Improved rail services in Germany from December

More trains and more seats from December. Photo: Deutsche Bahn

Delivery of new ICE and IC trains now allow for substantial improvements in German long distance passenger service from December 2021. Related to the Rhine-Alpine corridor, Deutsche Bahn announced several new or improved services:

• Twice daily, a “Sprinter” train will connect Düsseldorf and Munich via Cologne and Frankfurt Airport in just 3:30 hrs.
• One of the services on the Cologne-Frankfurt express line, the bi-hourly trains Munich-Frankfurt-Cologne-Dortmund, will be extended to Hamburg and will operate with substantially longer trains.
• The Dortmund-Frankfurt line across the Sauerland mountains, in recent years mainly a regional line and a freight train alternative to the Rhine valley line, will get long distance traffic back with regular IC services.

Furthermore, partner railroads will operate night trains along the Rhine-Alpine corridor between Amsterdam and Basel / Zürich. Read the whole news here (external link).

Connecting Europe Express: Debate on slow connection Amsterdam – Germany

Photo: Connecting Europe Express

The Connecting Europe Express has toured Europe as a platform for promotion and debate of rail-related activities. At its arrival in Amsterdam, CEO of Dutch national railways NS Marjan Rintel draws attention to the slow connection with Germany. “From Amsterdam you can go to Paris and back, but in that time you travel one way to Berlin. It’s important to adapt our infrastructure to that.” Read the news here (external link).

Container traffic: Worldwide congestion hits Rhine traffic

Contargo barge on the Rhine ©Alexander Hoernigk (via Wikimedia Commons)

While container ports around the world suffer from major congestion, this also hits hinterland connections. Operators on the Rhine experience seriously increased waiting times for their barges at the terminals in Rotterdam and Antwerp, upsetting their schedules. The recent average delay was up to one week.

Contargo, a main hinterland operator on the Rhine, regularly states the current waiting time of their barges in the main ports. They can be seen as typical for the industry. Find the link here.