Getting There By Rail
Deutsche Bahn – DB (tel: 11861 or (0800) 150 7090 or (01805) 194 195; website: www.bahn.de) is the national railway provider. The network is modern, extensive and highly efficient. Services include high-speed InterCityExpress (ICE) trains (between major cities in Germany), InterCity (IC) and EuroCity (EC) trains (serving German and European cities respectively), and InterRegio trains (linking different regions of the country).
The Hauptbahnhof (main railway station), Am Hauptbahnhof Strasse (tel: (069) 2653 4581), is the busiest in Germany and a major junction on the network, with 350,000 passengers using the station every day. Facilities at the station include tourist information, a bank, ATMs, a chemist and many other shops and eating outlets.
Rail services: There are IC and EC services to destinations throughout Germany and abroad, including Basel (journey time – 4 hours) and Berlin (journey time – 7 hours), as well as Bonn, Dresden, Dsseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne, Mainz and Munich. ICE Sprinter trains travel to Munich (journey time – 3 hours 24 minutes), Hamburg (journey time – 3 hours 25 minutes) and Berlin (journey time – 3 hours 29 minutes). There is a CityNightLine service (tel: (01805) 213 421; website: www.citynightline.ch) from Vienna West (journey time – 9 hours) and other destinations, including Berlin, Zrich and Amsterdam. IR, local and S-Bahn trains serve regional destinations.
The airport has its own long-distance train station in the AIRail Terminal, with regular IC services to Basel (journey time – 2 hours 49 minutes), Hanover (journey time – 2 hours 33 minutes), Amsterdam (journey time – 3 hours 37 minutes) and Dsseldorf (journey time – 1 hour 22 minutes) and an ICE service to Stuttgart (journey time – 1 hour 11 minutes).
A new direct ICE service from Cologne allows for faster travel through the Rhine region, with the connection between Kln-Hauptbahnhof and Frankfurt-Hauptbahnhof the fastest on the network at just 70 minutes (58 minutes to Frankfurt Flughafen).
Transport to the city: The Hauptbahnhof is served by numerous underground, S-Bahn trains, trams and buses on the city transport network. Taxis are available outside the station.
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Getting There By Rail