There is an effort on both sides of the Dutch-German border to decrease the amount of travel time between Amsterdam and Berlin.
The Germans are working on plans to increase their train’s speed and to cut down the number of stops between the two cities. In doing this, they hope to cut the almost six and a half hour journey down by a whole hour.
We may be about to lose our precious Amsterdam-London route, but at least the German capital will start to feel closer!
However, let’s not get too excited. This process will take some time. Currently, the German Ministry of infrastructure hopes to achieve this one hour cut by 2030.
What will the Germans do?
The plan on the German side is to reduce the number of stops between Amsterdam and Berlin. Under this plan, the faster train would only stop at Rheine, Osnabrück, Hanover and Berlin Spandau in Germany.
This shaves down the route considerably and allows the train to get from A to B (literally) much faster.
What is also great about this plan is that the current stops between Amsterdam and Berlin will still need to be covered, so a second, slower train (which will still run 35 minutes faster than the current route) will remain running to serve these regions.
The people in areas such as Bünde, Bad Oeynhausen and Minden will not be forgotten and even better, trains between Amsterdam and Berlin will run approximately every hour instead of every two hours!
What will the Dutch do?
This is a two-sided project and so the Dutch also hope to decrease the travel time between the two cities by half an hour. While this is not as drastic a cut as the Germans, the Dutch hope to have these changes implemented much sooner — in the year 2024 (who knows, maybe the pandemic will even be over by then!)
Indeed, “the plans are well aligned,” a spokesman for the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management tells Treinreiziger.nl. This is certainly helped by the fact that the Dutch cabinet has set aside €50,000,000 to improve the infrastructure between the two countries.
New trains that run in both countries
Both Dutch and German train tracks will also enjoy brand new trains on the Amsterdam to Berlin route by 2024. “According to Deutsche Bahn, which has ordered the trains, production is on schedule and the trains will be available in time to run on the 2024 timetable,” the spokesman says.
The trains are supported on both German and Dutch tracks meaning that a locomotive change will no longer be necessary — another time saver!
Will you be rejoicing after hearing these plans for the Amsterdam to Berlin route? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Feature Image: jonasreichard/Pixabay
Nee. de route UK en Amsterdam is de belangrijkster!!!!!!!!