More trains are to run in Germany around the holidays than before. Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer announces a significant expansion of rail traffic.
Around the holidays, there is often a high volume of passengers on Deutsche Bahn. This year, according to German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer, there will be a significant expansion of rail services. He is appealing to the public to take the opportunity to “start the festive season in a climate-friendly and relaxed way.”
What about seats?
With high passenger volumes, seats are often hard to come by. That is set to change over the holidays this year. Scheuer told the Funke-Mediengruppe newspapers that Deutsche Bahn will offer 510,000 seats per day on Christmas services. That is 50,000 seats more than the previous year, the CSU politician said.
The rail offers grow thereby not only in comparison to the first Corona winter but also to the pre-Corona period. According to the Ministry of Transport, around 63,000 more seats per day will be offered in December 2021 than in December 2019.
In addition, so-called amplifier trains will be used over the days of the Christmas traffic, Scheuer said. This would result in “several thousand seats per day” once again.
How many connection offers will there be?
From the timetable change on December 12, the offer of the railroad will increase by eleven percent, it says. For example, Deutsche Bahn is setting up new connections with the ICE Sprinter (an express train that hardly ever stops) between North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin and between Munich and North Rhine-Westphalia.
There will also be a new IC line between Frankfurt and Münster or Dortmund.
How much will prices rise from December?
Passenger numbers plummeted during the pandemic. As a result, the Group as a whole made a loss of 1.4 billion euros in the first six months of 2021.
In view of the gradual return of travellers, Deutsche Bahn wants to return to the black next year. To achieve this, the state-owned company is raising ticket prices by 1.9 percent from December 12.
