Three trends increase the sales of train connections between European countries:
- Growing need / demand by travelers, likely caused by growing traffic in cities, sinking parking options and growing prices for parking
- Higher prices for car fuel
- Reduced and higher priced offer of inner European flight connections
Therefore it is likely recommended for travelers to plan and book such connections earlier than the last years.
Also new train connections between countries are planned, e. g. Berlin — Oslo starting in 2028.
Some background insights from Deutsche Bahn:
“Last year, 25 million of Deutsche Bahn's approximately 140 million long-distance passengers traveled across borders,” said Michael Peterson, Executive Board Member for Long-Distance Travel — a 30% increase over 2019.
Some destinations saw particularly strong growth in 2025: for example, 27% more people traveled from Munich to Zurich compared to the previous year. The routes from Frankfurt to Paris and from Cologne to Brussels also grew in popularity, with passenger numbers up 22% and 16%, respectively.
“Many people appreciate that trains go directly into city centers, whereas air travel often leaves you landing far outside the city,” says Peterson. Furthermore, they are willing to spend significantly more time on the train: tolerance for long-distance rail travel is now six to eight hours — up from four to five hours in 2019.
Source: https://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/bahn-auslandsreisen-100.html
Partly translated with DeepL