The official inauguration of the new direct rail connection linking Prague, Berlin and Copenhagen marked another important milestone in the development of cross-border passenger rail in Europe.
Representatives from Deutsche Bahn (DB), České dráhy (ČD), Danish State Railways (DSB), the European Commission and key stakeholders gathered in Berlin to celebrate the launch of this strategic international service, followed by a reception hosted at the Royal Danish Embassy.
UIC attended the event, underlining its continued commitment to supporting the development of attractive, interoperable and customer-oriented international rail services.
A flagship European pilot project
The new service is part of the European Commission’s pilot initiative to foster new cross-border passenger rail connections. The project forms one section of the wider Paris–Berlin–Prague–Warsaw corridor, one of Europe’s priority international rail initiatives.
The direct connection currently offers a journey time of around 11 hours between Prague and Copenhagen, while travel between Berlin and Prague takes approximately four hours. Looking ahead, the completion of the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link, the 18-kilometre tunnel connecting Germany and Denmark, is expected to reduce overall journey times by around 90 minutes, significantly improving the competitiveness of rail on this corridor. (....)