BERLIN — Germany’s national railroad inaugurated on Thursday a new high-speed connection between Cologne and Frankfurt, which cuts about an hour off the existing journey and will whiz travelers between the two cities in 76 minutes, reports a wire service.
Deutsche Bahn chief Hartmut Mehdorn described the six-year construction of the 110-mile line, which includes 30 tunnels and 18 bridges, as the German railroad’s largest building project since World War II. The project cost some 5.5 billion euros ($5.47 billion).
The line will be used by the most advanced model of Germany’s InterCityExpress train, which travels up to 186 miles per hour.
The older route, which runs along the Rhine river between the cities of Koblenz and Mainz, remains open.
A one-way ticket in second class between Frankfurt and Cologne will cost 53.60 euros ($53.34), including an obligatory reservation fee.
Trains will initially run every two hours in each direction, and Deutsche Bahn will begin running one train an hour in September.