ICE 42 (Hamburg – Munich)

ICE line 42 runs two-hourly from Hamburg-Altona via Bremen, the Ruhr area, Cologne, Frankfurt Airport, Mannheim and Stuttgart to Munich.

Updated 2026-10-28 · rev 4

Profile

Concept kind: Rail line
Termini: Hamburg-Altona – München Hbf
Structure: Ausbaustrecken Hamburg–Bremen–Ruhrgebiet; Schnellfahrstrecke Köln–Rhein/Main zum Frankfurter Flughafen; Schnellfahrstrecke Mannheim–Stuttgart, weiter über Ulm und Augsburg nach München
Maximum speed: bis zu 250 km/h (ICE 4)
Status: In Betrieb
Operator: DB Fernverkehr AG
Owner: Deutsche Bahn AG (Betreiber: DB Fernverkehr AG)
Rolling stock: ICE 4
Headway: Zweistundentakt (mit den Linien 43, 55 und 11 gemeinsame Stundentakte auf den Teilabschnitten)

Overview

ICE line 42 connects Hamburg-Altona via Hamburg Hbf, Bremen, Osnabrück, Münster and Dortmund with Cologne and continues from there via the Cologne–Rhine/Main high-speed line to Frankfurt Airport, onward via Mannheim, Stuttgart, Ulm and Augsburg to Munich. It forms common hourly services with several neighbouring lines (43, 55, 11) on the respective sections. Trains of the ICE 4 series are used.

Operator

The operator is DB Fernverkehr (DB Long-Distance Transport).

History

Line 42 connects Hamburg-Altona two-hourly via Bremen, the Ruhr area and Cologne with Munich. With the neighbouring lines 43, 55 and 11 it forms common hourly services on the respective sections. Individual trains run between Dortmund and Cologne via Bochum–Essen–Duisburg–Düsseldorf instead of via Hagen–Wuppertal–Solingen.