December 12, 2025, 2:09 pm | Read time: 2 minutes
Passengers had to wait a long time for completion: With the timetable change on the third Sunday of Advent, the modernized Dresden Railway is now in operation. The direct train connection to BER Airport is now significantly faster.
The new route is inaugurated by the Airport Express (FEX), which departs for the first time from Berlin Central Station towards BER on December 15 at 12:52 a.m. In the future, the FEX will run every 15 minutes, twice as often as before, without detours and with only two intermediate stops. This reduces the travel time to 23 minutes.
Other trains also benefit: On the 16.2 kilometers of new track with two new tracks and a branch over the Berlin Outer Ring to the airport, regional trains to Rangsdorf and Zossen as well as long-distance trains to Dresden, Prague, and Vienna will also run in the future.
More speed on the new route–but not for ICE
Regular operations on the new route begin on Sunday. Already on the previous Thursday, prominent guests from politics will participate in a special trip starting at Südkreuz station. Test runs were conducted at speeds of up to 220 km/h, but in normal operations, a maximum speed of 160 km/h applies.
Despite the improved connection, there will be no rerouting of ICE trains to BER. Deutsche Bahn justifies this by saying that otherwise, travel times for other passengers would be extended too much. Only one Intercity–the Rostock-Dresden line–will stop at the capital’s airport in the future.
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Resistance, delays, and high costs
With total costs of around 1.2 billion euros, the expansion of the Dresden Railway is the largest rail project in Berlin since the opening of the Central Station in 2006. The route was originally supposed to be completed long ago, but there was significant protest, especially in Lichtenrade. A citizens’ initiative demanded a tunnel to avoid dividing the district. The railway rejected this due to the high costs.
Not everyone benefits from the reorganization
With the timetable change, some lines are also being restructured–which also brings disadvantages. The FEX will no longer start in Berlin-Gesundbrunnen, but from Central Station. Passengers from the north of Berlin will therefore have to transfer to the S-Bahn first. Spandau residents also lose a direct connection to BER with the discontinuation of the RE 8. They are left with only the S-Bahn line S 9, which runs every 20 minutes.