Germany has officially inaugurated a new high-speed rail route between the two German cities, slashing travel time to four hours from six. Steven Beardsley was aboard one of the first two ceremonial trains.
The ceremonial first journey from Munich to Berlin clocked in at just about four hours, two hours shorter than the previous connection. Over 300 rail and 170 road bridges had to be built along the 623-kilometer (387-mile) route, on which trains can travel at a maxium speed of 300 kilometers per hour (186 mph).
Politically symbolic and technically impressive, the new high-speed rail line between Munich and Berlin also injects some much-needed competition to Germany's long-distance travel market.
By shaving off a third of the travel time between the two cities and speeding up times elsewhere, German rail operator Deutsche Bahn has made passenger rail an even more attractive alternative to flying, in particular.
In the presence of chancellor Merkel, the chief executive of Deutsche Bahn, Richard Lutz (center), described the new rail line as "the biggest improvement in services" since 1994 — the time when the formerly state-owned rail operator became a publicly listed company Image: picture-alliance/dpa/AP/M. Sohn
Struggling air market
It couldn't have come at a more opportune time. The domestic air market is struggling, with Air Berlin gone and Easy Jet still awaiting the green light from European regulators.
Lufthansa raised prices as soon as it took over Air Berlin's old routes. A four-hour rail trip between Berlin and Munich can compete with a 70-minute flight, particularly when airport screenings and delays are factored in. Proximity is also a factor, with rail lines being much closer to the city center than airports.
It's little wonder, then, that Deutsche Bahn is so optimistic about the new line's impact on its bottom line. It believes it will double the number of travelers per year, to 3.6 million passengers.
Berlin-Munich high-speed train line inaugurated
It took 25 years and cost billions of euros to complete the last "German Unity Transport Project." The high-speed railway line between the cities of Munich and Berlin has finally opened.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Woitas
A massive project
Since its conception over 25 years ago, the Intercity-Express (ICE) line connecting Berlin and Munich has drawn much criticism – for instance, as a waste of billions of euros of taxpayer money since it cost about €10 billion ($11.8 billion). The so-called VDE 8 project is now ready and from December 10, the travel time between the two cities will be cut short by two hours to less than four hours.
Image: picture-alliance/ZB/J. Woitas
Is it worth it?
Until its completion, the VDE 8 project repeatedly faced the prospect of ending up as a costly failure. Operator Deutsche Bahn hopes to make the railways more attractive for passengers than budget airlines and long-distance buses. At present, rail transport has a market share of about 20 percent on this route, and Deutsche Bahn wants to raise it to 50 percent.
Image: Deutsche Bahn AG/Frank Barteld
Bridges and tunnels
Over 300 rail and 170 road bridges had to be built. Half of the route runs underground or through valleys. Trains that zip through tunnels at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour (186 mph) lead to a build up of air masses, which can erupt with a bang at the exit. "Hood structures" were built on some portals, so that pressure waves can swirl noiseless and won't cause any trouble.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Schutt
A few highlights
Three times a day, an ICE "Sprinter" runs in both directions and completes a one-way journey in less than four hours. Regular ICE trains take around four and a half hours to cover it. There will be up to 10,000 new ICE train seats per day between Berlin and Munich. Deutsche Bahn had to make the biggest change in its train schedules in its history: a third of all long-distance trains are affected.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
No more gravel
On the new lines, the rails are laid over 160,000 concrete slabs — and no longer on gravel. On such five-ton boards, the rails can be laid down to precision and maintenance costs are lower. The tracks are laid like dominoes — also on bridges and in tunnels, which speeds up construction considerably.
Image: Deutsche Bahn AG/Frank Kniestedt
Freight trains under the earth
Nuremberg is a major freight hub and the route between Nuremberg and Fürth is one of the busiest in Germany. A 13-kilometer-long (8-mile-long) freight train line now relieves this bottleneck. The centerpiece is the 7-kilometer-long tunnel under Nuremberg and Fürth. It's set to come in handy, as by 2025 goods transport by rail is projected to jump by around 60 percent.
Image: DB AG
Tunneling is not free of charge
The high cost of the construction of the railway line will have to be recuperated in some form. Attracting more train passengers is one strategy, and raising ticket prices is another. For a trip between Berlin and Munich, passengers may have to pay up to €150, estimates Deutsche Bahn. That would be a rise of over 13 percent from the current price.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Woitas
Millions of euros for the environment
German BUND environmental organization criticized the railway line construction’s negative environmental impact. But Deutsche Bahn says it has brought back into cultivation an area of around 4,000 hectares (9,884 acres). 600,000 trees have been planted, the company claims.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Woitas
Rich findings for archeologists
In the run-up to the construction, there was a lot to do for archaeologists. The route crisscrosses trade routes that data back thousands of years. Moreover, remains of a 7,000-year-old settlement were discovered, with around 20,000 individual pieces appearing. Also, 150- to 200-million-year-old fossils came to light during the tunnel construction.
Image: Deutsche Bahn
Back on the road to success?
The task now is to persuade people to travel by trains instead of taking to the road or the air. It would certainly help if the trains improved their punctuality. Perhaps the new ICE 4 trains could prove helpful to do this.
Image: Deutsche Bahn/Foto: Detlev Wecke
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Costs, in tickets and taxes
The new line comes at a cost. A ticket between Munich and Berlin on the ICE Sprinter, the thrice-daily train that needs only four hours from city to city, is set at a baseline of €150 ($176), up from €132. Regular fares are also set to increase, with an average 2-percent rise in second-class tickets and 3-percent climb in first-class seats.
Then there are the broader expenses of building the new line. The 26-year project to improve rail travel between the Spree and Isar — formally known as "German Unity Transportation Project Nr. 8" — cost a neat €10 billion of tax-payer money.
Critics have also pointed to the environmental impact of the new line's constructions. Others have criticized its service to larger cities at the expense of smaller regions.
Freight rail also has little to get excited about in the new project. The new line is geared primarily toward passenger rail, meaning Deutsche Bahn will likely continue its struggle to compete with wheeled freight carriers.
Nuremberg is a major German freight hub. A 13-kilometer-long (8-mile-long) freight train line now relieves this bottleneck along the route, with its centerpiece being a 7-kilometer-long tunnel underneath Nuremberg. Deutsche Bahn hopes to get a bigger share of German freight transport, which is expected to grow by 60 percent until 2025.Image: DB AG
A win for large-scale projects
And yet excitement for the project's completion is palpable.
To talk to guests aboard one of the first two ceremonial arrivals in Berlin on Friday was to get a taste of what people see in the new line. Some spoke about the symbolism of running the line through a united Germany. Others welcomed the possibility of avoiding airport lines and delays.
The completion of the rail line is also a positive sign for a country where other major transport projects are caught in snags. Berlin's new airport remains a construction site five years after its scheduled opening. Plans for an additional runway at Munich's airport have run into opposition. Costs continue to rise for a controversial railway development in Stuttgart, meanwhile.
As with each of those projects, the Munich-Berlin route was built in response to trends reshaping German travel and society, from the growing volume of traffic to digitization and climate protection.
Twenty-six years and ten billion euros later, passengers will decide with their wallets whether it was worth it.
