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> as high-speed trains need to have at least one stop in every federal state This is not correct. The Frankfurt-Berlin Sprinter, for example, is nonstop. It t

> as high-speed trains need to have at least one stop in every federal state This is not correct. The Frankfurt-Berlin Sprinter, for example, is nonstop. It takes about 3h 50-55min. Connections with 6 to 8 additional stops take not much long, though: around 15 to 20 min. more. Less than 3 min. more per stop. The biggest problem with trains is Germany, in my opinion, is not speed, but the unreliability of the connections.

ThePhysicist 4y ago
Yeah there are exception, but in general it's very difficult to get a train pass through a federal state without stopping, at least if a new track is needed. The high-speed connection from Berlin to Munich needed to go through the "Thüringer Wald" due to political intervention, which added tremendous cost and delay to the whole project.
- Archelaos 4y ago
  You are right that that some train stops only exist for very peculiar reasons, such as Montabaur on the Cologne-Franfurt line. However, regarding the high-speed connection Munich-Berlin, the question was not so much whether to got through the Thüringer Wald (via Efurt), as the alternative would have meant to cross the Thüringer Schiefergebierge to the east (via Leipzig–Probstzella–Hochstadt-Marktzeuln), but whether building the line is worth the high costs at all. There are quite a lot of "Inter City" railway stations in Germany.[1] This reflects the situation that Germany has not many large cities (only four have more than 1 mil. inhabitants), but a lot of medium sized ones (80 of over 100,000 inhabitants). Sometimes there are "Inter City" stops at small towns with important companies, such as Walldorf, where SAP is located. So the focus is not on connecting distant cities, but on train rides in the 50 to 150 km range. (Long distance commuting averages around 100 km.) [1] The German Wikipedia has a list: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Bahnh%C3%B6fe_mit_Halt_von_Intercitys_der_Deutschen_Bahn https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Bahnh%C3%B6fe_mit_Ha...

ThePhysicist 4y ago

Yeah there are exception, but in general it's very difficult to get a train pass through a federal state without stopping, at least if a new track is needed. The high-speed connection from Berlin to Munich needed to go through the "Thüringer Wald" due to political intervention, which added tremendous cost and delay to the whole project.

Archelaos 4y ago
You are right that that some train stops only exist for very peculiar reasons, such as Montabaur on the Cologne-Franfurt line. However, regarding the high-speed connection Munich-Berlin, the question was not so much whether to got through the Thüringer Wald (via Efurt), as the alternative would have meant to cross the Thüringer Schiefergebierge to the east (via Leipzig–Probstzella–Hochstadt-Marktzeuln), but whether building the line is worth the high costs at all. There are quite a lot of "Inter City" railway stations in Germany.[1] This reflects the situation that Germany has not many large cities (only four have more than 1 mil. inhabitants), but a lot of medium sized ones (80 of over 100,000 inhabitants). Sometimes there are "Inter City" stops at small towns with important companies, such as Walldorf, where SAP is located. So the focus is not on connecting distant cities, but on train rides in the 50 to 150 km range. (Long distance commuting averages around 100 km.) [1] The German Wikipedia has a list: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Bahnh%C3%B6fe_mit_Halt_von_Intercitys_der_Deutschen_Bahn https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Bahnh%C3%B6fe_mit_Ha...