Media information

Even faster to BER: Five times an hour in 23 minutes from Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) to BER
Dresdner Bahn ensures shorter journey times

From next Sunday, 14 December 2025, travellers will benefit from improved connections between Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) and Berlin city centre. The new Airport Express FEX route via the newly upgraded Dresdner Bahn will significantly reduce journey times and increase the frequency of services.

Up to five times an hour to and from Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) and Südkreuz

In the future, the Airport Express FEX will run up to four times an hour between Berlin Hauptbahnhof (23 mins) via Potsdamer Platz (19 mins) and Berlin Südkreuz (14 mins) and BER. In conjunction with the hourly RE20 regional train, up to five train pairs per hour will then serve the route between the airport and the two long-distance stations, Hauptbahnhof and Südkreuz. At the same time, commissioning the line will also significantly reduce journey times from cities in northern and central Germany.

“From Sunday onwards, travellers from Berlin city centre will no longer need to remember train times to BER, because the opening of the Dresdner Bahn will see up to five trains per hour commuting between Hauptbahnhof and BER Airport, stopping at Potsdamer Platz and Südkreuz. The journey time from Hauptbahnhof will then be just 23 minutes, and from Südkreuz only 14 minutes,” says Aletta von Massenbach, Chief Executive Officer of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH. “The improved connection renders BER and its flight services even more attractive for travellers from northern and central Germany. The journey from Hanover, Erfurt or Leipzig via Hauptbahnhof or Südkreuz will be shortened by about half an hour.”

Hourly to southern Brandenburg

The RE20 is a new service in conjunction with the second phase of the Elbe-Elster network. In the future, the train will run between Hauptbahnhof and Lübbenau from approximately 4 a.m. to 9 p.m. The journey time from the airport to Lübbenau is 50 minutes. In the mornings and afternoons, trains will be extended to Cottbus, Brandenburg’s second-largest city.

New S-Bahn line S85 connects north-east Berlin to the airport

From Sunday, the new S-Bahn line S85 will connect BER Airport with the north-eastern S-Bahn ring every 20 minutes. At weekends, the S85 runs to S Pankow (53 mins); Monday to Friday to Frohnau (1 hour and 8 mins). The S9 line continues to run every 20 minutes via the Berlin city railway to Spandau (1 hour and 19 mins).

Eastern Berlin directly accessible twice an hour with regional trains

Regional train lines RB24 and RB32 connect eastern Berlin directly from Hohenschönhausen (33 mins), Lichtenberg (24 mins) and Ostkreuz (19 mins) with the airport station under Terminal 1. The RB32 will initially only run as far as Lichtenberg station up until 8 February 2026. From 9 February 2026, the line will then run via Hohenschönhausen to Oranienburg (56 mins).

Dresden and Rostock reconnected directly to BER Airport

From Sunday, the Intercity train between Chemnitz/Dresden and Rostock will also run directly via BER again. Travellers from the Saxon capital will then be able to reach the airport up to seven times a day in about 1 hour and 30 minutes. The IC train will run twice a day to Chemnitz. Travellers from Rostock, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s largest city, will reach BER in about 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Travel times to northern and central Germany reduced

• Thanks to the significantly improved connection between the airport, Hauptbahnhof and Südkreuz railway hubs, travel time for passengers from the central German cities of Leipzig and Erfurt will be reduced by almost half an hour. With up to five direct trains per hour, changing trains will be much more convenient for travellers.
• The journey time to and from Hanover, Lower Saxony’s capital, will be reduced by a little more than 35 minutes. Travellers from Braunschweig, Lower Saxony’s second-largest city, will also be able to reach BER by train in just 2 hours and 10 minutes.
• Once construction work on the Hamburg – Berlin long-distance rail line has been completed, travellers from Germany’s second-largest city, Hamburg, will also benefit from saving almost 30 minutes to Berlin Brandenburg Airport. 

* Comparisons were made between 15.07.2025 and 15.07.2026 on the bahn.de website.

Booking long-distance tickets

Travellers can book a long-distance ticket for their arrival and departure directly on the airport website or in the BER app. fernverkehr.berlin-airport.de