Hamburg to Westerland along the Marschbahn onto the island of Sylt
Westerland looks to be an interesting place. It’s on the island of Sylt and is the northernmost railway station in the whole of Germany. On top of that, the only way of getting onto Sylt is via a land bridge called the Hindenburgdamm, a railway-only causeway built in the 1920s. Everything and everybody on Sylt has to cross to the island on the railway. And it also has miles and miles of beach facing west towards the sea.
Oh, and for most of the trip, the train will be drawn by a venerable old DB Class 218 diesel locomotive from the early 1970s!
OK, I’m sold. Let’s jump on the IC train at Hamburg and see how it goes!
Departure: Hamburg-Harburg, Germany
Destination: Westerland (Sylt), Germany
Distance: 255 km / 158 miles
Duration: 3 hrs 25 mins (or so I thought…)
Average speed: 75 km/h 46 mph (if the train arrives on time)
Hamburg to Westerland advance adult single:
1st Class €51,99 / £45.40
2nd Class €29,99 / £26.20
Month of Travel: March 2026
Operator: DB Deutsche Bahn
Motive Power:
DB Class 101 electric locomotive. Adtranz (1996-1999)
DB Class 218 diesel-hydraulic locomotive. (1970s)
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27 Comments
Thank you Johnny for another video crammed full of very interesting detail. I have never been to this corner of Germany. I now think I should…. In a wierd way it reminds me of Switzerland. To get to Westerland everyone and everything has to go by train. Just like Zermatt, Wengen and Murren. OK, road vehicles can get to Westerland, but they have to be loaded on to car ferry trains, rather like those which go through the Lotschberg, Simplon, Vereina and Furka tunnels,. But I see the Westerland ferry trains are double-deck!
Schleswig-Holstein regional government is to be congratulated on its policy of introducing (in motion charging) Battery Electric trains. It has quite a lot of rural lines which are currently worked by diesels. A certain country rather closer to home, should do likewise. (Perhaps start with lines branching off the Great Western.). Schleswig-Holstein rejected Hydrogen powered trains as too expensive both to build and to operate.
Is DB just the same as CrossCountry? I beginning to think that the railway in Britain isn't as bad as everyone makes out.
It reminds me me of the cars getting loaded up in Aberdeen on the trains. I think Perth still has the ramp inside the station. Fascinating area, great find.. thanks 😊
Glad you still had the chance to do a little bit of exploring.
Looking forward to the next trip.
Did that one few years ago, still with the restaurant attached to the IC train. Going back there in June (By plane) and back to hamburg by train. Thanks for sharing again
This month's edition of "Today's Railways Europe" features a long article on this line, including its history and plans for modernisation. This includes some electrification and track doubling.
Fun fact: there is a famous song about Westerland. 🙂 https://youtu.be/Acq4odTvLQs?si=8r3519VrkQaO9OWj
Westerland looks lovely Johnny, maybe a better idea to get a b&b , do an overnight to get a good chance of seeing the place properly, quite a distance out, trains are unpredictable , great video, thank you 👏👍
Lovely John, very much enjoyed. Beautiful weather too! Cheers.
Hoi, J., what a great reminder. Done this, except from the start at Hamburg main!. Well, Deutsche Bahn, a surprise should all the time expected. Weather fit´s perfect. Like the more and more rare 218!. Connected with the flight out from GWT/Flughafen Sylt for DUS/Flughafen Düsseldorf.Well done and Greetings, Markus
The car trains are Hauled by Traxx class 245 Lokomotive
Thirty years ago when based in Germany I can confirm DB ICEs equalled Swiss trains in timing. In first class to change trains your new carriage was directly opposite the old! I have always wondered why you can still set your watch to Swiss trains, but the German network has become shoddy.
Interesting journey, shame about the delay (but with DB that's to be expected I guess!) I hope your return leg was more punctual!
This was fascinating. Is there another piece of decently-populated land anywhere that is only accessible by rail? I'm struggling to think of another example but no doubt I'm missing an obvious one. Also, I was wondering if today would be the day that DB got you somewhere on time … erm, nope. Cheers!
Went up through Schleswig Holstein to Copenhagen last summer. Very hot day, a/c broke down and our carriage was locked as the staff were worried we would faint! Ended up sitting on the floor,typical DB. Understand the service now has the Talgos so hopefully won’t happen again.
Loved your Cork – Cobh trip, this reminded me of that, I loved this one as well & I can’t wait to see the full series’s be completed! Also, you mentioned you were going to post the KWVR video soon, do you know when specifically?
I was actually quite happy to see these's old coaches still running as I wasn't sure on which lines they are still been used, so I am also a little sad to see them go, although I do understand why. It is a similar story in Austria where OBB is starting the replace the older trains with a newer ones.
We used to have Motorail back in the 70’s early 80’s, worked with a guy who had bought a brand new Mini Metro, took it from Swansea to Glasgow on Motorail then toured the Highlands and back to South Wales, the U.K. had some good stuff back in the day
Don't know why DB bother with a timetable, the time of the first and last or the hour of and the number of services between and approximate interval would be more helpful. A tram, horse drawn, on the promenade would be nice, horses only need oats/ hay and water plus a few carrots to keep to time.
Another interesting video…thanks Johnny! I suspect your “limited” German is probably better than my non-existent German; wonder whether DB operates a Delay Repay scheme that you could make use of, given the overall journey time to Westerland.
The car transporters remind me of the old monorail services here; not that I ever got to see them in action before BR ceased their operations
I did that trip for a long weekend by train from Essen through Hamburg Hbf to Sylt and flew back to Dusseldorf …in 1989 !!!
Not a good advert for Germanys railways
Great Video As Always Johnny
Hey Johnny, thanks for posting this. It’s a journey I’d love to complete. I know the landscape from TV in Germany as Krimi Drama Nord Nord Mord is filmed in Sylt. It frequently shows Sylt HBF and the trains. Julia Brendler is one of the main actors.
Very interesting video! The northern landscape reminds me of Netherlands..also, loved the sunset…and it gave me an idea..next time I need to soak in some Sun at a beach, I could perhaps plan a weekend here instead of going to Spain or Italy, from Munich, where I live. Looking forward to your next adventure 🙂
Crikey, that was a fair delay, hope you`d had a couple of breakfasts to keep you going. Great filming as ever – thanks for sharing. Oh and how jolly to live in a place called Luck City 😀