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Berlin to Erfurt by train
How to travel from Berlin to Erfurt by train
Erfurt is a great location for a holiday, particularly for those with an interest in railways, and thanks to a relatively new high speed line, it's never been so easy to reach the city from Berlin by train.
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Routes
From Berlin Hbf to Erfurt Hbf
Journey Summary
1hr 40min - 2hr
Daily
Travel Information
Departing from Berlin:
These trains depart from the lower level (tief) in Berlin Hbf.
Final Destination: Munchen; Frankfurt (Main); Augsburg or Wien
All trains also call at: Berlin Sudkreuz - which is to the south of the city centre
Connections are available at Berlin Sudkreuz from S-Bahn trains from the eastern and western edges of the city centre, as well as S-Bahn (local) trains from Brandenburger Tor and Postdamer Platz and Anhalter stations.
S-Bahn trains on line S45 now also link Brandemburg Airport to Sudkreuz.
Check your connections in Berlin on this public transport map.
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date - usually
When making an online booking, check that you’re looking at booking info for the direct trains.
On the DB Bahn booking site look for journeys that have 0 in the Chg. column
Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.
Reservations:
Book 1st class ticket journey tickets and your seat reservation is included - but they're optional when booking 2nd class tickets, or if you will be travelling with a 1st or 2nd class rail pass.
Opting to reserve is particularly recommended if you will be travelling at business hours and/or during the day on Fridays and Sundays.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| DB | from €17.90 |
On this journey
Journey Features
Good to Know
A mix of ICE trains are used on this route, but the ICE 3 trains are typically used on the fastest departures, with ICE 4 trains more often found on the departures which travel via Leipzig.
ICE-1 trains are also used on a few departures, particularly seemingly in the mornings, but the ICE-T trains can also be used
The trains with a journey time of around 1hr 40/45 mins take the direct route, but those with a journey time of around 2hrs travel via Leipzig; where they reverse direction.
Since the opening of the high speed line between Halle and Bamberg; Erfurt Hbf has become a major interchange station on the German rail network.
Primarily because the express trains from Berlin now inevitably take the high speed line, so other towns in Thuringia including Jena, Eisenach, Gotha and Weimar have lost most or all of their direct trains from Berlin.
Hence the usual need to make connections in Erfurt when travelling from the capital to these other towns and cities by train
Scenically this is a dull journey, but shortly after the trains on the direct route depart from Halle, they accelerate to more than 280 km/h as the remainder of the journey is on a high speed line.
Trains which divert off the direct route to travel via Leipzig, reach the high speed line around 10 minutes after they depart from there.
No matter which route the trains take, they will spend the final 40 minutes of the journey travelling at high speed.
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