via Enschede to Berlin - High Speed Rail

From Amsterdam via Enschede to Berlin

In two and a half hours to Berlin

The current Amsterdam – Berlin train takes over six hours. And with the reduction of some stops, the trip is currently aimed to reduce to over five and a half hours. But travel by plane or car will remain significantly faster.

With a distance of 650 km, Berlin can be reached within two and a half hours. Half of the route, between Berlin and Hanover, has already been upgraded for speeds of 250 km/h. But for a fast connection, the stretch from Amsterdam to Hanover, will also have to be equipped with high-speed rail.

With a travel time of 2.5 hours from Amsterdam to Berlin, both air and car traffic between these cities will be drastically reduced. And by also running a train that makes a stop in both Enschede and Hanover, these cities will also receive a solid economic boost. In addition, car traffic between these cities will decrease in favor of the environmentally friendly high-speed train.

HSR Madrid – Barcelona as an example

The train between Madrid and Barcelona, with 625 km comparable to the distance Amsterdam – Berlin, took the same slow time until 2008: 6:30 hours.

Since the cities were connected by high-speed rail in 2008, the travel time has been reduced to 2:30 hours. For this, many tunnels had to be drilled, both through mountains and under Barcelona. But since then, more than 4 million passengers use this high-speed connection every year. Use continues to increase every year at the expense of air and car traffic.

Besides a direct connection, there is also a train which (among other things) makes a stop in Zaragoza. Because the train is made accessible via a branch instead of going straight through the city, the non-stop train between Barcelona and Madrid does not have to slow down when passing through Zaragoza.

The operational speed on the route is currently 310 km/h, but because it is designed for a maximum of 350 km/h, travel time could be reduced even further in the future. The European Union has subsidized 25% of the cost of the route.