Photo Credit: Deutsche Bahn
A direct, high-speed rail route from Munich to Paris is in the works, the latest sign that cross-country travel via train is taking off in Europe. The Local reported on Germany’s Deutsche Bahn (DB) and French railway SNCF’s plans to add the route, which will become operational at the end of 2026.
The new Munich-to-Paris voyage will feature both German and French trains and five daily direct connections. Right now, there is only one such daily route. The two operators were buoyed by the successful rollout of a direct Berlin-to-Paris route in 2024 and cited it as a factor in their plans.
“We have above-average advance bookings for the first quarter and the average occupancy rate of the trains is very high,” DB board member Michael Peterson said of the Berlin-Paris route. Around three-quarters of travelers on those trains go the full route, which clocks in at under eight hours.
The news is not just exciting for commuters in that they’ll be provided another option for public transit, but also for the planet. High-speed rail produced one-seventh the pollution of air travel per passenger, according to a Chinese study. Travelers around the globe have raved about its convenience, speed, and comfort.
There are exciting new projects emerging every month in the U.S., like a long-proposed L.A.-to- Las Vegas route. India is making major moves with ambitious plans to expand its rail network. Other parts of Europe like Turkey are also investing in new routes. Meanwhile, China and Japan remain the standard-bearers for this form of travel with some lightning-fast trains.
These trains are looking to run cleaner as well, whether that’s through clean-powered sources like wind or solar, battery train technology, or those that run on hydrogen fuel cells. It can all make a dent in the pollution of global transportation, which accounts for 14% of the world’s pollution, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
It doesn’t seem like this Munich-to-Paris route is anywhere near the end of the expansion, either, as the market seems to have an insatiable appetite for high-speed, convenient travel.
“The boom in international long-distance transport proves that people also want to travel across borders by climate-friendly rail — and are willing to accept longer journey times to do so, as the success of the Berlin-Paris or Frankfurt-Marseille connections shows,” concluded Peterson.
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