The UK and Germany have agreed a plan to create a new, direct rail link between London and Berlin as part of a wide-ranging treaty.

The Kensington Treaty also includes opening e-gates for frequent travellers between the two countries next month, as well as agreeing school exchange visits.

Friedrich Merz made his first official visit to the UK as German chancellor to sign the deal, which will also tighten laws around people smuggling gangs and strengthen defence ties.

Downing Street said the move will make it easier for German authorities to investigate and act against warehouses and storage facilities used by smugglers to conceal small boats intended for illegal Channel crossings to the UK.

The new travel arrangements come as part of plans to re-set relations around trade and business between the two countries.

A joint taskforce will be established to pave the way for direct train services within the next decade.

Merz met Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the Victoria and Albert Museum in Kensington for the signing ceremony.

Sir Keir described the pact as "evidence of the closeness of our relationship as it stands today" as well as a "statement of intent, a statement of our ambition to work ever more closely together".

Commercial investments in the UK, worth more than £200m and expected to create more than 600 new jobs, have been announced, and a new UK-Germany Business Forum has been established.

Defence and security was also a key part of discussions, including support for Ukraine, and a new agreement on the joint export of co-produced military equipment has been unveiled.

Downing Street said the agreement on equipment such as Boxer armoured vehicles and Typhoon jets was likely to lead to billions of pounds of additional defence exports in the coming years.

On security, Merz has committed to changing the law, making facilitation of illegal migration to the UK a criminal offence, by the end of the year.

Facilitating people-smuggling is not technically illegal in Germany currently, if it is to a country outside the European Union - which, following Brexit, includes the UK.

A BBC investigation last year exposed the significant German connection to small boat crossings, with the country becoming a central location for the storage of boats and engines.

Sir Keir said: "Chancellor Merz's commitment to make necessary changes to German law to disrupt the supply lines of the dangerous vessels which carry illegal migrants across the Channel is hugely welcome."

The German agreement comes a week after the UK announced a new pilot returns scheme with France, during President Emmanuel Macron's state visit.

Under the "one in, one out" deal, some small boat arrivals would be returned to France in exchange for the UK accepting an equivalent number of asylum seekers with connections to the UK.

The prime minister is under pressure to tackle the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats.

More than 21,000 people have made the dangerous journey so far this year - a 56% increase on the same period in 2024.

The Conservatives' shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the figures showed "the crisis in the Channel continues to spiral".

"This is just more of the same tired, headline-chasing from Keir Starmer.

"This government has clearly lost control of our borders and left the country exposed when they cancelled our returns deterrent."