Köln / Cologne / Koeln to Berlin by train

How to take a rail journey from Cologne/Köln to Berlin

As is the norm when travelling between major German cities by train, smart ICE trains provide hourly direct connections throughout the day on this route, so this is typically a very straightforward journey.

And now there are also three additional 'Sprinter' services per day which are non-stop from Köln to Berlin
Then for travel overnight, sleeper trains aren't available on this route, but one of the ICE trains is made available.

Cities including Aachen, Bonn and Koblenz have less frequent trains from Berlin, so when the timings of those trains don't suit, connections are available in Koln hbf.

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Routes

Option 1: taking the more frequent regular services

Travel Information

Final Destination: Berlin Ostbahnhof station, which lives up to it name with a location to the east of the city centre.

All trains also call at: Bielefeld, Hannover and Berlin-Spandau*

*If your final destination is in West Berlin, the fastest option is usually to leave these trains at Berlin-Spandau and connect there into S-Bahn commuter trains or Regio trains.
The station in the heart of West Berlin is Zoologischer-Garten, but these reguklar ICE trains do not call there.

Check your onward connections in Berlin on this public transport map.

1 x train per hour

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: 6 months ahead of the travel date

Reservations are highly recommended for this journey, book a 1st class ticket and your seat will be assigned, but not if you book 2nd class or will be travelling with a rail pass.

When looking for tickets from Köln on DB Bahn type ‘K‘ or 'COLOGNE' into the ‘from‘ box and not ‘Ko‘.

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 ICE 
    (and only ICE) in the Products 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.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
DB from €17.90

DB Guide

DB is the national railway operator in Germany, so its website can be used for booking journeys by German express trains; the ICE and IC trains and it doesn't charge booking fees.
It also sells tickets for journeys by direct trains on all international routes from Germany regardless of whether DB is operating the train service.

It also sells an extensive range of end-to-end journeys which involve making connections both within Germany and in neighboring countries, but journeys between Germany and Britain cannot be booked on DB.

A key feature of DB website worth keeping mind is that it offers 1st class ticket purchasers complimentary seat reservations on journeys both within and to/from Germany.
Seat reservations for daytime in both 1st and 2nd class can also be booked separately from tickets.

Two types of ticket have recently been made available;

  1. Cheaper 'Young' tickets which can only be booked by those aged 15-26 on the travel date.
  2. Flexi Plus tickets, which are now the most expensive type of ticket, but they're the only type of 2nd class tickets which DO include a seat reservation.
Trainline from €17.90

Trainline Guide

Happy rail from €17.90

Happy rail Guide

Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.

HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.

Save A Train from €17.90

Save A Train Guide

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - NoHigh Speed (partial journey)

This a journey on which we recommend having something to do on the trip, as it's a train ride with few wow moments.

A highlight of the train comes near the beginning, with the views over the city of Wuppertal, on the left hand side.
Between there and Bielefeld, the train will pass through an industrial landscape.

The train will travel at more than 250 km/h on a high speed line between Wolfsburg and Berlin-Spandau.

Option 2: Taking the faster Sprinter services

Travel Information

These 'Sprinter' services are typically schedule to depart daily from Koln at 06:17, 12:17 and 18:17.

In addition to Berlin Hbf and Berlin Spandau, which are served by all of these ‘Sprinter’ services, the trains go on terminate at different stations in the German capital.

Final Destinations:
Berlin Sudkreuz - the first two trains of the day
Berlin Ostkreuz - the final train of the day

Though what’s particularly noteworthy is that final departure of the day from Koln is the first ICE service in more than 10 years to call at Berlin Zoologischer Garten station, the main station in West Berlin.

3 x trains per day

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date - usually

Reservations:

Book 1st class ticket journey tickets 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.
Though for this comparatively short journey the reservation fees of €4.50 in 2nd class and €5.90 in 1st class are relatively expensive.

Finding Tickets:

When making an online booking, if you want to target these 'Sprinter' services, target the usual departure times of 06:17, 12:17 and 18:17; these trains aren't typically more expensive than the slower, regular ICE trains.

On the DB booking site look for journeys that have
0 in the Chg. column
ICE (and only ICE) in the Products column.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
DB from €17.90

DB Guide

DB is the national railway operator in Germany, so its website can be used for booking journeys by German express trains; the ICE and IC trains and it doesn't charge booking fees.
It also sells tickets for journeys by direct trains on all international routes from Germany regardless of whether DB is operating the train service.

It also sells an extensive range of end-to-end journeys which involve making connections both within Germany and in neighboring countries, but journeys between Germany and Britain cannot be booked on DB.

A key feature of DB website worth keeping mind is that it offers 1st class ticket purchasers complimentary seat reservations on journeys both within and to/from Germany.
Seat reservations for daytime in both 1st and 2nd class can also be booked separately from tickets.

Two types of ticket have recently been made available;

  1. Cheaper 'Young' tickets which can only be booked by those aged 15-26 on the travel date.
  2. Flexi Plus tickets, which are now the most expensive type of ticket, but they're the only type of 2nd class tickets which DO include a seat reservation.
Omio from €17.90

Omio Guide

Omio is an online ticket agency which offers tickets for rail journeys in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain.

The three key advantages of using Omio are

  • it offers prices in multiple currencies
  • it usually offers price comparison with other modes of travel including flights and buses
  • when visiting Europe, you can book journeys in multiple countries in one transaction.

The disadvantage of booking with Omio is that it often adds a booking fee to the final price; therefore when it does so without offering a price advantage, SMTJ doesn't tend to offer Omio as a booking option.

Save A Train from €17.90

Save A Train Guide

Happy rail from €17.90

Happy rail Guide

Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.

HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - NoNot High Speed

Good to Know

These 'Sprinter' trains take the same route from Köln to Berlin as the regular ICE services between the two cities; they're around 20mins faster because they skip all the intermediate station calls.

Although what is a tad disappointing is that these new ‘Sprinter’ services don’t enhance any international rail travel opportunities.
Frustratingly an ICE from Bruxelles will get into Koln, only 3 mins after the 12:17 ‘Sprinter’ will leave for Berlin.

Restaurant cars are included on the trains used for these 'Sprinter' services, but they are not available on the regular, slower departures.

Travelling with bicycles:

As ICE 4 trains are used for these services, these are the only trains on the Koln/Cologne to Berlin route on which non-folding bicycles can be taken on board.

Final Destination: Koln Hbf or Koblenz Hbf

All trains also call at: Berlin-Spandau; Wuppertal

The train will commence its journey at Berlin Gesundbrunnen.

At Berlin Hbf the train should depart from the lower level (tief) platforms/gleis.

The train heading to Koln or Koblenz will be joined to another train heading to Dusseldorf.
The trains are seperated on arrival at Hamm (West).

So check the electonic departure screens on the gleis/platform at Berlin Hbf, so that you're waiting in the right zone for easy boarding into the train heading to Koln/Cologne

Option 4: taking the FlixTrains

Travel Information

Final Destination: Berlin Sudkreuz or Leipzig

Most trains also call at Berlin-Spandau

Monday = 1 x train
Friday = 2 x trains
Saturday = 1 x train
Sunday = 2 x trains

The timetable

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: up to 3 months ahead

Something to be aware of when booking tickets for journeys by FlixTrain is that Flix is predominantly a bus operator, so the train travel options for booking tickets are listed alongside the bus travel options; also some of the info around ticket exchanges and FAQs in general can point at the FlixBus website.
To make a it easier to hone in on a train journey it can be a good idea to look up the timetables to check the departure times which suit and then keep these times in mind looking for your rail ticket(s).

Much of the general advice around booking and using rail tickets in Germany doesn't apply to journeys by FlixTrain.
Tickets booked with DB, the German national rail operator, can't be used on FlixTrains, as Flix has used its own terms and conditions and set its own policies for how its tickets can be booked and used.

What are particularly different from DB is the reservation / seat selection on FlixTrain and how tickets can be exchanged (how tickets can be exchanged on FlixTrain also applies to FlixBus).

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
Flix *

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - NoNot High Speed

Final Destination: Koln Hbf or Koblenz Hbf

All trains also call at: Berlin-Spandau; Wuppertal

The train will commence its journey at Berlin Gesundbrunnen.

At Berlin Hbf the train should depart from the lower level (tief) platforms/gleis.

The train heading to Koln or Koblenz will be joined to another train heading to Dusseldorf.
The trains are seperated on arrival at Hamm (West).

So check the electonic departure screens on the gleis/platform at Berlin Hbf, so that you're waiting in the right zone for easy boarding into the train heading to Koln/Cologne

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