Berlin, 23 September 2026
New international Frecciarossa services between Italy, Germany and Austria – implemented by Trenitalia (FS Group) in partnership with German railway operator Deutsche Bahn and Austrian railway operator ÖBB – will begin in summer 2027.
The project to connect Milan and Munich and Rome and Munich was presented at InnoTrans, the leading international trade fair for the railway sector, which brings together operators, institutions, companies and stakeholders from the mobility industry from all over the world in Berlin.
The announcement was made by Simone Gorini, Trenitalia’s General Director, Michael Peterson, member of Deutsche Bahn’s Board of Directors, in charge of Long-Distance Passenger Transport, and Sabine Stock, member of the ÖBB Board of Directors, a few days after the trial runs have begun in Germany and Austria. The services are due to launch in the summer of 2027, following the completion of the type-approval process for the new trains.
Test runs are currently taking place taking place in Germany, on the Berlin-Munich-Kufstein railway line. While in Austria, the Frecciarossa test runs are under way Kufstein and the Brenner Pass, and between Salzburg and Vienna.
Simone Gorini, Trenitalia’s General Director, said: “We are very proud to export our Frecciarossa trains in Germany, and embark on this new phase of our international expansion, together with Deutsche Bahn and ÖBB. After being positively welcomed and chosen by millions of passengers in France and Spain, the Frecciarossa will soon be available also to German and Austrian travellers, offering them the opportunity to discover and experience a new way of travelling that combines comfort, quality and speed. The services to Munich represent a further step in the international growth of Trenitalia and the entire FS Group, and confirm our commitment to bringing the expertise and experience we have developed in Italy in the high-speed rail sector to international passengers.”
The commercial offer provides for four connections on the Milan-Munich and Rome-Munich routes. Travel times between Milan and Munich will be six and a half hours. The main stops along the route will include Brescia, Verona, Rovereto, Trento, Bolzano and Innsbruck. As for the Rome-Munich route, with a journey time of approximately eight and a half hours, the main stops will be Florence, Bologna, Verona, Rovereto, Trento, Bolzano and Innsbruck. Once the Brenner Base Tunnel is open, travel times will be reduced by approximately one hour. From December 2028, the complete offer will consist of ten connections between Italy and Germany, connecting Milan, Rome, and Munich, with further extensions to Naples and Berlin.
The new service will be run with the Frecciarossa, Trenitalia's high-speed train, which complies with the European Technical Specifications for Interoperability. It was also designed and built to run in Italy and on the European railway networks of France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium, since it is able to overcome the differences in power supply and signalling in the various countries. With the Rome/Milan-Munich-Berlin connections, Frecciarossa, after France and Spain, will finally reach Germany, continuing to pursue the goal of the High Speed “European Underground”, connecting the Old Continent’s central cities.
This new connection will also have a positive impact on railway services with other countries, as it will capture transport demand to other destinations, such as Frankfurt and Kraków.