It's not like there aren't gaps in the European HSR network either... The French failure to finish off LGV Rhin-Rhone is perhaps the most egregious, but there'e plenty of other elements you'd question (No HS link east of Amsterdam, the Brussels-Antwerp gap, etc.)We can't get HS2 built in full and yet Europeans are connecting each others' cities for c£57 per ticket.
According to DSO, it would go via the Lehrter Bahn.
I guess those... err... historical demand spikes... were focussed more on capacity than speed?
That's because the EU can only do what its member states agree on, and their transport ministers are often heavily lobbied by their own railways, who would like to be given lots of money to invest in lots of concrete for their domestic networks.
Both! The demand in 1870 led to the construction of the Kanonenbahn which linked Berlin to the Rhine via as few bottlenecks as possible. By the time it was complete the border had moved - the construction of another border post WW2 spelt the end for most of its central section - though its western end is still crucial. Interestingly, the desire to avoid delays to military logistics was also one of the prime movers behind the Berlin Stadtbahn.
I'm one of those. Flying is an increasingly wretched experience these days.
It also builds ridership to justify more investment in infrastructure though. It's only 1h44 on LGV Est to Strasbourg, then the lines just across the German border towards Frankfurt are being upgraded towards a max speed of 155mph up to Frankfurt, then the 186mph Gelnhausen to Fulda HSL is being planned and there's an approx. 60 mile gap on the classic network between Fulda and near Eisenach, where upgrading isn't planned as far as I can see, before you reach the upgraded and new HSL route all the way to Berlin.
I'm guessing you mean that the cities / urban areas are equivalent sizes, although I suspect Berlin has a lower proportion of (business in particular?) international travel demand for Germany as a whole than London, Paris or Prague do for the UK, France or Czechia.
Competing with Red Eurostar on its prime route not to mention crewing costs for 1tpd. Whereas this is an extension of the existing cooperation - and provides a Berlin-Strasbourg link among others.
If you can find a good path. The current plan via Strasbourg can theoretically also be done faster, e.g. by not going via Darmstadt, but I suppose paths are scarce around Frankfurt. Adding a fast train around Brussels and Cologne won't be easy either.
Plus you can do useful stuff during that time, whether its work or reading or whatever you define as useful. Air travel is a succession of queues and walks with the actual time in the air having very little time or space to do anything.
That feels like it is a long way round to get from London to Berlin? Better bet would be Eurostar to Amsterdam for the NS/DB IC service to Berlin.
i suspect if they get alot of people missing the connection (and trying to use HONAT as a result) they may shift the timing to help
From December the only one-stop daytime option between Berlin and London exists via Amsterdam, indeed.
it kind of is, seems to take one of the Paris-Frankfurt trains and extends it to Berlin using existing slots on that route (looks to be ICE 796 from a quick look at DB)
don’t think it’s a big downer for people in Europe
The secret way is to jump on the 12:25 ICE 315 from Brussels and change to the twice-daily direct Aachen-Berlin ICE with a comfortable 53-minute connection in Aachen.
The idea that any trains on the continent are intended to assist with travel to and from Great Britain is a little bizarre. Where is that the case anywhere? There are a handful of services through the tunnel per day, and that's it.
That's just random chance though, not a recommendation for a connection. The journey time for this is so long as to be almost intolerable anyway, given queuing and checking in.
I think they would expect you to do this via Amsterdam.
Really though? It's a journey nearly eleven hours long without any through ticket availability, no matter which way you go. Plus around an hour allowance for check in, border control and security. Realistically this is just not something with appeal beyond us as enthusiasts.
Why on earth would you want to connect to this train from London? You can leave London an hour later, change at Brussels and Cologne, and get into Berlin an hour earlier.
