Overview

• From December 14, the network with roughly 30‑minute ICE service expands from 900 to 2,300 kilometers, including key axes such as Berlin–Halle/Erfurt–Nürnberg and Hamburg–Hannover–Göttingen; tickets go on sale October 15.
• Sprinter offerings increase with a new Berlin–Stuttgart service and added fast runs on Hamburg–Frankfurt and Munich–Berlin, yielding an hourly fast link between Berlin and Munich with sub‑four‑hour trips.
• DB cuts lightly used long‑distance links, reducing Leipzig–Nürnberg via Jena from five to two daily trains per direction and ending long‑distance stops in Lübeck and Berchtesgaden, while standardizing routes and train types to simplify operations.
• International and fleet changes feature the debut of ICE L trains between Berlin and Cologne, about 40 additional or extended cross‑border trips including a new Eurocity Leipzig–Kraków, new links to Antwerp and Brig, and direct sales of many TGV and Eurostar tickets via bahn.de and DB Navigator.
• Major works in 2026 will close five corridors for months—Hamburg–Berlin (to April 30), Hagen–Wuppertal–Köln and Nürnberg–Regensburg (Feb to mid‑July), Obertraubling–Passau (mid‑June to mid‑December), and Troisdorf–Wiesbaden (mid‑July to mid‑December)—against current punctuality near 60 percent and a relaxed 70 percent target by end‑2029.