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Train to flight: Deutsche Bahn and Lufthansa want to work more closely together and better connect Hamburg, Munich and Berlin to Frankfurt Airport
Photo: Steve Bauerschmidt / imago images / Steve Bauerschmidt
In the future, more long-distance journeys are to begin with a train ride: In view of the growing criticism of climate-damaging domestic flights, Lufthansa and Deutsche Bahn are improving their cooperation.
End-to-end tickets and faster direct ICE connections are intended to encourage long-distance passengers to take the train to the Frankfurt hub.
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Five more cities will be included in the Lufthansa Express Rail system: Hamburg and Munich from July and Berlin, Bremen and Münster from December.
17 other cities are already connected, including Leipzig, Hanover and Stuttgart.
In addition, from December onwards, Deutsche Bahn intends to cancel intermediate stops on some ICE Sprinter connections from Cologne, Munich and Nuremberg to Frankfurt Airport, thereby shortening travel times.
Initially, Lufthansa is not canceling any domestic routes.
The number of short-haul flights could, however, decrease further in the medium term.
If the train offers good offers, flight connections could also be dropped, said Lufthansa board member Harry Hohmeister.
You have seen that in the past near Cologne, Dortmund or Paderborn.
Basically, however, it is a matter of optimizing both transport offers.
Hohmeister said: “Both flights and trains can coexist.
But then of course there will be fewer flights - smaller planes, fewer frequencies, that will affect some destinations in Germany. "
In the past, Lufthansa defended ultra-short flights such as Nuremberg-Munich or Nuremberg-Frankfurt with the argument that passengers could not expect long train travel times and that they did not want to lose them to other hubs and thus to other airlines.
After all, passengers who want to cover the entire journey by plane can always fly via foreign hubs such as Paris, Amsterdam or Istanbul.
Fewer intermediate stops, faster connections
France is also taking action against short-haul flights, but differently: The government has tied a billion-dollar Corona rescue package for Air France to conditions.
Among other things, domestic flights should be canceled if the distance can be covered in less than 2.5 hours by train, such as from Paris to Lyon or Bordeaux.
Last week, Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr pointed out in the balance sheet presentation that the French ban on domestic flights excludes transfer traffic - those connections that his company now wants to shift to rail.
In addition, other advantages are intended to attract customers to the trains.
Passengers are only automatically rebooked for the next flight in the event of a delay and, depending on their status, enjoy amenities such as lounges and services.
At the airport they are supposed to be passed through the controls quickly.
BUND calls for short-haul trips by 2030
Baggage remains a problem, as it still has to be brought to the airport by the passengers themselves.
Attempts to accept baggage at the exit stations had proven to be too complex and too expensive in the past.
In addition, no solution is in sight for Munich Airport.
It is not connected to the DB long-distance network.
The required rail route is still not included in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan.
The environmental association BUND welcomed the closer cooperation between Deutsche Bahn and Lufthansa.
"The raising of existing potential to avoid short-haul flights is overdue," said BUND mobility expert Jens Hilgenberg.
"Now targeted investments must be made in the elimination of bottlenecks, the expansion of railway junctions, the construction of passing tracks and the connection of Munich Airport." By 2030, short-haul flights including the feeders would have to be completely shifted to rail.
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ene / dpa