New train connection
This is what the new Intercity offers from Berlin towards the Baltic Sea
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The new Intercity now runs every two hours towards the Baltic Sea. What the train offers passengers.
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The new Intercity arrives at Berlin Central Station.
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Photo: Maurizio Gambarini / FUNKE FotoServices
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Berlin. A tall man is shooing people from the white traffic lane at platform 2, behind it a cameraman shouts: “You too, Superman!” Journalists and photographers flock to the caller, some kneeling. In sight: the rails and the free piece of platform right up to the white line. Behind it, the crowd, shooed away, huddles together to a bunch of smartphone arms.
Berlin Central Station. 1:01 p.m. A train arrives on time. Next to the cockpit window is: “Dresden Eibland”. The spectators hastily type on their mobile devices, and the photographers trigger their cameras even faster. The spectacle at the other end of platform 2 was observed a few minutes earlier. The train with the inscription “Mecklenburgische Ostseeküste” stopped there. Because of the risk of a collision, the two trains were not allowed to enter Berlin at the same time. But now they face each other and dock.
Also read:
These are the new trains from Berlin to Rostock and Dresden
Intercity from Berlin to Rostock: In two hours it’s off to the Baltic Sea
“The new Intercity” is written in white letters on the black front of the train. All around it is white and its shape is aerodynamic, a red stripe separates the windows of the two floors. From a distance it looks like an ICE that has grown up.
With three promises, he arrives at Berlin Central Station on Saturday afternoon: more capacity, greater comfort and faster. The train will travel from the capital to the Baltic Sea in two hours. At the moment, however, the journey doesn’t end at the water, but at the main train station in Rostock. The first trip is at 7.36 a.m. on Sunday, then every two hours, until 9:38 p.m. This doubles the frequency of the trips. From May 19, passengers in Warnemünde should be able to switch almost directly to the ship on the Baltic Sea. That says Matthias Waha, rail spokesman for Berlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
This Saturday, the two trains from Rostock and Dresden on platform two are the focus. One consists of four wagons with 302 seats, 31 of them in first class. The compartments look cozy in the interior: dark seats, dark brown tables and some carpets, plus internet access and sockets on board.
New intercity with less luggage space
But passengers who want to take more than a charging cable and a smartphone with them may experience problems: there are not many storage spaces for luggage, a small backpack can be stowed in the upper deck. Not more. At this point Jörg Pesch also sees a need to catch up for Deutsche Bahn. He is a passenger of the special train from Rostock and thus belongs to a select group of media representatives, local politicians and partners of Deutsche Bahn who were allowed to be on board during the maiden voyage of the new Intercity. Apart from that, Pesch likes the beautiful view in the double-decker. “And the ride was very quiet,” he says.
Mario Bartsch also feels the train calmly. In contrast to the old red diesel locomotives, which are inherently louder and often the wind whistles through the windows in the cockpit. Bartsch is an instructor at Deutsche Bahn and has the privilege of arriving in Berlin on this Saturday with the new train. In the cockpit he feels almost like in an airplane. The trains are actually not entirely new. Both have been on the rails for about two years. Before they were painted white and a red line was drawn through the middle, they were blue and green and carried passengers from A to B in Austria. That is why one of the trains goes from Berlin to Vienna every night for maintenance, says Matthias Waha. “Passengers can also ride here.” This is interesting for students or backpackers. The journey takes around twelve hours overnight and, in addition to a few benches where you could theoretically sleep, there is hardly any space for luggage.
The airport in Schönefeld will also be approached in the future. May 19 is also planned for this, said Waha. Then the train from Warnemünde goes directly to the airport or on to Dresden. And from October 31, the Intercity will stop under BER Airport.
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