Germany’s new rail timetable starts on Sunday 13 December. Deutsche Bahn has set out the changes in its national and regional press releases, and tickets for the new timetable have been on sale since 14 October through bahn.de and the DB Navigator app.
Deutsche Bahn timetable 2027: the main changes
New ICE sprinters. A new sprinter line links Hamburg and Munich, with three trains a day in each direction stopping only in Hannover and Nuremberg. DB says the journey takes 5 hours 20 minutes, 20 minutes faster than before. Berlin–Stuttgart gets three daily sprinters each way instead of one, taking 4 hours 45 minutes.
Berlin–Hamburg back to every half-hour. DB says the half-hourly service returns after the end of construction restrictions on the line.
A Night ICE from Hamburg. A new overnight ICE leaves Hamburg just after midnight and reaches Frankfurt early in the morning, continuing to Mannheim and Stuttgart.
More Baltic trains. One ICE a day in each direction runs from Warnemünde via Berlin, Leipzig, Frankfurt and Stuttgart to Munich, and a daily ICE links Frankfurt with Rostock and Warnemünde again.
More trains across borders
- Paris: Stuttgart–Paris rises to twelve trains a day, two more than now.
- Vienna: With the Nuremberg–Passau upgrade finished, DB lists 14 long-distance trains a day on Frankfurt–Nuremberg–Vienna. From Saturday 19 December, an evening ICE from Mainz and Frankfurt runs on via Passau to Linz and Vienna.
- Innsbruck: A daily ICE from Kassel to Innsbruck returns, plus an extra Friday train out and Sunday train back.
- Copenhagen: From March, DB plans seven daily trains each way between Hamburg and Copenhagen.
- Italy: Frecciarossa trains, run with Trenitalia, are due to link Munich with Milan and Rome from summer 2027, one train pair a day to each city.
DB also says tickets for operators including ÖBB, SBB, Trenitalia, SNCF and Eurostar can now be booked on bahn.de and in the DB Navigator.
Engineering works to watch in 2027
The new timetable comes with long closures. DB InfraGO is renovating Hannover–Berlin, Hanau–Fulda and Rosenheim–Freilassing/Salzburg, among other main lines. During the Hannover–Berlin works, DB promises at least an hourly direct ICE from North Rhine-Westphalia to Berlin, but about 80 minutes slower. Munich–Salzburg is reduced to three EuroCity pairs a day via Mühldorf. DB says the diversions and longer journey times are already in its journey planner.
What it means for your weekend
Hamburg–Munich and Berlin–Stuttgart become easier to do in a day, and the Night ICE turns a Friday night in Hamburg into a Saturday morning in Frankfurt or Stuttgart. For a December rail trip, see our guides to Berlin, Vienna and the best Christmas markets in Germany. Check your exact train in the DB Navigator before you travel, as times can still change.
Find more rail and strike updates on our news page, including the ÖBB timetable 2027.
