Rail revolution: 17 new direct connections between Germany and Poland!

Rail revolution: 17 new direct connections between Germany and Poland!

From December 2025, travelers can look forward to a significant increase in rail traffic between Germany and Poland. Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the Polish PKP Intercity have announced that they will expand their long-distance transport offerings by more than 50 percent. There are currently 11 direct connections, from December there will be a total of 17, both for outward and return journeys. Michael Peterson, DB board member responsible for long-distance passenger transport, emphasizes the economic and political importance of this expansion.

One of the most exciting innovations is the introduction of a direct train from Leipzig via Wroclaw and Krakow to Przemysl. Travelers from cities such as Munich, Nuremberg or Frankfurt am Main can look forward to shorter travel times. For example, the travel time from Leipzig to Wroclaw is only around three and a half hours. The route between Berlin and Warsaw can now be covered in around five hours without changing trains in Eurocity.

Additional connections and night trains

Another highlight are the additional daily connections every two hours between Berlin and Warsaw, which increase the total number of train pairs to seven. Janusz Malinowski, CEO of PKP IC, emphasizes the great interest in the direct connections to Berlin. The range of night trains is also being increased: a new overnight train is planned between Berlin and Przemyśl, a town on the Polish-Ukrainian border, as well as a connection to Chełm via Łódź and Warsaw. In addition, the existing Munich-Warsaw night train, known as “Chopin”, will receive additional cars for connections between Munich, Kraków and Przemyśl.

These measures are a direct response to the sharp increase in demand for travel between Germany and Poland. The DB most recently transported around 1.8 billion passengers on local and long-distance transport in 2023, which underlines the growing importance of rail transport. The rail share of German passenger transport is 9.5 percent, and the federal government plans to double this by 2030.

A look into the future

With investments of around 16.4 billion euros in the rail network, which are to be made available in 2024, the federal government wants to renew and expand the infrastructure in order to increase punctuality. The train is considered a climate-friendly alternative to cars and airplanes, especially in times of climate change. Despite these positive developments, only 35 percent of Germans say they will use the train instead of the plane when it comes time to plan their trip.

Overall, the new connections between Germany and Poland not only offer convenience, but also an environmentally friendly alternative that helps increase mobility in the region. It remains exciting to see how travelers will react to these new opportunities.