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Germany and the UK take next step towards direct train connection

Germany and Great Britain took the next step toward creating a direct rail connection between London and Berlin this week. German Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder (CDU) and his British counterpart Heidi Alexander (Labour Party) signed a declaration in Hamburg this week, which will see a task force created to move the project forward. "We are committed to ensuring that the first trains under the English Channel can roll directly from Germany to Great Britain in the coming years," said Schnieder. Alexander emphasised that the project should "open up new opportunities for tourism, business and cultural exchange". "A direct rail connection would contribute to the creation of new jobs and strengthen the important trade links that are the basis of our economic relations with Germany." The two transport ministers also emphasised the project's importance for boosting train travel in Europe. "A continuous connection would simplify travel enormously and significantly increase the attractiveness of train travel," said Schnieder. The travel ministers did not announce a timeline for when services would begin on the direct connection. Currently, rail transport between Germany and Great Britain is only possible with a stopover to change trains, for example in Brussels or Paris. Plans for a direct Germany-Great Britain connection have been in the works for some time. In June, the railway company Eurostar announced that it wanted to offer a direct connection between Germany and Great Britain for the first time in the coming years. Eurostar is cooperating with Deutsche Bahn on connections with transfers between Germany and Great Britain. At the beginning of the year, plans for a direct connection between London and Cologne or Frankfurt were also reported. READ ALSO: Where can you go by direct night train from Stuttgart? Advertisement Among the top issues to be clarified is how border controls would be managed on the rail connection. The German-UK joint task force is set to examine how how security controls could be implemented, along with infrastructure operators and railway companies. Germany has recently announced that it plans to extend stepped-up border controls at all of its land borders beyond the prior September 15th deadline.