Hanover City Guide - Getting There By Rail

The national service provider, Deutsche Bahn (DB) (tel: 11861; website: www.bahn.de) is responsible for the modern, extensive and highly efficient rail network. Services include high-speed InterCityExpress (ICE) trains between major cities in Germany, InterCity (IC) and EuroCity (EC) trains, which serve cities in Germany and Europe respectively, and InterRegio trains, which link different regions of the country.

The main station, Hannover Hauptbahnhof, Ernst-August-Platz is an important junction on the ICE train network and was given a major facelift for Expo 2000. Facilities include shops, numerous eating and drinking outlets, a bank, travel agent (tel: (0511) 286 1319), car hire from Avis, Budget and Europcar, and two trade fair information counters (tel: (0511) 324 948).

Rail services: ICE services run to Hanover from Berlin and Hamburg and also to Bremen, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Mainz, Stuttgart and Munich. There is also non-stop service to Paris (journey time - 7 hours 30 minutes). The CityNightLine between Berlin and Zurich stops at Hanover (website: www.citynightline.ch). During international trade shows, selected ICE trains, IR trains and regional trains stop at Hannover Messe/Laatzen station, at the Messegelände (trade grounds), in the southwest of the city.