Trenitalia's Frecciarossa to ready to debut in Austria and Germany in summer 2027.
Milan-Munich and Rome-Munich trains
Technical trials are under way for the Frecciarossa’s debut on railways in Germany and Austria, with the first commercial services scheduled for summer 2027, once the international type-approval process for the new trains has been completed. The project for the new high-speed connections, which Trenitalia, an FS Group company, will implement alongside Deutsche Bahn and ÖBB, took centre stage at the latest edition of InnoTrans 2026. The service will include the first journeys on the Milan–Munich and Rome–Munich routes, marking a new phase in the Frecciarossa’s expansion beyond national borders.
"A new way of travelling"
“It gives us great satisfaction to bring the Frecciarossa to Germany and, together with Deutsche Bahn and ÖBB, to launch a new phase of our international expansion,” said Simone Gorini, managing director Trenitalia. -The Frecciarossa will offer German and Austrian travellers the chance to discover and experience a new way of travelling that combines comfort, quality and speed. The services to Munich are a further step in the international growth of Trenitalia and the entire FS Group and confirm our commitment to bringing to European passengers the know-how and experience we have developed in Italy in the high-speed rail sector.”
In 2028 expanding to ten connections
The initial service will comprise four services on the Milan–Munich and Rome–Munich routes. The journey from Milan will take around six and a half hours, with stops at Brescia, Verona, Rovereto, Trento, Bolzano and Innsbruck. From Rome, the journey is expected to take around eight and a half hours, with stops at Florence, Bologna, Verona, Rovereto, Trento, Bolzano and Innsbruck. The opening of the Brenner Base Tunnel will reduce journey times by around one hour. From December 2028, the full service will expand to ten connections between Italy and Germany, on routes linking Milan, Rome and Munich, with extensions to Naples and Berlin.
Frecciarossa 1000 high-speed trains
The trains operating will be the Frecciarossa 1000, Trenitalia’s high-speed train which complies with European technical specifications for interoperability and is designed to run on the rail networks of Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium, overcoming differences in power supply and signalling systems. After France and Spain the Frecciarossa is thus set to reach Germany too, moving towards the goal of a high-speed European metro capable of connecting some of the continent’s major cities. The new connection will also be able to meet the transport demand to other European destinations, including Frankfurt and Kraków, thereby strengthening rail integration between Italy, Germany and Austria.
