Vienna and Berlin to be Connected by Fast Railway

Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany have signed an agreement on connecting Vienna, Prague and Berlin by fast railways. As planned, the travel time from Vienna to Berlin should go down from nearly nine to around four hours.

Austrian Minister of Climate Action Leonore Gewessler points out that the project proves that the railway is a future in Europe when it comes to short and medium length routes.

The construction of the fast railway from Vienna, through Prague, to Berlin, will be completed by the mid-2030s, and the challenging task is the tunnel through the Ore Mountains (Erzebirge).

The rail connection between Dresden and Prague should become a part of the European network of new rail connections, which will also include night trains. The fast railway between Berlin and Dresden should be completed as soon as 2025.

In Austria, the project of the fast railway to Berlin is executed under the name of Via Vindobona. Only a small part of the fast railway from Vienna to Berlin passes through Austria.

The plan is for a trip from Vienna, through Brno, to Prague, to take only two, instead of four, hours, and for a trip to Berlin to take four hours and five minutes.

The fast railway fits into the plans of the European Commission, whose strategy is to reduce the emission of harmful gases in traffic by 90% by 2050.

In order to achieve this, the fast railway network in Europe needs to double, and freight rail transport should grow 50% by 2030.

Ministry of Climate Action of Austria

Via Vindobona

European Commission

Leonore Gewessler

fast railway from Vienna to Berlin