Germany’s high speed trains criss-cross the country. Business and leisure travellers can enjoy a very attractive transport system connecting major towns and cities and in neighbouring countries. Currently, the ICE (high speed) service links Hamburg across to Osnabruck, with connections to the Netherlands. It then goes down through the Ruhr Valley through Cologne, with trains going on to Belgium and France. ICE trains continue down to Stuttgart, with links to Switzerland and Italy, across to Munich and around to Berlin, to name but the major lines.
As of May of this year, the new ICE Sprinter will link Cologne to Stuttgart in less than two hours and provide additional services to alleviate the peak periods, primarily in the morning and evenings. There is an additional stop-over in Mannheim. Currently, the journey time is 2 hours and 14 minutes by train. The 377 km journey between the two cities, which normally takes 3 hours 40 minutes by car will take 1 hour 57 minutes by train, meaning considerable time savings for all travellers.
First class travellers can relax on the early morning service (dept Cologne 7h29 – arr Stuggart 9h26) and enjoy a complimentary breakfast, avail of the evening meal service on the return leg (dept Stuttgart 18h33 – arr Cologne 20h29) or enjoy snacks and hot or cold drinks outside of these hours. Second class travellers can enjoy their meal at their seats as the trolley car comes through offering meals and drinks or use the self-service machines in each coach.
For visitors planning to attend this year’s World Cup taking place in June in Germany, this is excellent good news, as all cities where matchs are being played are linked by ICE train services. For more information, please contact your agent.
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