Railway service on the new ‘Dresdner Bahn’ is set to start from December 14th in Berlin, opening up faster routes to BER airport from most major stations. Here’s how rail traffic in the capital city is changing.
The ‘Dresdner Bahn’, a regional railway route directly linking Berlin and Dresden in two hours is set to launch with the start of Deutsche Bahn’s winter timetable, from December 14th.
The new connection is said to be the biggest improvement for Berlin’s railway traffic in around twenty years, since the city’s new central station (Hauptbahnhof) opened.
For those living in – or flying to and from – the German capital, it will improve travel to Berlin-Brandenburg airport from most major stations by sending the airport express trains (FEX) on a more direct route through the south via Südkreuz.
From the eastern edge of the city the regional lines RB24 and RB32 will then open up direct connections to the airport from Lichtenberg and Hohenschönhausen via Ostkreuz.
Reduced travel times
Airport express trains from Berlin Hauptbahnhof have so far run in a large arc across the northern half of the city to Ostkreuz and then south to the airport, taking around 40 minutes.
From December 14th, FEX trains will depart Hauptbahnhof every 15 minutes, and will instead run south and stop at Potsdamer Platz and Südkreuz – cutting the travel time to the airport nearly in half, to just over 20 minutes.
Connecting to the new, faster route will reduce airport travel times from many central locations in the city. In other places new or adjusted regional connections will also support faster travel.
Here are the new travel times to BER Airport from December 14th:
- Hauptbahnhof: 21-25 minutes by FEX. (Previously 35 minutes with RE8 or 40 with FEX)
- Lichtenberg: 24 minutes directly with RB24 or RB32 (Previously 25-37 minutes with change in Ostkreuz or Schönefeld)
- Gesundbrunnen: 34-38 minutes with a change at Potsdamer Platz (30-33 minutes directly with the FEX)
- Potsdam Hbf: 48 minutes, direct with RB22 (unchanged)
- Südkreuz: 12-15 minutes by FEX. (So far 38-40 minutes with S45)
- Spandau: 44-55 minutes with change at Hbf (50-53 minutes directly with the RE8)
- Schöneweide: 12 minutes directly with RB24 or RB32 (22 minutes directly with S-Bahn)
- Wannsee: approx. 50-60 minutes with a change from the main station to the FEX (approx. 65 minutes with a change)
Notably, the new route does not improve travel to the airport for passengers coming from Spandau and parts of Wedding.
From Gesundbrunnen station, the journey takes a bit more time and involves changing trains at Potsdamer Platz.
Passengers at BER airport. There will soon be another faster connection to the airport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Fabian Sommer
From Spandau, the journey also involves a transfer at Hauptbahnhof, although passengers who would rather go direct can opt instead for the RE8, which takes about the same amount of time. Travellers from Spandau aiming to transfer to the airport express should note that the RB10 lets off on the same platform where the FEX picks up, whereas the RE2 lets off on the upper level of the station – forcing passengers to navigate to the lowest level.
You can see the new travel times and routes to the airport from more start points on this interactive map provided by the Berlin-Brandenburg Transport Association (in German).
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Changes to the Berlin S-Bahn
With the FEX now bringing passengers directly from Südkreuz to the airport, the S45 line – which had connected the south of the Ringbahn to the airport – is to be cancelled from December 14th.
In its place the S85 will depart from the airport, connecting to the east of the Ringbahn and up to Frohnau Mondays to Fridays. On late evenings and weekends, the S85 ends in Pankow. The travel time to Frohnau is expected to be 71 minutes, or 49 minutes to Schönhauser Allee and 39 minutes to Frankfurter Allee.
Regional traffic
Beyond the city limits, several regional (RE) connections will be extended to the airport, allowing travellers from several cities in Brandenburg to reach the airport without changing trains for the first time.
The RE20, which connects Lübbenau to Berlin Hauptbahnhof will be connected to the airport as will RB22 (Golm-Königs Wusterhausen), RB24 (Blankenfelde-Eberswalde), and RB32 (Ludwigsfelde-Lichtenberg).
The RB32 is also planned to be extended to Oranienburg in February.
The RB23, which ran via the Stadtbahn, will no longer reach the airport.
High-speed and long-distance traffic
High-speed, long-distance (ICE) trains will not be connected to the the airport. Deutsche Bahn has rejected the idea, saying that to do so would extend travel times for all other passengers on those trains. So travellers coming via ICE trains will still need to transfer to local airport connections at Hauptbahnhof, Südkreuz or other stations.
However there is one high-speed train that does stop at the airport, which is on Rostock-Dresden IC line.
This connection is maintained on the new timetable, which will apply until December of 2026.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thelocal.de
