From Naples to Berlin aboard the Frecciarossa 1000 hi-speed trains in 2028.
A milestone in sustainable European travel
The new direct rail link will be operational from 2028, a milestone that will be achieved in successive stages thanks to an agreement signed between Trenitalia, the German railway company Deutsche Bahn (Db) and the Austrian railway company Öbb.
In 2028 there will be ten connections between Italy and Germany
In practice, by 2026, new high-speed cross-border connections will be activated between Milan and Munich and Rome and Munich: the first, taking six and a half hours, will include stops in Brescia, Verona, Rovereto, Trento, Bolzano and Innsbruck. The second, with a journey time of eight and a half hours, will include stops in Florence, Bologna, Verona, Rovereto, Trento, Bolzano and Innsbruck. The opening of the Brenner Base Tunnel will reduce journey times by about an hour. Then from December 2028, the complete service will consist of ten connections between Italy and Germany, covering the routes between Milan and Munich; Milan and Berlin; Rome and Munich; Naples and Munich; and Naples and Berlin.
“The train of choice for Europeans and not just Italians”
“Connecting Italy by train with major European cities is one of the strategic objectives of the FS Group,- said Gianpiero Strisciuglio, CEO and managing director of Trenitalia. -Frecciarossa continues to play a leading role on international markets, with the ambition of becoming the train of choice for Europeans and not just Italians. These new connections will be added to those already operating between Milan and Paris. In addition, Eurocity and Euronight connections are operative between Switzerland, Austria and Italy, improving and making connections for business, study and tourism with the rest of Europe more sustainable."
The Frecciarossa 1000 trains are built for European travel
The new service will be operated by the Frecciarossa 1000, Trenitalia's high-speed train, which complies with European technical specifications for interoperability. It has also been designed and built to travel in Italy and on the European rail networks of France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium, as it is able to overcome the differences in power supply and in signalling between the various countries.
A pilot project for the European Commission
The Frecciarossa connection will offer a direct service between Italy and Germany and will also meet transport demand for other destinations such as Frankfurt and Krakow. The rail link project between Italy, Austria and Germany has also been selected by the European Commission as a Pilot Project under the Commission Action Plan and aims to improve international transport services and meet the growing demand for travel between European countries using a sustainable mode of transport such as rail.
