A new rail link has been opened yesterday (December 9) by German Chancellor and Time Person of the Year Angela Merkel. The new section runs from Leipzig in Saxony to the capital of Thuringia Erfurt. Planning for the section began shortly after the reunification of Germany.

The link between Leipzig and Erfurt is part of the larger link between the capital of Bavaria Munich and Germany’s Capital and largest city Berlin for which 190 new kilometres will be built (from Nurnberg to Erfurt). The new link between Munich and Berlin is planned to be completed during 2017. The trip from Munich to Berlin (ca. 500 kilometres) will then last 4 hours (currently 6 hours).

The combined project, when complete, is part of an intended European high speed network to link Berlin via Munich to Palermo in Italy.