FIRST DIRECT HIGH-SPEED TRAIN LINKING BERLIN, PARIS BEGINS OPERATION

 BERLIN, Dec 17 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- The inaugural direct ICE high-speed train connecting Berlin and Paris departed from the German capital on Monday.

The train left Berlin Hauptbahnhof (main station) shortly after noon and is scheduled to arrive in Paris at 7:55 pm, following an approximately eight-hour journey with stops in Frankfurt, Karlsruhe, and Strasbourg. In the reverse direction, trains depart Paris at 9:55 am and reach Berlin at 6:03 pm.

This new service is jointly operated by German rail operator Deutsche Bahn and SNCF Voyageurs, the passenger train division of the French national railway company SNCF.

Tickets start at €59.99 (approximately US$63) for second class and €69.99 for first class. According to Deutsche Bahn, demand has been strong, with nearly three-quarters of bookings covering the entire route between the two capitals.

Previously, direct travel between Berlin and Paris was only possible via a night train, which took around 14 hours, Xinhua quoted a German news agency (dpa) report.

Since 2007, approximately 33 million passengers have travelled on German-French high-speed rail services. With the introduction of this direct ICE route, the number of daily high-speed rail connections between the two countries has increased from 24 to 26. (€1 = US$1.06)

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA