A brand new direct high-speed practice has been launched connecting two of Europe’s greatest cities.

Germany and France on Monday launched the practice between Berlin and Paris, a connection hailed as a logo of a detailed friendship between the 2 nations.

Germany and France are the European Union’s two most populous nations and its greatest economies. Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner stated the brand new railway connection, operated in collaboration with France’s SNCF, “can also be a superb image of the German-French friendship.”

The transfer can also be being offered as an indication of Europe’s potential to draw extra vacationers to the rails.

The bullet practice, nonetheless, is unlikely to be a game-changer. At about eight hours, the once-a-day service with German operator Deutsche Bahn‘s ICE trains provides a rise in comfort relatively than any main time saving in contrast with different, oblique connections.

The launch comes as Deutsche Bahn works to shed its repute for the unreliability it has constructed up over current years. Final month, solely 60% of its long-distance trains arrived at their vacation spot punctually — outlined as below six minutes late.

The state-owned operator has launched into a drive to enhance the state of affairs by 2027 and is aiming for punctuality of greater than 75%.

A key a part of that may be a marketing campaign to modernize dozens of stretches of railway. The primary a part of that program was accomplished when one of many nation’s busiest routes, a 70-kilometer (45-mile) stretch between Frankfurt and Mannheim, reopened Sunday — on time — after 5 months of closure for an overhaul of tracks, stations and different infrastructure.

The federal government blames long-term underinvestment by its predecessors for issues with the railway.

The brand new practice stops en route in Frankfurt, Karlsruhe and the French metropolis of Strasbourg, one of many European Parliament’s properties. The westbound practice is scheduled to reach in Paris simply earlier than 8 p.m., whereas the eastbound one arrives in Berlin simply after 6p.m.

There may be additionally a slower direct in a single day practice between the 2 capitals, 3 times every week. That connection was launched final 12 months by Austrian operator ÖBB, which has spearheaded one thing of a revival of evening trains in Europe after some railways minimize them again or deserted them totally. Deutsche Bahn ended its sleeper service on the route 10 years in the past.

The brand new Berlin-Paris ICE is a part of the annual mid-December shakeup of European practice timetables. Amongst different issues this time round, there’s additionally a brand new direct high-speed practice connection between Munich and Amsterdam, a seven-hour journey.

German Transport Minister Volker Wissing additionally stated it’s greater than “only a new, extra provide.” He stated, “we nonetheless have plenty of potential to get as many individuals as potential onto the rails inside Europe with engaging provides, together with for longer journeys and dwell out this friendship.”