PARIS: French and German rail operators launched the first direct high-speed rail link between Paris and Berlin on Monday, in response to growing European demand for train travel. The inaugural service, a German ICE train, left the French capital’s Gare de l’Est station at 9:55am and was due at Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 6:03pm. The service shaves only minutes off the fastest one-change connection between both capitals. The trains run at up to 320 kilometres per hour while in France, but that speed drops to a maximum 250km/h in Germany — only just meeting the definition of high-speed rail travel. A one-way ticket for the 1,100-kilometre journey costs upwards of 99 euros ($104), rising sharply on busy days. Budget airlines, such as easyJet, charge around half that for a 1h45 nonstop flight between both capitals. But French rail operator SNCF has reported an occupancy rate of over 80 per cent for the new trains. “Bookings are going very well,” said SNCF boss Jean-Pierre Farandou. “People like to travel in comfort rather than negotiating the sometimes difficult access” to airports, he said. Lea Bader, who travelled on Monday’s train, said she did not hesitate to take the train because she would have had to buy an extra ticket for her cello on a plane. She said the train was also more comfortable, and she welcomed the absence of a need to change trains which she said had been “horrible, because each time there was a problem or a delay”. A third of Germany’s high-speed train services suffered delays in 2023, and line closures because of repairs or maintenance work are commonplace.