THE UK AND Germany have agreed plans to create a direct train line from London to Berlin – and it’s hoped that it will be up and running within a decade. 

The rail link is part of a wide-ranging friendship agreement signed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Downing Street today. 

Under the new treaty, a joint taskforce will be established for transport experts from both governments to examine how to address barriers to a new train route, such as how to establish post-Brexit border and security checks. 

The taskforce will also assess safety standards and collaborate with train operators.

It is hoped that the services could be running within the next 10 years.

British transport secretary Heidi Alexander said the new agreement has the potential to “fundamentally change how millions of people travel” between the UK and Germany by offering a “faster, more convenient and significantly greener alternative to flying”.

The new agreement was signed by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer today. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

“The Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie – in just a matter of years, rail passengers in the UK could be able to visit these iconic sites direct from the comfort of a train, thanks to a direct connection linking London and Berlin,” she said. 

The new deal follows a similar memorandum signed between the UK and Switzerland in May in an attempt to address barriers to a rail link between the countries.

Direct trains have been running across the channel from London to Europe since the Eurostar service was founded in 1994.

The trains, which run through the Channel Tunnel from London’s St Pancras station, go directly to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam and see passengers go through passport control and security checks before boarding their train. 

Last month, Eurostar unveiled plans to launch direct services connecting the UK with Germany and Switzerland.

The operator announced proposals to run trains between London St Pancras and both Frankfurt and Geneva from the “early 2030s”. These routes would be served by a fleet of up to 50 new trains costing approximately €2 billion. 

Journey times would be about five hours between London and Frankfurt, and five hours and 20 minutes between London and Geneva.

Eurostar holds a monopoly in running passenger trains through the Channel Tunnel, but several organisations are developing plans to launch rival services, including Virgin and Uber. 

The new friendship agreement will also see Germany allow some UK airline passengers to use passport e-gates at its airports by the end of August. 

Since Brexit, UK travellers arriving at EU airports have generally had to queue for manned desks to have their passports stamped, rather than use automated gates with facial recognition technology.

An UK-EU summit in May agreed there is no legal barrier to UK citizens using EU e-gates.

Under the deal signed today, only frequent travellers will be able to use e-gates initially. Access will be expanded for all UK nationals once Germany has completed updates to its entry systems as it introduces the EU’s long-delayed Entry/Exit System (EES), which is expected to start in October. 

The new digital border management system for non-EU nationals entering the Schengen area will be fully automated and replace the current system of manual stamping of passports. 

The system will register a person’s name, the type of the travel document, their fingerprints and facial images, and the date and place they arrive in and leave the country. 

With reporting from Press Association