German railway news
News about railway, metro and tram infrastructure, operations, policy, projects and the supply industry in Germany, from Railway Gazette International.
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NewsEurostar and DB develop plans to launch direct London to Germany trains
EUROPE: Eurostar and Deutsche Bahn are working together to develop plans to launch direct high speed train services between London and major German cities such as Köln and Frankfurt in the early 2030s.
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NewsTram tunnel firefighting robot unveiled
GERMANY: Austrian company Rosenbauer and Augsburg fire service have unveiled a prototype firefighting robot for use in the tram tunnel now being completed under the city’s main railway station.
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NewsPlasser & Theurer wins large order for digitalised tampers
GERMANY: Plasser & Theurer has announced an ‘impressive’ large order to supply the national railway’s DB Bahnbau Gruppe construction business with 18 UnimatExpress 2X-4x4 Dynamic high-capacity tamping machines.
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NewsDB InfraGO orders ‘green steel’ rails
GERMANY: Infrastructure manager DB InfraGO has awarded Saarstahl Rail a contract to supply an pilot batch of ‘green steel’ rail for use in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland.
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NewsDB InfraGO embraces artifical intelligence to support train dispatchers
GERMANY: Infrastructure manager DB InfraGO is rolling out an AI assistance tool for its dispatchers, with the aim of developing a fully digitalised decision-making workflow to improve regulation of trains on busy routes by 2027.
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NewsAugsburg orders tramway rail grinder
GERMANY: Augsburg public transport operator SWA has ordered a MPV VentuS-NV rail grinding and maintenance vehicle from Windhoff Bahn & Anlagentechnik for use on its tram network.
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NewsDSB’s Talgo trains enter service on København – Hamburg route
DENMARK: The first of the Talgo 230 trainsets ordered for DSB’s long-distance and international routes enters passenger service between København and Hamburg.
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NewsGATX opens wagon training academy to keep its expertise on track
GERMANY: Wagon leasing company GATX Rail Europe says the opening of its technical and safety training centre at Lehrte marks ‘the start of a new chapter in how we transfer expertise across the company’.
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NewsEurostar orders Celestia double-deck high speed trains
EUROPE: Eurostar has announced a €1·4bn order for 30 Alstom Avelia Horizon double-deck high speed trainsets, with options for 20 more.
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NewsLow floors meet high speeds as DB unveils ICE L fleet
GERMANY: DB and manufacturer Talgo has unveiled an ICE L inter-city trainset at Berlin Ostbahnhof, saying the fleet would set standards for accessibility and family friendliness.
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NewsDB to expand half-hourly network with December 2025 timetable change
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn’s December timetable change will bring a near-doubling of destinations served by half-hourly ICE services.
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NewsGemini selects high speed train supplier for planned Uber-branded Eurostar competitor
EUROPE: Aspiring Channel Tunnel high speed train operator Gemini Trains has selected Siemens Mobility Velaro Novo trainsets for its proposed services from London to Paris, Brussels and Köln.
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NewsAlstom tests diesel to hydrogen shunting locomotive conversion
GERMANY: A diesel shunter which has been converted to the direct combustion of hydrogen is on test to assess the viability of reducing carbon emissions from existing locomotives with many years of life remaining.
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NewsSiemensbahn restoration partnership agreed
GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has awarded contracts to nine companies for work on the reactivation of the disused Siemensbahn as part of the Berlin S-Bahn network.
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NewsParis to Wien and Berlin night trains to end after French government withdraws subsidy
EUROPE: The Paris – Wien and Paris – Berlin sleeper train services are to end with the December 14 2025 timetable change, following the French Ministry of Transport’s decision to withdraw funding for their operation.
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NewsSiemens Mobility starts work on €35m train battery system factory
GERMANY: Siemens Mobility begins construction of a rolling stock battery system factory with a groundbreaking ceremony at Luhe-Wildenau in Bayern.
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NewsGerman transport minister announces ‘new start’ for Deutsche Bahn
GERMANY: Federal Minister of Transport Patrick Schnieder has announced a ‘new start’ for national railway group Deutsche Bahn, which is to be reformed with a simplified structure and a greater separation between its train operating business and infrastructure arm DB InfraGO.
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NewsHalle takes a leap into the future as its first Tina tram enters trial service
GERMANY: The first of 56 Stadler TINA trams ordered by Halle municipal operator HAVAG has entered trial operation on routes 1, 2 and 3.
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NewsSmall-profile Type JK trains enter service on the Berlin U-Bahn
GERMANY: Berlin transport operator BVG has put the first of its small-profile Type JK metro cars into passenger service with a ceremony at Deutsche Oper station.
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In depthComment: A change of direction
The future of the German rail network is once again in the spotlight. With Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder describing DB’s situation as ‘dramatic’, our Senior Editor Chris Jackson explains why all eyes wil be on Berlin in September as a potentially major policy reset looms.