From 2 October 2026, NS International will launch a new direct ICE service from the Netherlands to Hamburg, bringing the popular northern German city within easy reach by rail. The service will initially run to Hamburg and will later also serve Bremen.
Passengers will be able to board in Amsterdam, Hilversum, Amersfoort, Apeldoorn, Deventer, and Hengelo. The journey from Amersfoort to Hamburg will take around four hours.
Tickets for the initial Hamburg services are already on sale through the NS International app.
“Train travel is becoming increasingly popular for discovering international destinations. Hamburg and Bremen have been on NS International’s wish list for a long time,” said Heike Luiten, director of NS International. “By adding new cities, we make even more European destinations comfortably and sustainably accessible to our travellers. We do this with the comfort that travellers have come to expect from NS International.”
“Both Hamburg and Bremen offer a great mix of culture, history, shopping and gastronomy. And a visit to a German Christmas market can of course also be a good reason for a city trip,” Luiten added.
Hamburg first, Bremen from December
The new services are being introduced against the backdrop of major railway works between Hannover and Berlin. From 2 October 2026 until the end of 2027, ICE trains will use a new route via Bremen and Hamburg before continuing towards Berlin.
From 2 October to 12 December, NS International will serve Hamburg-Harburg and Hamburg-Bergedorf. Tickets for these services are already available.
From 13 December 2026 until the end of 2027, the service will switch to Bremen Hauptbahnhof and Hamburg Hauptbahnhof. Tickets for this period will go on sale on 15 October 2026.
During the engineering works, four daily trains will operate between Amsterdam, Bremen, Hamburg, and Berlin, while three daily direct services will continue to operate between the Netherlands and Hanover. NS International advises passengers to check the latest timetable in its app before travelling.
ICE comfort and fares
The services will use the latest ICE trains, equipped with air conditioning, a bar-bistro carriage, seat reservations and wheelchair accessibility. Passengers can also take their luggage free of charge.
A one-way ticket to Bremen will be available from €28, while fares to Hamburg start at €33.
Two northern German city breaks
Hamburg, Germany’s second-largest city, is one of Europe’s major port cities. The northern metropolis combines its maritime heritage with striking architecture, a lively cultural scene and attractions including the historic Speicherstadt and the Elbphilharmonie concert hall, which also offers panoramic views over the city.
Bremen, meanwhile, is a historic Hanseatic city best known for the Bremen Town Musicians, its UNESCO World Heritage-listed historic centre and the narrow streets of the Schnoor district. The city combines its rich history with a relaxed northern German atmosphere.
Criticism: NS presents a detour as a new ICE connection to Hamburg
Nederlandse Spoorwegen‘s announcement of a “new” direct ICE connection to Hamburg has been met with some scepticism among rail commentators. While the service does provide a useful new direct link between the Netherlands and Hamburg, the announcement arguably puts a more positive spin on what is, fundamentally, a temporary rerouting caused by major railway works in Germany.
David Eerdmans summed up the criticism on Blueksy: “Smart framing: NS announces the news that there is a ‘new connection’ to Hamburg. And in itself, a direct service to Hamburg is nice. But it’s not about more trains; it’s the Berlin ICE being diverted via Hamburg because of engineering works — and there are fewer trains to Berlin.”
Martijn van Vulpen was similarly unimpressed by the presentation. “Haha, what a creative announcement. Promote the journey to Hamburg and, almost in passing, explain that there are actually just engineering works going on.”
Bart took the criticism a step further, joking about how the eventual end of the works might be presented. “Indeed, a clever press release. I’m already looking forward to the news NS will bring at the end of 2027, after the works have been completed: ‘The journey time of the ICE to Berlin has been reduced by 53 minutes and we offer 50% more capacity with six instead of four trains per day.’”
Van Vulpen added another tongue-in-cheek prediction: “And ‘we saw that many passengers travelling with our trains to Bremen and Hamburg nevertheless preferred to continue on to Berlin’.”
Still genuinely useful for Hamburg and Bremen
The criticism does not mean the new service has no value. For travellers actually heading to Hamburg or Bremen, the temporary routing creates a useful direct connection that did not previously exist in this form.
Nicole Offenberg pointed out another benefit: “Good news if you want to continue travelling to Denmark.”
That may ultimately be the most compelling way to look at the announcement. The Hamburg connection is genuinely useful, particularly for travellers heading further north, but describing it simply as a new service risks obscuring the fact that it is being created by a temporary diversion of existing Berlin trains rather than by an expansion of the international rail offer.
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