Czech Railways (ČD) has joined forces with Deutsche Bahn and Danish State Railways to launch a daytime high-speed rail service linking Prague and Copenhagen in May 2026. The project—formally announced on 31 January 2026—will provide two direct trains each way every day, cutting the journey to roughly 11 hours and eliminating the multiple transfers that currently put many travellers off rail.
The service will become the first schedule to offer year-round, same-day rail connectivity between the Czech capital and Scandinavia, threading Prague, Berlin, Hamburg and Copenhagen into a single corridor. New, energy-efficient rolling stock equipped with free Wi-Fi, power points and panoramic windows has been specified to appeal to both business travellers who need an onboard “mobile office” and leisure passengers who value comfort and scenery.
![New High-Speed Rail Link to Connect Prague and Copenhagen from 2026]()
For global-mobility managers, the route offers a practical, lower-carbon alternative to short-haul flights at a time when EU corporate-sustainability rules are tightening. Large employers with offices in Prague and Northern Germany or Denmark will be able to shift at least part of their duty travel onto rail, reducing their Scope-3 emissions while still meeting same-day meeting requirements.
The operators also expect the new service to strengthen labour-market links. Denmark’s life-sciences sector and Prague’s fast-growing IT and shared-services hubs both rely on internationally mobile specialists; reliable daytime rail removes visa-free Schengen travellers from airports—and the associated biometric EES checks—altogether.
Infrastructure planners in Czechia view the Prague–Copenhagen train as a pilot for further cross-border high-speed expansion. If passenger demand meets the forecast 1.2 million journeys per year, ČD has indicated it will order additional trainsets and explore extensions to Malmö and Gothenburg.
The service will become the first schedule to offer year-round, same-day rail connectivity between the Czech capital and Scandinavia, threading Prague, Berlin, Hamburg and Copenhagen into a single corridor. New, energy-efficient rolling stock equipped with free Wi-Fi, power points and panoramic windows has been specified to appeal to both business travellers who need an onboard “mobile office” and leisure passengers who value comfort and scenery.
For global-mobility managers, the route offers a practical, lower-carbon alternative to short-haul flights at a time when EU corporate-sustainability rules are tightening. Large employers with offices in Prague and Northern Germany or Denmark will be able to shift at least part of their duty travel onto rail, reducing their Scope-3 emissions while still meeting same-day meeting requirements.
The operators also expect the new service to strengthen labour-market links. Denmark’s life-sciences sector and Prague’s fast-growing IT and shared-services hubs both rely on internationally mobile specialists; reliable daytime rail removes visa-free Schengen travellers from airports—and the associated biometric EES checks—altogether.
Infrastructure planners in Czechia view the Prague–Copenhagen train as a pilot for further cross-border high-speed expansion. If passenger demand meets the forecast 1.2 million journeys per year, ČD has indicated it will order additional trainsets and explore extensions to Malmö and Gothenburg.
Source: Travel and Tour World
