New rail services between France and Germany aim to slash journey times by more than two hours, providing a genuine alternative to short-haul air travel.
From 10 June, journey times will plummet between Paris and the German cities of Frankfurt and Stuttgart, as the high-speed national operators, Deutsche Bahn (ICE) and SNCF (TGV) start services.
Paris-Frankfurt (ICE) now comes down to 4h11min, to be reduced still further to 3h50min by 9 December, while Paris-Stuttgart (TGV) will take 3h40min.
The French trains will operate from Paris via Strasbourg to Stuttgart, while the ICE services will connect the French capital to Frankfurt, via Mannheim, Kaiserslauten and Saarbrucken at speeds of up to 200mph (320kph).
”The ICE is bringing Europe together and from 10 June, we will travel from Paris to Frankfurt with the most modern trains in around four hours,” said Deutsche Bahn chairman of the board, Dr Nikolaus Breuel. ”With this new connection, we are declaring our intention to expand in Europe.”
For business travellers travelling first class, the service will include a selection of newspapers, a taxi order facility for Paris and a light meal served at the seat on international journeys. Staff on board trains will speak French, German and English.
Lufthansa”s published flight time between Frankfurt and Paris is just 1h10min, but the trains are clearly aiming to attract passengers wishing to connect city centre to city centre.