A new high-speed train service linking Paris and Berlin was launched on Monday - just in time for the Christmas travel season. Joint operators SNCF and Deutsche Bahn say they hope passengers will see it as a "greener" alternative to flying.
The service will run daily between Berlin Hauptbahnhof and Paris Gare de l'Est, stopping in Strasbourg, Karlsruhe and Frankfurt Sud, with the journey taking about eight hours in total.
Until now, journeys between the two capitals involved several connections, taking anywhere up to 10 hours.
Named "ICE 3", the high-speed train offers 444 seats, including 111 in first class.
There will initially be just one service each day, leaving Paris at 9.55am and arriving in Berlin just after 6pm. The return trip will leave Berlin at 11.54am, arriving in Paris just before 8pm.
Seats went on sale in October, with fares starting from €59 for a one-way second-class ticket and €69 for first class.
Prices will fluctuate according to demand and passengers will now able to pre-book 12 months ahead, up from the current six.
German-owned Deutsche Bahn and France's SNCF began cooperating in 2007, and since then ICE and TGV trains have run between Frankfurt and Paris, and Stuttgart and Paris.
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