Overview

• The half‑hour ICE grid expands from about 900 to 2,300 kilometers, bringing 21 cities a regular 30‑minute service on main corridors such as Hamburg–Kassel and Berlin–Erfurt–Nuremberg.
• Sprinter services increase on Hamburg–Frankfurt and Munich–Berlin, a new Berlin–Stuttgart Sprinter cuts travel to under five hours, and Berlin–Munich will run hourly in under four hours; Berlin–NRW Sprinters are withdrawn from 7 February due to construction.
• Low‑demand links are pared back as part of a systematized network, including Leipzig–Nuremberg via Jena reduced from five to two daily trains per direction and the loss of long‑distance stops in Lübeck and Berchtesgaden.
• New rolling stock arrives with the ICE L debuting between Berlin and Cologne, featuring level boarding and a 230 km/h top speed, as DB moves to operate lines with consistent train types.
• International services grow with a new Leipzig–Kraków Eurocity and added access to Antwerp and Brig, Köln–Antwerpen ICEs from September and Prague–Copenhagen from May, and DB now sells many TGV and Eurostar tickets; the new timetable starts 14 December with booking from 15 October.