New train will connect central Berlin with airport in 23 minutes

A new Deutsche Bahn train is set to connect Dresden, Berlin city centre and BER airport from December 14, 2025. Here’s what passengers need to know:

New train will connect Saxony with Berlin airport

Deutsche Bahn has announced that it will launch a new train to better connect the federal state of Saxony with Berlin and Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, also known as BER.

The new RB20 route will connect Dresden, Lübbenau, Eberswalde, Oranienburg and other towns in Brandenburg with Berlin Hauptbahnhof. The journey time from Dresden to Berlin will be cut down to two hours. The journey currently takes between 2 hours 1 minute and 2 hours 11 minutes.

After Berlin Hauptbahnhof, the train will continue south on the “Dresdner Bahn” route. The Dresdner Bahn stretch will connect Berlin Hauptbahnhof, Potsdamer Platz, Südkreuz and BER airport, with the journey totalling 23 minutes. 

The Dresdner Bahn stretch first opened in the 19th century, but has long been closed for long-distance trains. Plans to develop and reopen the route to long-distance trains first began in 1998 and were delayed multiple times until building work on the stretch in Berlin began in 2017. 

FEX connection via Ostkreuz and Gesundbrunnen scrapped

When one Deutsche Bahn route opens, another one closes. Unlucky for those living in the north and east of Berlin, the opening of the Dresdner Bahn route connecting Berlin Hauptbahnhof with BER Airport means no more FEX airport trains stopping at Gesundbrunnen and Ostkreuz.

Instead of stopping at Gesundbrunnen and Ostkreuz, FEX trains will run to the airport via Potsdamer Platz and Südkreuz. On the bright side, FEX services will run every 15 minutes rather than every 30 minutes.

Those in the east of the city will be better connected again from February 2026, when the RE32 train will start running once per hour from Oranienburg to BER, via Ostkreuz.