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Berlin to Frankfurt by train
How to travel from Berlin to Frankfurt (Main) by train
What won't be obvious when looking up a journey by train from Berlin to Frankfurt (Main) is that the ICE trains between the two cities now take three different routes:
- Berlin - Halle - Erfurt - Frankfurt (these fastest services are known as 'Sprinter' services)
- Berlin - Halle - Leipzig - Erfurt - Fulda Frankfurt
- Berlin - Braunschweig - Kassel - Fulda - Frankfurt (this route is longest in terms of distance, but much more of this journey is on high speed lines, so journey times are comparable with the second route).
However, the departures are not evenly distributed, there can no departures at all in certain hours, while in others there are trains leaving on all three routes, though two trains per hour is most typical.
The cheaper tickets on the faster trains inevitably sell out faster, but other factors worth keeping in mind when planning this journey are:
- The trains all arrive at the same station in Frankfurt (Main), the main hauptbahnhof (there are some other ICE trains from Berlin to Frankfurt (Main) Sud station, but avoid those if you will be heading to the city centre).
- The trains all depart from the main central station in the capital, Berlin Hbf, but the other stations they call at in the city depends on the route; the trains on that third route via Kassel also depart from Berlin Ost and Berlin Spandau; while the trains on the other two routes also call at Berlin Sudkreuz.
- If you want to travel with a non-folding bicycle you will need to take the ICE 4 trains.
Also note that Frankfurt (Oder) is a different town, which also has direct trains from Berlin, so make sure that you are looking at trains to Frankfurt (Main) when booking tickets online and ignore any info you see for Frankfurt (Oder) when you're at the station.
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Routes
Option 1: the fastest 'Sprinter' services
Journey Summary
3hr 52min - 3hr 54min
Daily
Travel Information
Final Destination: Frankfurt (Main) or Stutgart
At Berlin Hbf these trains usually depart from the lower level (tief) gleis/platforms/tracks.
All trains also call at: Berlin Südkreuz
Connections are available at Berlin Sudkreuz from S-Bahn trains from the eastern and western edges of the city centre, as well as S-Bahn (local) trains from Brandenburger Tor and Postdamer Platz and Anhalter stations.
These are the 'ICE-S/ICE-Sprinter' services between Berlin and Frankfurt.
They are faster than the regular ICE trains as:
(1) They take the new high speed line via Halle and Erfurt;
(2) They also DON'T divert off of the direct route to call at Leipzig.
ICE-Sprinter is a service not a train, the ICE-3 trains used on this route are no different to other ICE-3 trains.
Mon-Thurs = 5 x trains per day
Friday = 6 x trains
Sat/Sun = 4 x trains per day
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
There are two alternative services of ICE trains from Berlin to Frankfurt (Main) - THESE 'Sprinter' trains are the faster of the two, but they're less frequent than the regular ICE trains.
What makes them stand out on the DB booking website is that THESE trains have an 'S' beside the ICE in the 'train details' column.
Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.
Use the earlier/later buttons to search for the cheapest ticket prices.
Reservations:
Reservations are included when booking 1st class tickets, but are optional when booking 2nd class tickets and if you will be travelling with a 1st or 2nd class rail pass.
However, opting to reserve on this route is recommended, particularly if you will be travelling on a Friday or Sunday
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| DB Bahn | from €17.90 | |
| Omio | from €1790 | |
| Save A Train | from €17.90 | |
| Happy rail | from €17.90 |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
On this routing the travel will move on to the high speed line shortly after Halle and then for 40 minutes until Erfurt it will travel at up to 290 km/h.
However, the remainder of the journey on from Erfurt to Frankfurt (Main) is on conventional railway lines.
Option 2: depart in the even hours
Journey Summary
4hr 11 min - 4hr 17min* (approx)
Daily
Travel Information
The new ICE 4 trains are now operating most of the departures on this route via Kassel.
Final Destination: Interlaken Ost or Basel SBB or Frankfurt (Main)
The trains which usually depart from Berlin in even hours are the trains which:
- travel via Kassel
commence their journeys at Berlin-Ostbahnhof - also call at Berlin-Spandau
- have a final destination of Basel or Interlaken
- usually depart from the upper level at Berlin Hbf.
The alternative service of Flix trains:
Flix trains now compete with DB's trains, they now depart from Berlin for Frankfurt (Main) daily AND with an additional departure on Thursday - Sundays.
They aren't high speed trains so the journey time is around 4hr 45 mins.
They also arrive at Frankfurt (Main) Sud station - and not the main station in the city centre - Frankfurt (Main) hbf.
More info and tickets are available on the Flix Trains website.
Rail passes cannot be used on those Flix trains.
7 x trains per day
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
When making an online booking, check that you’re looking at booking info for the direct trains.
On the DB Bahn booking site look for journeys that have:
- 0 in the Chg. column
In some hours there will be an alternative faster ICE-Sprinter train service
Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.
Use the earlier/later buttons to search for the cheapest ticket prices.
Reservations are included when booking 1st class tickets, but are optional when booking 2nd class tickets and if you will be travelling with a 1st or 2nd class rail pass.
However, opting to reserve on this route is recommended, particularly if you will be travelling on a Friday or Sunday
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| DB Bahn | from €17.90 | |
| Happy rail | from €17.90 | |
| Omio | from €17.90 | |
| Save A Train | from €17.90 |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
The trains on this route usually travel on a high-speed line between Kassel and Fulda, but from April 1st until 9th it will be closed due to maintenance work, so the trains will be diverted on to an alternative route, which will add around 45 mins to the journey time.
So between those dates the trains on this route will be much slower than the alternative services.
Journey description:
This is a journey of four distinct phases:
- One of the highlights of the journey comes right at the beginning of the trip when the train travels on a viaduct across Berlin with great views over the city centre.
- Then between Berlin-Spandau until around 10 mins before arrival in Braunschweig the train will be on a high speed line across dull farmland.
- Shortly after Hildeshiem until Fulda, the train will make use of Germany's first high speed line; this is the part of the journey with a wow factor as the train will travel across dozens of viaducts and bridges, which occur as flashes between numerous tunnels.
- Then from Fulda on to Frankfurt the train will travel on a conventional railway
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Option 3: these slightly slower trains can be cheaper
Journey Summary
4hr 11min - 4hr 17min (approx)
Daily
Travel Information
Final Destination: Munchen or Stuttgart
(from Apr 1st to Dec 9th the final destination of these trains will be Basel or Zurich)
These ICE trains:
- travel via Leipzig
- usually depart from Berlin in odd hours
- commence their journeys at Berlin-Gesundbrunnen
- depart from the lower level at Berlin Hbf.
- also call at: Berlin Südkreuz
Connections are available at Berlin Sudkreuz from S-Bahn trains from the eastern and western edges of the city centre, as well as S-Bahn (local) trains from Brandenburger Tor and Postdamer Platz and Anhalter stations.
7 x trains per day
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
Finding tickets:
In some hours there is a faster train service designated ICE S (ICE Sprinter).
When making an online booking, check that you’re looking at booking info for the direct trains - and don't be overly concerned about which route the train will be taking.
The trains via both Kassel and Erfurt will be combined together in the search results.
More important is that you look for journeys that have:
- 0 in the Chg. column
- ICE in the Products column (the trains via Erfurt are ICE-S services)
Use the earlier/later buttons to search for the cheapest ticket prices.
Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.
Reservations:
Book 1st class ticket journey tickets on DB and your seat reservation is included; but they're optional when booking 2nd class tickets, or if you will be travelling with a 1st or 2nd class rail pass.
Opting to reserve is particularly recommended if you will be travelling at business hours and/or during the day on Fridays and Sundays.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| DB Bahn | from €19 | |
| Trainline | from €19 |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
The trains on this route reverse direction on departure from Leipzig
On this routing the travel will move on to the high speed line shortly after Halle and then for 40 minutes until Erfurt it will travel at up to 290 km/h.
However, the remainder of the journey on from Erfurt to Frankfurt (Main) is on conventional railway lines.
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please consider saying thank you.
See if there’s a unique journey guide for your trip, featuring info on the trains, tickets & stations.
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