Overview
- DB increases capacity on high‑demand corridors, including near half‑hourly ICEs Erfurt–Nuremberg with Munich connections, faster Hamburg–Frankfurt runs, hourly fast Munich–Berlin services, and a new Stuttgart–Berlin Sprinter via Nuremberg.
- International options grow with a year‑round evening ICE pair to and from Brussels, extended ICEs via Basel into Switzerland, new links such as Leipzig–Kraków and Munich–Ljubljana/Zagreb, an earlier Munich–Amsterdam departure, plus more Stralsund/Binz–Berlin trains and a new two‑hourly Hamburg–Berlin line.
- DB will withdraw lightly used trips and some night offerings, including the Berlin–Paris night train after French subsidies ended, with further pruning on routes such as the Saaletal and the Warnemünde leg of the Rostock–Berlin–Dresden line.
- Major works in 2026 will disrupt service, including the Wupper corridor closure that halts long‑distance trains between Cologne, Wuppertal and Hagen from Feb 7 to July 10, the Nürnberg–Passau renovation from Feb 6, and a May 1–July 10 shutdown between Hamburg and Hannover with diversions and gaps in Bremen–Hannover long‑distance service.
- Regional changes include the opening of Marktoberdorf Nord with BRB service and MVV bus hours shifting to 6:00–22:00 with FLEX on‑demand coverage at night, while new rolling stock arrives with the ICE L debut on Berlin–Cologne now and further ICE L deployments from July 2026 on routes including NRW–Koblenz–Mainz–Stuttgart–Oberstdorf.