From summer 2027 the Italian high-speed train Frecciarossa will connect Munich with Rome and Milan for the first time without a change of train. Trenitalia, Deutsche Bahn and ÖBB presented the new direct services on 24 September 2026 at the railway trade fair InnoTrans in Berlin. Two routes are planned, each with one daily service per direction. Both run via the Brenner Pass, Innsbruck and Verona.
Two direct routes via the Brenner Pass
The new services create a direct rail axis between Bavaria and Italy. The shorter route runs from Munich via Innsbruck, Bozen, Trient, Rovereto, Verona and Brescia to Milan and is around 600 kilometres long. The longer route continues beyond Verona via Bologna and Florence to Rome, covering around 900 kilometres.
The three railways estimate a journey time of around six and a half hoursbetween Munich and Milan, and around eight and a half hours between Munich and Rome. Both services will initially operate once a day in each direction, giving a total of four daily services between Germany and Italy. The trains stop at several holiday regions in the Alps and northern Italy.
Cooperation as the second EU pilot project
The service is being delivered through the new cooperation between the Italian Trenitalia (FS Group), the Deutsche Bahn and the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). It is the second of ten EU pilot projects for cross-border long-distance rail services. Through this programme, the European Commission is supporting new international rail offerings.
Trenitalia Director General Simone Gorini described the services as "a further step in international expansion." For Michael Peterson, Deutsche Bahn's Board Member for Long-Distance Passenger Services, the cooperation is an example of how international long-distance rail travel can be operated on a commercially viable basis through multi-operator partnerships. Sabine Stock, ÖBB Board Member for Passenger Services, highlighted the improved connectivity for tourism regions in Germany, Austria and Italy.
Test runs already under way
The Hitachi/Alstom consortium is upgrading nine trains of the ETR 1000 type for international operation, enabling them to run on the different power systems and signalling infrastructure found in Germany, Austria and Italy. The vehicles are designed for use in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Test runs on German and Austrian tracks have been under way since June 2026, including between Nuremberg and Ingolstadt and between Leipzig and Erfurt. These form part of the international certification process required before regular services can begin. The launch has been delayed by around six months due to the complex approval procedure.
Expansion to Berlin and Napoli by 2028
The timetable announced now is only the first phase. From December 2028 the network is set to expand to ten daily services between Germany and Italy. The routes are to be extended northwards to Berlin and southwards to Napoli. Trenitalia also intends to explore further European destinations such as Frankfurt and Kraków.
The expansion will significantly deepen the direct rail connection between Germany and Italy. Alongside the planned daytime Frecciarossa service, the European Sleeper night train between Cologne and Milan has already been running since September 2026.
