With the timetable change on December 12, 2021, Deutsche Bahn will raise prices by an average of 1,9 percent. The conductors will stop selling tickets. In future, tickets can be purchased online or via the app within a maximum of ten minutes after boarding.

Among other things, the ICE Sprinter connections are being strengthened. With these one wants to position oneself specifically against domestic flights. There are increases on the routes Berlin-Cologne, Düsseldorf-Cologne-Munich, Hamburg-Frankfurt Airport and Berlin-Munich. Some of the additional trains run without an intermediate stop.

With support from Austria there will be another night train from Vienna via Munich to Paris. Furthermore, the ÖBB run a Nightjet connection between Zurich via Cologne and Amsterdam. The private railway operator Flixtrain will in future also operate between Frankfurt am Main and Cologne.