After France and Spain, the Frecciarossa will also arrive in Germany. Test runs have indeed begun in Germany and Austria for the flagship train of Trenitalia’s fleet (Ferrovie dello Stato group). The company’s goal is to start Milan-Munich and Rome-Munich connections in the summer of 2027. The project is carried out in collaboration with the German Deutsche Bahn and Austrian Öbb railways. But let’s go in order.
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Germany is becoming a strategic target for Italian high-speed rail companies: Trenitalia and Italo. With different timings and methods, both operators have their sights set on expansion in German territory. In recent weeks, Italo announced an agreement with the manufacturer Siemens, worth about 3 billion euros, for the purchase of 26 trains destined for the German high-speed rail market. Italo’s goal is to compete with Deutsche Bahn on domestic routes. The first connections should start in mid-2028 (50 daily runs).
Now it is Trenitalia’s turn to reveal new details about the Germany plan, with the start of the first tests foreseen by the international homologation phase of the high-speed train. The start of connections between Milan and Munich and between Rome and Munich is scheduled for the summer of 2027. Test runs take place on the German Berlin-Munich-Kufstein railway network. In Austria, the Frecciarossa is running test services between Kufstein and Brenner and between Salzburg and Vienna.
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Says Gianpiero Strisciuglio, CEO of the Fs group: «The start of test runs in Germany and Austria is a step towards the realization of a project that confirms our ambition to make the train the reference means for European mobility. Thanks to the collaboration with Deutsche Bahn and Öbb, we are moving towards the development of Europe’s high-speed subway. The Frecciarossa continues its path of international growth, bringing abroad the technological and industrial excellence of the Fs group and contributing to the expansion of an increasingly integrated European railway network». The agreement between Trenitalia and Deutsche Bahn will also allow sharing technical skills so that trains can adapt to different electrical power supply and signaling systems. Training courses have also been started for German and Austrian driving personnel.
Fs’s commercial offer provides four connections per day on the Milan-Munich and Rome-Munich routes. For Milan-Munich, with a travel time of about six and a half hours, the main intermediate stops will be Brescia, Verona, Rovereto, Trento, Bolzano, and Innsbruck. As for Rome-Munich, with a travel time of about eight and a half hours, the main stops will be Florence, Bologna, Verona, Rovereto, Trento, Bolzano, and Innsbruck. From December 2028, the complete offer will consist of ten connections per day between Italy and Germany, covering routes between Milan, Rome, and Munich, with possible extension to Naples and Berlin. The new connections will also impact rail connections with other countries, as they will intercept transport demand for other destinations, such as Frankfurt and Krakow (Poland).
