visitBerlin welcomes the new ICE direct connection between Berlin and Paris

Berlin, 15 October 2024 The city of freedom and the city of love are getting a direct ICE and TGV connection. From 16 December, there will be a daily direct connection between the two metropolises. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, 16 October. Previously, the ÖBB Nightjet overnight train travelled between Berlin and Paris three times a week. visitBerlin welcomes this innovation.

Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitBerlin: ‘At last, the two major European metropolises will be conveniently linked again. The connection is not new, it has a long tradition. Travellers will be able to build on this. ’

Berlin is popular with French travellers
Last year alone, the number of overnight stays by French guests in Berlin was 9.2 per cent higher than in 2022. This year, up to and including August, there has even been an increase of 10.9 per cent with 433,644 overnight stays. visitBerlin firmly expects this trend to continue.

Cross-border rail travel is more in demand than ever before. In 2023, 24 million travellers travelled internationally by Deutsche Bahn. This corresponds to an increase of 21 per cent compared to the last pre-corona year 2019. On individual routes, the increase in passenger numbers between 2022 and 2023 alone was more than 20 per cent. In order to cope with the increasing demand, new connections were launched and longer trains were used.

Stopover at the European Parliament
The route runs via Frankfurt am Main (South), Karlsruhe and Strasbourg. This means that the headquarters of the European Parliament can now also be reached directly from Berlin. The journey time for the 878-kilometre route is around eight hours. Departure from Berlin Central Station is daily at 11.54 am, the train in Paris Gare de l'Est departs at 9.55 am. Ticket prices start at around 60 euros for second class and around 100 euros for first class. The train offers a total of 444 seats, 111 of which are in first class. The train reaches a maximum speed of 320 kilometres per hour on the French high-speed LGV Est line.

And the journey continues
Together with the German National Tourist Board, visitBerlin is planning various marketing measures for the new Berlin-Paris connection in the future. Online campaigns and media events are planned, for example. Deutsche Bahn and the French SNCF are also on board with these projects.