European Rail News & Notes
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Berlin departures

By Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries |

Many readers of the guidebook Europe by Rail have commented on the fabulously complicated arrangements that surround Berlin’s railway stations. To us, it all seems crystal clear, but then we know the city well. To outsiders, it is not always clear which trains stop where. So here’s a general guide. Always check locally just before departure. Engineering work and track maintenance can lead to changes, particularly at night and at weekends.

The information here is valid from Sunday 11 December 2011 (when new rail timetables for the Berlin area, and indeed for much of Europe, come into effect).

Berlin stations: Hauptbahnhof (Hbf), Friedrichstrasse (Fried), Alexanderplatz (Alex), Ostbahnhof (Ost), Lichtenberg (Lic), Gesundbrunnen (Ges), Südkreuz (Süd), Zoologischer Garten (Zoo), Charlottenburg (Cha), Wannsee (Wan). Click on the image below to see a location map of the stations:

Colour key to table: All trains stop at station (= green), most trains stop (= blue), some trains stop here (= yellow).

Key to table: All trains stop at station (= solid border), most trains stop (= dashed border), some trains stop here (= dotted border).

 

Destination Train type Hbf Fried Alex Ost Lic Ges Süd Zoo Cha Wan
Amsterdam IC/CNL                    
Chemnitz VX                    
Cologne ICE                    
Cologne IC                    
Copenhagen ICE/CNL                    
Dessau RE                    
Dresden EC/IC                    
Dresden D                    
Düsseldorf ICE                    
Frankfurt/Main ICE                    
Frankfurt/Main IC                    
Frankfurt/Oder RE                    
Frankfurt/Oder OE                    
Hamburg ICE/IC/EC                    
Kiev D                    
Kostrzyn NEB                    
Kraków EC                    
Leipzig ICE                    
Leipzig X                    
Magdeburg HEX                    
Magdeburg RE                    
Magdeburg IC                    
Magdeburg IRE                    
Moscow EN                    
München ICE                    
München CNL                    
Paris CNL                    
Paris EN                    
Potsdam S                    
Potsdam RE                    
Prague EC/IC                    
Prague D                    
Quedlinburg HEX                    
Szczecin EC                    
Szczecin RE                    
Vienna EN                    
Vienna EC                    
Warsaw EC                    
Wernigerode HEX                    
Zurich CNL                    
Zwickau VX                    

Table last updated on 8.9.14

Here is a key to the train types mentioned in the table above:

Abbreviation Full name
ICE Intercity-Express
IC InterCity
EC EuroCity
EN Euro Night
CNL CityNightLine
D Fast Through Train
IRE Inter-Regio Express
RE Regional-Express
S S-Bahn
NEB Niederbarnimer Railway Local Train
OE Ostdeutsche Railway Local Train
X InterConnex Express (NB. Deutsche Bahn tickets NOT valid)
HEX Harz-Berlin-Express (NB. Deutsche Bahn tickets NOT valid)
VX Vogtland Express (NB. Deutsche Bahn tickets NOT valid)

Copyright © Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries. All rights reserved.
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About The Authors

Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries

Nicky and Susanne manage hidden europe, a Berlin-based editorial bureau that supplies text and images to media across Europe. Together they edit hidden europe magazine. Nicky and Susanne are dedicated slow travellers and the authors of the book Europe by Rail: The Definitive Guide. The 17th edition of that book was published in 2022 and reprinted in July 2023. You'll find a list of outlets that sell the book on this website.

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