Bordeaux-Frankfurt Train: France-Germany Available This Summer 2023

The German train company Deutsche Bahn will launch the first routes between Bordeaux and Frankfurt this summer 2023.

Between France and Germany, the love train is speeding along. The two countries discussed their regional connections around the Strasbourg RER and other lines last week, and high-speed lines are gradually emerging. Already since 2012, a TGV regularly connects Marseille and Frankfurt, and a Paris-Berlin line is expected to be launched in 2023. Another French city will soon have a connection to Germany: Bordeaux. This is the first such connection since the Bordeaux-Düsseldorf route in 2003.

A Summer-Only Train

The new high-speed train line—with double-decker carriages—will depart from Bordeaux and terminate in Frankfurt. It will serve the cities of Angoulême, Poitiers, Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, Massy, Marne-la-Vallée, TGV Champagne Ardennes, TGV Meuse, TGV Lorraine, and Strasbourg in France, as well as Mannheim and Karlsruhe in Germany.

This new service is an initiative of Deutsche Bahn, in partnership with SNCF, and will begin this summer. However, it will be a seasonal service only on Saturdays. One train is planned, departing at 6:56 a.m. from Frankfurt for an arrival at 2:35 p.m. at Bordeaux Saint-Jean. The return journey is only in the late afternoon, departing at 3:58 p.m. to reach Frankfurt by 11:51 p.m. The total travel time is thus between 7 hours 40 minutes and 8 hours.

What is the price for Bordeaux-Frankfurt?

The first trips on this new line will take place on July 8, 2023. However, Deutsche Bahn will only start selling tickets at the beginning of February, with no exact date announced. The minimum fare will be €69.90, the company states, presumably in second class.

By 2026, the Gironde capital could gain another international connection, via Bordeaux-London in 2026, operated by HS1.

Also read: 60,000 train tickets soon offered to young French and Germans