run that doesn't really benefit them.

[@albe6253]

If with few changes (stopping at Frankfurt south only for don't have to reverse at hbf) it's possible to merge the international Paris - Frankfurt with an ICE Sprinter Frankfurt - Berlin is good. I don't know in France, but in Spain are 2 high speed services over 6 hours: Barcelona to Sevilla and Málaga skipping Madrid via by-pass and are so popular.

[@amberbaltic297]

Is the train going through Hannover or Braunschweig?

[@bee_happy9969]

Yes but it doesent stop there.

[@panospapadimitriadis1300]

Hannover

[@amberbaltic297]

@@panospapadimitriadis1300 Through Güterumgehungsbahn ?

[@christophsaviation2045]

@@amberbaltic297 Yes, it uses the GUG in Hannover.

[@ajayprasher9656]

good. At 320 km/hr, average speed is 130 km well done ICE.

[@vilmosvarga9582]

In spain journey time would be 6 hours probably there should some imrovements mainly in germany if these train want to race with planes in journey time

[@JediTev]

I'm in the other camp, when you build a high speed line, the trains need to run at speed to benefit from the "high speed" line. The smaller towns can connect to the high speed lines through feeder trains. Unfortunately, California doesn't understand this and will be the high speed joke of the World when it doesn't accomplish what it was marketed to do. Brighline West will be up and running before CaHSR is.

[@blarfroer8066]

I think you need both, like in SK and how DB is trying to do it with their new ICE Sprinter. Germany has a lot of mid-size towns with around 100k inhabitants that have really gained economically from the direct ICE connection, but you also need faster services between major cities to just pass through those smaller cities. In SK, some KTX trains from Seoul to Busan stop in places like Gyeongju while others just pass through at full chat.

[@gerohubner5101]

The video is NOT about HSR or building high speed lines, but a new direct train connection in long distance travel. Only the French part of the journey, and the very last section towards Berlin are on dedicated high speed lines.

[@wasmic5z]

The different approaches make sense in different contexts. In France, there are not many mid-sized cities, so it makes sense to only focus on the big ones and ignore the small ones. But in Germany, there are a LOT of mid-sized cities, so if you ignore them, you end up losing out on many potential travellers, and the trains become less beneficial. So in Germany they started out with going through the smaller cities, while in France they started by going around them. In Germany, the cities were big enough that it didn't make sense to skip them, at least not for initial service levels. Now that the trains are becoming more popular and DB is introducing its "Sprinter" services with fewer stops, it has become more prudent to start building bypass lines - and Germany has gradually begun planning to build those.

[@SimplyRailway]

The thing about France is it's missing feeder trains... I would be on the other camp if regional rail was better integrated with HSR

[@jamesrobinson9194]

Je suis complètement d'accord là. Joyeux Noël

[@jozef2691]

Gratulacje dla Berlina uruchomienie pesposredniego pociąg do Paryża Poland Lublin

[@Stromschlag]

As a half-French half-German, I also think every ever so small improvement deserves praise and celebration, especially given how hard it is to achieve success in rail. Having said that, I find the timetable for the Paris-Berlin train quite odd. Leaving Berlin at 12 (lunch) and leaving Paris at 10am is odd. I‘d say, especially for a journey of 8 hours, make it depart at 6 in the morning so one at least has the chance of still doing something in Berlin/Paris that day once arrived there. And it’s a shame there is no second train back at, say 14-15 to Berlin/Paris. Sure, there’s the new night train, but it doesn’t run daily (yet) but the schedule as it is, I find a bit oddly timed. I am aware one needs to account for rail capacity and timing, but still. Going for 2day trip or (business) event is not the best with this schedule… I‘d wish it was bi-daily early morning and early afternoon both directions. That would make such travels much better and easier. But still, nice improvement from no direct train at all! Thanks to everyone making it a reality!

[@Sellerieknolle76]

Strange: In Paris, the station's display said "Berlin Ostbahnhof" but the train arrived in Berlin Hauptbahnhof on platform 1, one of the lower platforms, which doesn't lead to Ostbahnhof.

[@augsburgermichi]

It's just once because of the first train. All other trains will be stopping in Berlin Hbf on the upper Platforms and continues to Ostbahnhof

[@martinbitter4162]

and in Berlin it says Finsterwalde ;)

[@crowmob-yo6ry]

If only Amtrak/Via had a Ottawa-DC route! Or perhaps a Canberra-Wellington route across an ocean?

[@djackmanson]

Tasman Tunnel when 😂

[@mrvwbug4423]

Amtrak has NY-Toronto, that train takes 13 hours to go 471 miles.

[@fernbedek6302]

That would have probably saved me two transfers when I took the train from Paris to Sweden this summer...

[@ilannghost6306]

6:10 I feel like a mix of both should and would be perfect as the high speed line approaches. faster trains to bigger cities but also high speed trains to the smaller ones, and mostly 4 rails wide?

[@JaNieWie]

In Poland there are plans for high speed networks which, at least I think so, follow both approaches.

[@ilannghost6306]

@JaNieWie awesome

[@Fry_tag]

Any idea why Karlsruhe is a stop but Mannheim isn't?

[@augsburgermichi]

The train runs through Darmstadt

[@MrSysadmin1975]

This is nice, of course, but 8 hours even in the first class of ICE is a waste of time. I believe, that no daytime connection should be longer than 4 hours. If you go 5 hours or more, You board the night train and get some sleep, so you are a) not wasting daytime b)saving a night at the hotel. No matter how comfortable 1st class is, 8 hours are still 8 hours. For the same reason I don't like air travel - yes, the flight takes 2-3 hours, but it takes you a whole day to get to/from the airport, checks, etc. - plus 4 hours minimum. Besides, highspeed infrastructure is overly complex and expensive, and while it is needed between major cities, 8 hour run puts unnecessary stress on network, causing higher probability of delay. Probably I'm too old-fashioned, but sleeper coaches at speeds up to 160kmh are the sweet spot of 700-1300km distance travels, not some fancy ICEs. Just my point of view.

[@richardtalbot8769]

rail rather than plane - it took 90mins to fly to berlin airport from Amsterdam and 50 mins from the airport into Berlin as DB was running 30mins late - the train takes 6 hours

[@jfmezei]

curious what percentage ofnpassengers will do Paris Berlin instead of shorter city pairs. having restaurant on board makes this a fun train.

[@veeeeelx]

5:31 how did DB messed up to make german flag properly

[@hanswurst6712]

Was probably a french contractor who wanted to troll a little bit. :D

[@ainonainpg3d799]

But why does this train go trough Hannover? Wouldn’t the more direkt + faster route be Fulda-Erfurt-Halle-Berlin i mean the Erfurt-Halle line is even 300kph. That doesn’t realy make sense to me. My DB app even shows this route but the train goes the route you showed in your Vid. Pretty confusing

[@christophsaviation2045]

Time-Wise there isn't a huge difference. All German ICE Sprinter trains that go between Frankfurt and Berlin nonstop go via Hannover as that route is just a little less congested than the line via Erfurt and Halle.

[@mrvwbug4423]

ICEs never sustain high speeds due to the 250km/h tunnel restriction in Germany. And German high speed lines have a lot of tunnels, so they only get short stretches where they can accelerate above 250km/h

[@avmz111]

@@mrvwbug4423 That doesn't matter for the newer high speed lines like Erfurt-Halle/Leipzig or Erfurt-Ebensfeld. There you can go up to 300 km/h in tunnels.

[@christophsaviation2045]

@@mrvwbug4423 You can go 300 in tunnels on all newer HSLs. Between Erfurt and Halle or between Cologne and Frankfurt, 300 km/h is kept during the whole trip.

[@pannieznany515]

Good that there's finally a direct train between these 2 capitals, I just wish it was a bit faster. 8 hours is a lot compared to flying and it gives an average speed of just 129km/h which would be good for a conventional train capable of 160km/h, not on a high speed one

[@christophsaviation2045]

The distance that this train runs is about 1230 km - Thibault made a small mistake there. The speed is >150 km/h. Considering that this service has copious amounts of schedule reserves in an effort to achieving a good on time performance, that speed is fine. The TGV Paris-Barcelona doesn't do any better.

[@mrvwbug4423]

@christophsaviation2045 Paris-Barcelona has to pass through the mountains over the French/Spanish border. Once they're out of the border zone they're going 300km/h

[@christophsaviation2045]

@@mrvwbug4423 No they don't. They only go 300 north of Nimes. Between Perpignan and Nimes, its conventional lines. Calculate the distances and the average speeds and you'll see, it's about 159 km/h, not significantly faster than the Paris-Berlin train.

[@GaryJohnWalker1]

So with a 'global' interrail/europass, what extra would this cost - for the seat reservation? Close to the actual ticket price?

[@christophsaviation2045]

Interrail Reservation surcharge should be 17 €

[@andreasbimba6519]

It is encouraging to know the driver can't see anything through the front window.

[@Rob_Cantor]

I understand that there are intermediate stops, but even so, a trip of 1100 kilometers in 8 hours doesn't seem very high-speed.

[@paulgenta4819]

Tres bon confort sur ICE3, mieux que ICE4 et surtout TGV. Dommage que de Frankfurt à Berlin il passe pas par Erfurt, il aurait gagné plus de 20 minutes.

[@jandron94]

Les TGV privilégient la vitesse et la capacité au confort

[@The99x99]

@@jandron94 les oceane et les atlantique en première sont confortable aussi

[@lecho0175]

Will they switch between ICE 407 and TGV Duplex like the other lines?

[@SimplyRailway]

If one frequency is added

[@Loeschmeister81]

Der 407 ist NICHT der neue ICE... der ICE3-neo ist die BR 408! Der Nachfolger! Die BR 407 war bzw ist seit beginn der ICE-Verbindungen nach Paris im rennen... - hat schon paar Jahre geleistet. aber läuft nach wie vor rund... - wundert mich, das man eben keinen 408er eingesetzt hat, evtl sogar einen mit dem neuen Innenraumdesign... - Egal...

[@Valik49]

Something I do not understand is why they didn't made the route from Paris Nord via Brussels, Aachen, Cologne, this is a much shorter route in kilometers!

[@Felix-ty5ql]

5:34 NOO! Who has failed to draw the german flag? This is embarrassing!

[@pommesschale5440]

I don't think that the one on the right is supposed to be a German flag. It's something else. Maybe some colours that have to do with Berlin? Or did they accidentally put two Plätzchenmänner with the tricolore in there? We will never know.

[@imwsss726]

Love to see more direct service between DE and FR but this average speed is so disappointing.

[@christophsaviation2045]

The distance is 1230 km and the average speed is a bit more than 150 km/h. Thats not insanely fast but totally fine on a relation like that. The Paris-Barcelona TGV service doesn't really do better.

[@jandron94]

​@christophsaviation2045The Madrid-Berlin would be around 18 hours... which would be even worse

[@mrvwbug4423]

@@jandron94 That's also beyond the distance where HSR makes sense. Generally over 1000km flying is the better option.

[@eco-ish_travel]

Nice route, but I would to be faster. Why 8 hours ? French & German trains are known to be very fast ( only 125 km / h ? )

[@ademduru5565]

is it only doing once or always going to do Paris-Berlin

[@djackmanson]

That price seemed excellent for first class long distance. Was that a promotional price for the special journey, or will that be the usual cost?

[@christophsaviation2045]

Prices with this train are dynamic, so if you book in advance and on days with smaller demand, you'll go cheaper, but the 59€ (69 in first class respectively) are the normal minimum prices. You'll rarely find days where tickets are actually that cheap but most of the time they are just slightly more expensive at 70-90 €

[@frenchhufflepuffie83]

Yayyyy

[@milo-gd3ml]

How is it going 320km/h if the 1050km journey takes 8 hours? For how long does it stop at the stations in the middle of the way?