Direct train travel to Italy, no transfers needed: Deutsche Bahn (DB) plans to offer direct connections from Munich to Milan and Rome starting at the end of 2026. The Italian high-speed train Frecciarossa will be used in Germany for the first time, Deutsche Bahn announced in Munich on Wednesday. Initially, the trains will run once a day.
The Frecciarossa will take around six and a half hours to cover the 600-kilometer route from Munich via Innsbruck, Bolzano, Verona and Milan. Rome is another 300 kilometers and two and a half hours longer. According to the plans, the train will continue from Verona to Bologna, Florence and then to the Italian capital. The project is a cooperation between DB, the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and the Italian company Trenitalia. It is part of a pilot project supported by the European Commission.
By the end of 2028, the service is to be expanded to include journeys to Berlin and Naples. In the long term, the route will be offered more frequently and the journey time will be reduced by one hour from the end of 2032, when the Brenner Base Tunnel is completed. The rail companies want to give the “booming international rail traffic” a further boost with their project, explained Michael Peterson, DB Board Member for Long-Distance Passenger Transport.
The representatives of the rail companies also referred to the importance for the environment. “Especially in the sensitive Alpine region, every passenger who chooses to travel by train instead of by car or plane is a benefit for the environment and the climate,” explained ÖBB board member Sabine Stock.
Trenitalia's 200-metre-long trains are currently being technically adapted for use in Germany and Austria. This will be followed by "extensive test and approval runs in all three countries". The trains have 462 seats in four comfort categories. In addition to Italy, they are currently also in operation in Spain and France.
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