InterCityExpress
Encyclopedia
The Intercity-Express (written as InterCityExpress in Austria
, Denmark
, Switzerland
and, formerly, in Germany
) or ICE (iːtseːˈʔeː) is a system of high-speed trains
predominantly running in Germany and neighbouring countries. It is the highest service category offered by DB Fernverkehr
and is the flagship of Deutsche Bahn
. The brand name "ICE" is among the most well known in Germany, with a brand awareness close to 100%, according to DB.
There are currently 259 trainsets in five different versions of the ICE vehicles in use, named ICE 1 (deployed in 1991), ICE 2 (1996), ICE T
(1999), ICE 3
(1999) and ICE TD
(2001–2003, back in service 2007). The ICE 3, including its variant models, is made by a consortium led by Bombardier
and Siemens
.
Apart from domestic use, the trains can also be seen in countries neighbouring Germany. There are, for example, ICE 1 lines to Basel
and Zurich
. ICE 3 trains also run to Liège and Brussels
and at lower speeds to Amsterdam
in the Netherlands. On 10 June 2007, a new line between Paris and Frankfurt/Stuttgart
was opened, jointly operated by ICE and TGV
trains. In addition, ICE Trains to London
via the Channel Tunnel
are planned for 2013.
While ICE 3M run the Paris-to-Frankfurt branch (with exceptions to trains 9553/9552, which operates with TGV POS
equipment and cross-crewed with both SNCF and DB staff), SNCF's TGV
runs from Paris to Munich (via Stuttgart), with mixed crews on both trains.
German and Austrian ICE T trains run to Vienna
. On 9 December 2007, the ICE TD was introduced on the service from Berlin via Hamburg
to the Danish cities of Århus and Copenhagen
.
The Spanish railway operator RENFE
also employs trains based on ICE 3 trains (Siemens Velaro
). Wider versions were ordered by China for the Beijing-Tianjin high-speed rail (CRH 3) and by Russia for the Moscow
– Saint Petersburg
and the Moscow – Nizhny Novgorod
routes (Velaro RUS).
The Deutsche Bundesbahn
started a series of trials in 1985 using the InterCityExperimental
(also called ICE-V) test train. The IC Experimental was used as a showcase train and for high-speed trials, setting a new world speed record
at 406.9 km/h (253 mph) on 1 May 1988.
The train was retired in 1996 and replaced with a new trial unit, called the ICE S
.
After extensive discussion between the Bundesbahn and the Ministry of Transport regarding onboard equipment, length and width of the train and the number of trainsets required, a first batch of 41 units was ordered in 1988. The order was extended to 60 units in 1990, with German reunification
in mind. However, not all trains could be delivered in time.
The ICE network was officially inaugurated on 29 May 1991 with several vehicles converging on the newly built station Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe
from different directions.
The first ICE trains were the trainsets of ICE 1 (power cars: Class 401), which came into service in 1989. The first regularly scheduled ICE trains ran from 2 June 1991 from Hamburg-Altona
via Hamburg Hbf
– Hannover Hbf
– Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe
– Fulda
– Frankfurt Hbf
– Mannheim Hbf
and Stuttgart Hbf
toward München Hbf
on the new ICE line 6. The Hanover-Würzburg line and the Mannheim-Stuttgart line, which had both opened the same year, were hence integrated into the ICE network from the very beginning.
Due to the lack of trainsets in 1991 and early 1992, the ICE line 4 (Bremen Hbf
– Hannover Hbf
– Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe
– Fulda
– Würzburg Hbf
– Nürnberg Hbf
– München Hbf
) couldn't start operating until 1 June 1992. Prior to that date, ICE trainsets were used when available and were integrated in the Intercity
network and with IC tariffs.
In 1993, the ICE line 6' s terminus was moved from Hamburg to Berlin (later, in 1998, via the Hanover-Berlin line and the former IC line 3 from Hamburg-Altona
via Hannover Hbf – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe
– Fulda
– Frankfurt Hbf – Mannheim Hbf – Karlsruhe Hbf – Freiburg Hbf to Basel SBB was upgraded to ICE standards as a replacement).
From 1997, the successor, the ICE 2 trains pulled by Class 402 powerheads, was put into service. One of the goals of the ICE 2 was to improve load balancing
by building smaller train units which could be coupled or detached as needed.
These trainsets were used on the ICE line 10 Berlin-Cologne/Bonn. However, since the driving van trailers
of the trains were still awaiting approval, the DB joined two portions (with one powerhead each) to form a long train, similar to the ICE 1. Only from 24 May 1998 were the ICE 2 units fully equipped with driving van trailers and could be portioned on their run from Hamm
via either Dortmund Hbf - Essen Hbf - Duisburg Hbf - Düsseldorf Hbf or Hagen Hbf - Wuppertal Hbf
- Solingen-Ohligs
.
In late 1998, the Hanover-Berlin high-speed rail line was opened as the third high-speed line
in Germany, cutting travel time on line 10 (between Berlin and the Ruhr valley) by 2½ hours.
The ICE 1 and ICE 2 trains' loading gauge
exceeds that recommended by the international railway organisation UIC
. Even though the trains were originally to be used only domestically, some units are licensed to run in Switzerland and Austria. Some ICE 1 units have been equipped with an additional smaller pantograph
to be able to run on the different Swiss overhead wire
geometry.
All ICE 1 and ICE 2 trains are single-voltage 15 kV AC
, which restricts their radius of operation largely to the German-speaking countries of Europe.
To overcome the restrictions imposed on the ICE 1 and ICE 2, their successor, the ICE 3, was built to a smaller loading gauge
to permit usability throughout Europe (except the UK non-highspeed network, Ireland, Finland, Russia and Ukraine) . Unlike their predecessors, the ICE 3 units are built not as locomotive-pulled trains (albeit aerodynamically optimised), but as electric multiple unit
s with underfloor motors throughout. This also reduced the load per axle and enabled the ICE 3 to comply with the pertinent UIC standard.
Two different classes were developed: the Class 403 (domestic ICE 3) and the Class 406 (ICE 3M), the M standing for Mehrsystem (multi-system). The trains were labelled and marketed as the Velaro
by their manufacturer, Siemens
.
Just like the ICE 2, the ICE 3 and the ICE 3M were developed as half-length trains (when compared to an ICE 1) and are able to travel in portions, with individual units running on different lines, then being coupled to travel together. Since the ICE 3 trains are the only ones able to run on the Köln-Frankfurt high-speed line with its 4.0 % incline, they are used predominantly on services that utilise this line.
Deutsche Bahn has order another 16 units - worth €
495 million - for international traffic, especially to France.
The newest high-speed line in Germany, the Nuremberg-Ingolstadt high-speed rail line, which opened in May 2006, is the most recent addition to the ICE network. It is one of only two lines in Germany (the other being the Cologne to Frankfurt line) that are equipped for a line speed of 300 km/h. Since only 3rd generation ICE trains can travel at this speed, the ICE line 41, formerly running from Essen Hbf via Duisburg Hbf – Frankfurt Südbf to Nürnberg Hbf, was extended over the Nuremberg-Ingolstadt high-speed rail line and today the service run is Oberhausen Hbf
– Duisburg Hbf – Frankfurt Hbf – Nürnberg Hbf – Ingolstadt Hbf – München Hbf.
The ICE 3 runs at speeds up to 320 km/h (198 mph) on the LGV Est
railway Strasbourg
– Paris
in France.
Simultaneously with the ICE 3, Siemens developed trains with tilting
technology, using much of the ICE 3 technical design. The class 411 (seven cars) and 415 (five cars) ICE T EMUs and class 605 ICE TD DMUs (four cars) were built with a similar interior and exterior design. They were specially designed for older railway lines not suitable for high speeds, for example the twisting lines in Thuringia
. ICE-TD has diesel traction. ICE-T and ICE-TD can be operated jointly, but this is not done routinely.
purchased three units in 2007, operating them jointly with DB. It might be worth noting that even though DB assigned the name ICE-T to class 411/415, the T originally did not stand for tilting, but for Triebwagen (railcar), as DB's marketing department at first deemed the top speed too low for assignment of the InterCityExpress brand and therefore planned to refer to this class as IC-T (InterCity-Triebwagen).
Rather ill-fated was the adoption of diesel services. In 2001, a total of 20 units were commissioned for use on the Dresden
-Munich
and Munich
-Zurich
lines, but these class 605 (ICE-TD) units experienced trouble from the start so the trains were mothballed. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup
, they were used for supplemental services. Their top speed is 200 km/h. They are expensive to use within Germany since full diesel tax must be paid. Starting at the end of 2007, the class 605 has been deployed on the Hamburg
-Copenhagen
route. This route, using the Fehmarn Belt
train ferry
needs diesel trains for both the railway and the ferry, as neither has an electric supply. Later the Hamburg
-Aarhus
started to use these trains. The Danish railway currently has a severe shortage of long-distance diesel trains since their new IC4
, with features similar to the ICE-TD, has also been ill-fated and severely delayed in delivery. The ICE-TD can have lower operational cost for this traffic, since diesel for train usage has lower tax in Denmark, and the trains fill their tanks there.
in Hanover
, Deutsche Bahn provided 120 additional train services. Some of these special services were operated by ICE trains and labelled "ExpoExpress" (EXE). These services also constituted the first widespread use of the then-new ICE 3 train sets, presenting them to the domestic and international general public.
and hence is protected as intellectual property. The trains are painted in Pale Grey (RAL 7035) with a Traffic Red (RAL 3020) stripe on the lower part of the vehicle. The continuous black band of windows and their oval door windows differentiate the ICEs from any other DB
train.
The ICE 1 and ICE 2 units originally had an Orient Red (RAL 3031) stripe, accompanied by a Pastel Violet stripe below (RAL 4009, 26 cm wide). These stripes were repainted with the current Traffic Red between 1998 and 2000, when all ICE units were being checked and repainted in anticipation of the EXPO 2000
.
The "ICE" lettering uses the colour Agate Grey (RAL 7038), the frame is painted in Quartz Grey (RAL 7039). The plastic platings in the interior all utilise the Pale Grey (RAL 7035) colour tone.
Originally, the ICE 1 interior was designed in pastel tones with an emphasis on mint, following the DB colour scheme of the day. The ICE 1 trains were refurbished in the mid-2000s, however, and now follow the same design as the ICE 3, which makes heavy usage of indirect lighting and wooden furnishings.
The distinctive ICE design was developed by a team of designers around Alexander Neumeister
in the early 1980s and first used on the InterCityExperimental
(ICE V). The team around Neumeister then designed the ICE 1, ICE 2, and ICE 3/T/TD. The interior of the trains was designed by Jens Peters working for BPR-Design in Stuttgart
. Among others, he was responsible for the heightened roof in the restaurant car and the special lighting. The same team also developed the design for the now discontinued InterRegio
trains in the mid-1980s.
reception as well as designated quiet zones where the use of mobile phones is discouraged. The newer ICE 3 trains also have larger digital displays in all coaches, displaying, among other things, Deutsche Bahn advertising, the predicted arrival time at the next destination and the current speed of the train.
The ICE 1 was originally equipped with a passenger information system based on BTX
, however this system was eventually taped over and removed in the later refurbishment. The ICE 3 trains feature touch screen terminals in some carriages, enabling travellers to print train timetables. The system is also located in the restaurant car of the ICE 2.
The ICE 1 fleet saw a major overhaul between 2005 and 2008, supposed to extend the lifetime of the trains by another 15 to 20 years. Seats and the interior design were adapted to the ICE 3 design, electric sockets were added to every seat, the audio and video entertainment systems were removed and electronic seat reservation indicators were added above the seats. The ICE 2 trains have been undergoing the same procedure since 2010.
ICE 2 trains feature electric sockets at selected seats, ICE 3 and ICE T trains have sockets at nearly every seat.
The ICE 3 and ICE T are similar in their interior design, but the other ICE types differ in their original design. The ICE 1, the ICE 2 and seven-car ICE T (Class 411) are equipped with a full restaurant car. The five-car ICE T (Class 415) and ICE 3 however, have been designed without a restaurant, they feature a bistro coach instead. Since 1 October 2006, smoking is prohibited in the bistro coaches, similar to the restaurant cars, which have always been non-smoking.
All trains feature a disabled toilet and wheelchair spaces. The ICE 1 and ICE 2 have a special conference compartment whilst the ICE 3 features a compartment suitable for small children. The ICE 3 and ICE T omit the usual train manager's compartment and have an open counter named "ServicePoint" instead.
An electronic display above each seat indicates the locations between which the seat has been reserved. Passengers without reservations are permitted to take seats with a blank display or seats with no reservation on the current section.
Maintenance on the ICE trains is carried out in special ICE workshops located in Basel, Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig and Munich. The train is worked upon at up to four levels at a time and fault reports are sent to the workshops in advance by the on-board computer system to keep maintenance time at a minimum.
The ICE system is a polycentric network. Connections are offered in either 30-minute, hourly or bi-hourly intervals. Furthermore, additional services run during peak times, and some services call at lesser stations during off-peak times.
Unlike the French TGV
or the Japanese Shinkansen
systems, the vehicles, tracks and operations were not designed as an integrated whole; rather, the ICE system has been integrated into Germany's pre-existing system of railway lines instead. One of the effects of this is that the ICE 3 trains can reach a speed of 300 km/h (186 mph) only on some stretches of line and cannot currently reach their maximum allowed speed of 330 km/h on German railway lines (though a speed of 320 km/h is reached by ICE 3 in France).
The line most heavily utilised by ICE trains is the Riedbahn between Frankfurt
and Mannheim
due to the bundling of many ICE lines in that region. When considering all traffic (freight, local and long distance passenger), the busiest line carrying ICE traffic is the Munich–Augsburg line, carrying about 300 trains per day.
(Also applies to trains in the opposite directions, taken from 2007 network map)
(Also applies to trains in the opposite directions, taken from 2007 network map)
(Also applies to trains in the opposite directions)
(Also applies to trains in the opposite directions)
A reservation is mandatory on the ICE-Sprinter (currently €11 in 2nd and €16 in 1st class). In addition to the usual 1st class service (on-seat service, free newspapers like Financial Times Deutschland
or Handelsblatt
), the 1st class in the Sprinter trains also offers free drinks, an on-seat breakfast or dinner and additional newspapers. In the 2nd class, newspapers are provided in the carriages at no extra cost.
The first Sprinter service was established between Munich
and Frankfurt
in 1992. Frankfurt
-Hamburg
followed in 1993 and Cologne
-Hamburg in 1994. This service ran as a Metropolitan
service between December 1996 and December 2004. In 1998, a Berlin-Frankfurt service was introduced and a service between Cologne and Stuttgart
ran between December 2005 and October 2006. Until December 2006, a morning Sprinter service ran between Frankfurt and Munich (with an intermediate stop at Mannheim
), taking 3:25 hours for the journey.
, the individual ICE Sprinter lines are:
(Source: Deutsche Bahn AG)
(Also applies to the opposite directions)
Since December 2006, Stuttgart Hbf and Zürich HB have been connected by a bi-hourly service.
The ÖBB in Austria is also using two ICE T trainsets (classified as ÖBB Class 4011 between Wien Westbahnhof, Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof
and Bregenz
(without stops in Germany). They are, however, not using the tilting technology. Since December 2007 ÖBB and DB are offering a bi-hourly connection between Wien Westbf and Frankfurt Hbf.
Since June 2007, ICE 3M trains have been running between Frankfurt Hbf and Paris Est
via Saarbrücken
and Kaiserslautern
. Together with the TGV
-operated line between Paris Est
, Stuttgart Hbf and München Hbf, this ICE line is part of the "LGV Est européenne
", also called "Paris-Ostfrankreich-Süddeutschland" (or POS
) for short, a pan-European high-speed line between France and Germany.
From late 2007 on, ICE TD trains will link Berlin Hbf with Copenhagen
via Hamburg Hbf.
These trains, despite being officially notated as ICEs, are more comparable to a Swiss InterRegio
or RegioExpress
train, calling at small stations like Möhlin
or Sissach
. As common in Switzerland, these trains can be used without paying extra for a supplement.
The ICE accident near Eschede
that happened on 3 June 1998 was a severe railway accident and the worst ever to involve a high-speed train, as well as the worst railway accident since modern Germany's foundation in 1949. Trainset 51, travelling as ICE 884 "Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
" from Munich to Hamburg, derailed at 200 km/h (125 mph), killing 101 and injuring 88.
The cause of the accident was a wheel rim which broke and damaged the train six kilometres south of the accident site. The wheel rim penetrated the carriage floor and lifted the check rail of a set of points
close to Eschede station. The broken-off check rail then forced the point blades of the following set of points to change direction, and the rear cars of the trainset were diverted to a different track. They hit the pillars of a street overpass, which then collapsed onto the tracks. Only three cars and the front powerhead passed under the bridge, the rest of the 14-car train jackknifed into the collapsed bridge.
maintenance facility and was written off.
On 22 November 2001, powerhead 401 020 caught fire. The train was stopped at the station in Offenbach am Main near Frankfurt a.M. No passengers were harmed, but the powerhead had to be written off.
On 6 January 2004, trainset 1106 caught on fire while it was parked at Leipzig
. Two cars were written off, and the others are now used as spares.
On 1 April 2004, trainset 321 collided with a tractor
that had fallen onto the track at a tunnel entrance near Istein
and derailed. No one was injured. Trainset 321 was temporarily taken apart, its cars being switched with cars from other ICE 3 trainsets.
Powerhead 401 553 suffered major damage in a collision with a car on the Riedbahn in April 2006.
On 28 April 2006, trainset 73 collided head-on with two BLS Re 465 locomotives at Thun
in Switzerland. The driver of the Swiss locomotives was unfamiliar with the new layout of the station, which had been recently changed. He did not see a shunting signal ordering him to stop. The locomotives automatically engaged the emergency brakes when he passed the signal, but came to a stop on the same track as the approaching ICE. The ICE was travelling at a speed of 74 km/h. The emergency brake slowed the train to 56 km/h at the point of collision. 30 passengers and the driver of the ICE suffered minor injuries, the driver of the Swiss locomotives having jumped to safety. Both trains suffered major damage. The powerhead 401 573 had to be rebuilt using components from three damaged powerheads (401 573, 401 020 and 401 551).
On 1 March 2008, trainset 1192, travelling as ICE 23, collided with a tree which had fallen onto the track near Brühl
after being blown down by cyclone Emma
. The driver suffered severe injuries. The trainset is back in service, its cabcar having been replaced with that from trainset 1106.
On 26 April 2008, trainset 11, travelling as ICE 885, collided with a herd of sheep on the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line near Fulda
. Both powerheads and ten of the 12 cars derailed. The train came to a stop 1300 meters into the Landrückentunnel
. 19 of the 130 passengers suffered mostly minor injuries, four of them needing hospital treatment.
A cracked axle was blamed for a low-speed derailment of a third-generation ICE in Cologne in July 2008. The accident, in which no-one was hurt, caused the German rail operator Deutsche Bahn to recall its newest ICEs as a safety measure. In October 2008, the company recalled its ICE-T trains after a further crack was found.
On 17 August 2010, the ICE from Frankfurt to Paris hit a truck that had slid from a higher embankment unto the rail near Lambrecht
. The first two carriages derailed and ten people were injured, one seriously.
On 11 January 2011, trainset 4654 partly derailed during a side-on collision with a freight train near Zevenaar
in the Netherlands. There were no injuries.
or EC
train (for example Hamburg to Dortmund), an additional surcharge will be levied on the ground that the ICE trains have a higher comfort level than IC/EC trains.
, Interlaken
and Chur
, as well as those on the intra-Swiss ICE trains (see above) can be used without any surcharge.
In Switzerland and Austria, a ride on the ICE takes nearly as long as on a domestic train. This is because of the comparably short length of travel and the low speeds in these countries (often no more than 160 km/h, sometimes 200 km/h) when compared to Germany.
and Fleischmann
, although is not a current catalogue item. Models of the ICE 1 & ICE 2 have been made by Fleischmann
, Roco
Märklin
and Trix
. The ICE 3 has been produced by Märklin
, Trix
, Mehano
and Piko
. Lima and Fleischmann
both produce ICE T models in H0. Roco make a model of the ICE TD.
have the ICE 1, ICE 2 and ICE T in their N scale range. Minitrix produces models of the ICE 3.
have made models of the ICE V and ICE 3 in their 1:220 scale Mini Club range.
and Deutsche Bahn
have indicated their desire to take advantage of the new laws to run new services via the Channel Tunnel
and the High Speed 1 route that terminates at London St Pancras.
Before this in December 2009, Deutsche Bahn received permission to run Intercity-Express (ICE 3
M) trains through the Channel Tunnel after a safety requirement to have splittable passenger trains was lifted. Deutsche Bahn had previously expressed a desire to run through trains between London and Germany. Although speculation continues of direct rail services between London St Pancras
and Köln (Cologne) Central station
before the 2012 London Olympics
, and that Deutsche Bahn could start high-speed train services from St. Pancras International
to Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof
by December 2012, Deutsche Bahn's own publicity in October 2010 gave an expected date of 2013, with services splitting to serve Rotterdam and Amsterdam as well as the German cities.
On 28 July 2010, Deutsche Bahn announced plans to run an ICE 3 train through the Channel Tunnel during autumn 2010, in preparation for possible future operations. This took place on 19 October 2010.
Passenger carrying ICE trains will have to meet safety requirements in order to transit the Channel Tunnel. As mentioned above, the requirement for splittable trains has been lifted, but concerns remain over the length of ICE trainsets, ICE is too short to ensure sufficient proximity to tunnel emergency exits, but DB claim that a Tunnel safety exercise on 18 October 2010 had been "highly successful". fire safetyThe current Velaro ICE3MF sets would not meet the specialist Channel Tunnel fire safety requirements necessary for the carriage of passengers through the Channel Tunnel, but the future Siemens Velaro
ICE-3D sets (due to enter service in later 2010) include the necessary additional fire-proofing. and the ICE's distributed power
arrangements. There have been suggestions that French interests have advocated stringent enforcement to delay a competitor on the route. Eurostar also recently chose Siemens Velaro-based rolling stock; there were concerns that the Alstom
(the builders of the passenger trains that already use the Tunnel) and the French Government would take the matter to court. In October 2010, the French transport minister suggested that the European Railway Agency
(which is based in France) should arbitrate. After safety rule changes which might permit the use of Siemens Velaro rolling stock, the French government dismissed their delegate to the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority
, and brought in a replacement.
In March 2011, the European Rail Agency Report, allowed trains with distributed traction for use in the Channel Tunnel. This means that the ICE class 407 trains which DB intends to use for its London services will be able to run through the tunnel to the United Kingdom.
, which is currently under construction. The trains will start in Frankfurt and run to Lyon
and Marseille
via Dijon
.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and, formerly, in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) or ICE (iːtseːˈʔeː) is a system of high-speed trains
High-speed rail
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...
predominantly running in Germany and neighbouring countries. It is the highest service category offered by DB Fernverkehr
DB Fernverkehr
DB Fernverkehr AG is a semi-independent division of Deutsche Bahn that operates long-distance passenger trains in Germany. It was founded in 1999 in the second stage of the privatisation of German Federal Railways under the name of DB Reise&Touristik and renamed in 2003.DB Fernverkehr operates all...
and is the flagship of Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
. The brand name "ICE" is among the most well known in Germany, with a brand awareness close to 100%, according to DB.
There are currently 259 trainsets in five different versions of the ICE vehicles in use, named ICE 1 (deployed in 1991), ICE 2 (1996), ICE T
ICE T
DBAG Class 411 and Class 415 are German tilting high-speed electric multiple-unit trains in service with Deutsche Bahn , commonly known as ICE T.- Development :...
(1999), ICE 3
ICE 3
ICE 3 is a family of high-speed EMUs of Deutsche Bahn. It includes classes 403 and 406, which are known as ICE 3 and ICE 3M respectively...
(1999) and ICE TD
ICE TD
The DBAG Class 605 is a high-speed diesel multiple unit train, in service with Deutsche Bahn and DSB, commonly known as the ICE TD.- Development :...
(2001–2003, back in service 2007). The ICE 3, including its variant models, is made by a consortium led by Bombardier
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
and Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
.
Apart from domestic use, the trains can also be seen in countries neighbouring Germany. There are, for example, ICE 1 lines to Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
and Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
. ICE 3 trains also run to Liège and Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and at lower speeds to Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in the Netherlands. On 10 June 2007, a new line between Paris and Frankfurt/Stuttgart
LGV Est
The LGV Est européenne is an extension to the French high-speed rail network, connecting currently Vaires-sur-Marne and Baudrecourt , and later Vaires-sur-Marne and Vendenheim . , it is the newest high-speed line in France and still under construction, with of a planned in service...
was opened, jointly operated by ICE and TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
trains. In addition, ICE Trains to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
via the Channel Tunnel
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
are planned for 2013.
While ICE 3M run the Paris-to-Frankfurt branch (with exceptions to trains 9553/9552, which operates with TGV POS
SNCF TGV POS
The TGV POS is a TGV train built by French manufacturer Alstom which is operated by the French national rail company, the SNCF in France's high-speed rail lines. It was originally ordered by the SNCF for use on the new LGV Est, which was put into service in 2007...
equipment and cross-crewed with both SNCF and DB staff), SNCF's TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
runs from Paris to Munich (via Stuttgart), with mixed crews on both trains.
German and Austrian ICE T trains run to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. On 9 December 2007, the ICE TD was introduced on the service from Berlin via Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
to the Danish cities of Århus and Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
.
The Spanish railway operator RENFE
RENFE
Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...
also employs trains based on ICE 3 trains (Siemens Velaro
Siemens Velaro
Siemens Velaro is a family of high-speed EMU trains used in Europe and China. The Velaro is based on Deutsche Bahn's ICE 3 high-speed trains, but is a full Siemens product unlike the ICE 3 which involved other manufacturers....
). Wider versions were ordered by China for the Beijing-Tianjin high-speed rail (CRH 3) and by Russia for the Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
– Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
and the Moscow – Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
routes (Velaro RUS).
History of the ICE
Deutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
started a series of trials in 1985 using the InterCityExperimental
InterCityExperimental
The Intercity Experimental, later renamed ICE V, was an experimental train for research into high-speed rail. It is the predecessor of all Intercity-Express trains.- History :...
(also called ICE-V) test train. The IC Experimental was used as a showcase train and for high-speed trials, setting a new world speed record
Land speed record for railed vehicles
Determination of the fastest rail vehicle in the world varies depending on the definition of "rail".Official absolute world record for conventional train is held by the French TGV...
at 406.9 km/h (253 mph) on 1 May 1988.
The train was retired in 1996 and replaced with a new trial unit, called the ICE S
ICE-S
ICE S is Deutsche Bahn's testing train for high-speed tests. The "S" stands for Schnellfahrtzug, which is German for high speed train. It replaced the InterCityExperimental .- History :...
.
After extensive discussion between the Bundesbahn and the Ministry of Transport regarding onboard equipment, length and width of the train and the number of trainsets required, a first batch of 41 units was ordered in 1988. The order was extended to 60 units in 1990, with German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in mind. However, not all trains could be delivered in time.
The ICE network was officially inaugurated on 29 May 1991 with several vehicles converging on the newly built station Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe
Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe railway station
Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe is a railway station in the city of Kassel, in the German state of Hesse. It is the city's most important railway station, as it is connected to the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line, with InterCityExpress services calling at the station.- History :When the Deutsche...
from different directions.
First generation
The first ICE trains were the trainsets of ICE 1 (power cars: Class 401), which came into service in 1989. The first regularly scheduled ICE trains ran from 2 June 1991 from Hamburg-Altona
Hamburg-Altona railway station
Hamburg-Altona or Altona is a railway station in Hamburg, Germany. It is situated west of the city's main station, Hamburg Hauptbahnhof , in the district of Altona, and is the usual terminus for southbound long-distance trains....
via Hamburg Hbf
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof for the German city of Hamburg. It was opened in 1906 to replace 4 terminal stations. Hamburg Hauptbahnhof is operated by DB Station&Service...
– Hannover Hbf
Hannover Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Hanover in Lower Saxony, Germany.-History:The first station on the current site, a temporary building serving the line to Lehrte, was erected in 1843...
– Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe
Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe railway station
Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe is a railway station in the city of Kassel, in the German state of Hesse. It is the city's most important railway station, as it is connected to the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line, with InterCityExpress services calling at the station.- History :When the Deutsche...
– Fulda
Fulda railway station
Fulda station is an important transport hub of the German railway network in in the east Hessian city of Fulda. It is used by about 20,000 travellers each day. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station. It is a stop for Intercity-Express, Intercity services and regional services....
– Frankfurt Hbf
Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof
is the central station for Frankfurt am Main. In terms of railway traffic, it is the busiest railway station in Germany. With about 350,000 passengers per day the station is the second most frequented railway station in Germany and one of the most frequented in Europe.- Proto-history :In the late...
– Mannheim Hbf
Mannheim Hauptbahnhof
is the central railway station of Mannheim in Germany. It is the second largest traffic hub in southwestern Germany after Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, with 658 trains a day, including 238 long-distance trains. 100,000 passengers embark, disembark or transfer between trains at the station each day...
and Stuttgart Hbf
Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof of the city of Stuttgart, the capital of the Land of Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany. It is the largest regional and long-distance railway station in Stuttgart, the main node of the Stuttgart S-Bahn network, and, together with the halt at Charlottenplatz, the main...
toward München Hbf
München Hauptbahnhof
Munich Central Station is the main railway station of the city of Munich in Germany. It is one of the three long distance train stations in Munich, the others being München-Pasing and München Ost. The station sees about 350,000 passengers a day, which puts it on par with other large stations in...
on the new ICE line 6. The Hanover-Würzburg line and the Mannheim-Stuttgart line, which had both opened the same year, were hence integrated into the ICE network from the very beginning.
Due to the lack of trainsets in 1991 and early 1992, the ICE line 4 (Bremen Hbf
Bremen Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Bremen in northwestern Germany. It is the most important rail station for both the city and the state of Bremen; InterCityExpress, Intercity, EuroCity, CityNightLine and DB NachtZug services call at the station, which is situated to the Northeast of the city...
– Hannover Hbf
Hannover Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Hanover in Lower Saxony, Germany.-History:The first station on the current site, a temporary building serving the line to Lehrte, was erected in 1843...
– Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe
Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe railway station
Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe is a railway station in the city of Kassel, in the German state of Hesse. It is the city's most important railway station, as it is connected to the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line, with InterCityExpress services calling at the station.- History :When the Deutsche...
– Fulda
Fulda railway station
Fulda station is an important transport hub of the German railway network in in the east Hessian city of Fulda. It is used by about 20,000 travellers each day. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station. It is a stop for Intercity-Express, Intercity services and regional services....
– Würzburg Hbf
Würzburg Hauptbahnhof
is the central station for the city of Würzburg in the German state of Bavaria.Regional and long-distance trains call at the station; it is the southern end of the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line that carries InterCityExpress traffic...
– Nürnberg Hbf
Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof
Nuremberg Central Station is the main railway station for the city of Nuremberg in Germany. It is the largest station in north Bavaria and belongs to the 20 stations in the highest category of importance allocated by DB Station&Service....
– München Hbf
München Hauptbahnhof
Munich Central Station is the main railway station of the city of Munich in Germany. It is one of the three long distance train stations in Munich, the others being München-Pasing and München Ost. The station sees about 350,000 passengers a day, which puts it on par with other large stations in...
) couldn't start operating until 1 June 1992. Prior to that date, ICE trainsets were used when available and were integrated in the Intercity
Intercity (Deutsche Bahn)
Intercity is the second-highest train classification in Germany, after the ICE. Intercity services are loco-hauled express services, usually over long-distances. There are Intercity routes throughout Germany, and routes generally operate with a two-hour frequency, with multiple routes giving a more...
network and with IC tariffs.
In 1993, the ICE line 6
Hamburg-Altona railway station
Hamburg-Altona or Altona is a railway station in Hamburg, Germany. It is situated west of the city's main station, Hamburg Hauptbahnhof , in the district of Altona, and is the usual terminus for southbound long-distance trains....
via Hannover Hbf – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe
Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe railway station
Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe is a railway station in the city of Kassel, in the German state of Hesse. It is the city's most important railway station, as it is connected to the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line, with InterCityExpress services calling at the station.- History :When the Deutsche...
– Fulda
Fulda railway station
Fulda station is an important transport hub of the German railway network in in the east Hessian city of Fulda. It is used by about 20,000 travellers each day. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station. It is a stop for Intercity-Express, Intercity services and regional services....
– Frankfurt Hbf – Mannheim Hbf – Karlsruhe Hbf – Freiburg Hbf to Basel SBB was upgraded to ICE standards as a replacement).
Second generation
Load balancing
Load balancing or load distribution may refer to:*Load balancing , balancing a workload amongst multiple computer devices*Load balancing , the storing of excess electrical power by power stations during low demand periods, for release as demand rises*Weight distribution, the apportioning of weight...
by building smaller train units which could be coupled or detached as needed.
These trainsets were used on the ICE line 10 Berlin-Cologne/Bonn. However, since the driving van trailers
Control car (rail)
A control car is a generic term for a non-powered railroad vehicle that can control operation of a train from the end opposite to the position of the locomotive...
of the trains were still awaiting approval, the DB joined two portions (with one powerhead each) to form a long train, similar to the ICE 1. Only from 24 May 1998 were the ICE 2 units fully equipped with driving van trailers and could be portioned on their run from Hamm
Hamm (Westfalen) railway station
Hamm is a railway station situated in the city of Hamm in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia....
via either Dortmund Hbf - Essen Hbf - Duisburg Hbf - Düsseldorf Hbf or Hagen Hbf - Wuppertal Hbf
Wuppertal Hbf
is the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Wuppertal, which is just south of the Ruhr Area, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is on the line between Düsseldorf/Cologne and Dortmund. The 1848 reception building is one of the oldest of its kind. The station was originally Elberfeld station...
- Solingen-Ohligs
Solingen Hauptbahnhof
Solingen Hauptbahnhof is the only train station in Solingen, Germany offering ICE and IC long distance trains....
.
In late 1998, the Hanover-Berlin high-speed rail line was opened as the third high-speed line
High-speed rail
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...
in Germany, cutting travel time on line 10 (between Berlin and the Ruhr valley) by 2½ hours.
The ICE 1 and ICE 2 trains' loading gauge
Loading gauge
A loading gauge defines the maximum height and width for railway vehicles and their loads to ensure safe passage through bridges, tunnels and other structures...
exceeds that recommended by the international railway organisation UIC
International Union of Railways
The UIC , or International Union of Railways, is an international rail transport industry body.- Brief history :The railways of Europe originated as separate concerns. There were many border changes after World War I and the Treaty of Versailles. Colonial railways were the responsibility of the...
. Even though the trains were originally to be used only domestically, some units are licensed to run in Switzerland and Austria. Some ICE 1 units have been equipped with an additional smaller pantograph
Pantograph (rail)
A pantograph for rail lines is a hinged electric-rod device that collects electric current from overhead lines for electric trains or trams. The pantograph typically connects to a one-wire line, with the track acting as the ground wire...
to be able to run on the different Swiss overhead wire
Overhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
geometry.
All ICE 1 and ICE 2 trains are single-voltage 15 kV AC
15 kV AC
The AC railway electrification system is used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway. The high voltage enables high power transmission with low losses powering traction motors available since the beginning of the 20th century...
, which restricts their radius of operation largely to the German-speaking countries of Europe.
Third generation
- Main article: ICE 3ICE 3ICE 3 is a family of high-speed EMUs of Deutsche Bahn. It includes classes 403 and 406, which are known as ICE 3 and ICE 3M respectively...
, for Siemens built trains using similar technology see Siemens VelaroSiemens VelaroSiemens Velaro is a family of high-speed EMU trains used in Europe and China. The Velaro is based on Deutsche Bahn's ICE 3 high-speed trains, but is a full Siemens product unlike the ICE 3 which involved other manufacturers....
.
To overcome the restrictions imposed on the ICE 1 and ICE 2, their successor, the ICE 3, was built to a smaller loading gauge
Loading gauge
A loading gauge defines the maximum height and width for railway vehicles and their loads to ensure safe passage through bridges, tunnels and other structures...
to permit usability throughout Europe (except the UK non-highspeed network, Ireland, Finland, Russia and Ukraine) . Unlike their predecessors, the ICE 3 units are built not as locomotive-pulled trains (albeit aerodynamically optimised), but as electric multiple unit
Electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...
s with underfloor motors throughout. This also reduced the load per axle and enabled the ICE 3 to comply with the pertinent UIC standard.
Two different classes were developed: the Class 403 (domestic ICE 3) and the Class 406 (ICE 3M), the M standing for Mehrsystem (multi-system). The trains were labelled and marketed as the Velaro
Siemens Velaro
Siemens Velaro is a family of high-speed EMU trains used in Europe and China. The Velaro is based on Deutsche Bahn's ICE 3 high-speed trains, but is a full Siemens product unlike the ICE 3 which involved other manufacturers....
by their manufacturer, Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
.
Just like the ICE 2, the ICE 3 and the ICE 3M were developed as half-length trains (when compared to an ICE 1) and are able to travel in portions, with individual units running on different lines, then being coupled to travel together. Since the ICE 3 trains are the only ones able to run on the Köln-Frankfurt high-speed line with its 4.0 % incline, they are used predominantly on services that utilise this line.
Deutsche Bahn has order another 16 units - worth €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
495 million - for international traffic, especially to France.
The newest high-speed line in Germany, the Nuremberg-Ingolstadt high-speed rail line, which opened in May 2006, is the most recent addition to the ICE network. It is one of only two lines in Germany (the other being the Cologne to Frankfurt line) that are equipped for a line speed of 300 km/h. Since only 3rd generation ICE trains can travel at this speed, the ICE line 41, formerly running from Essen Hbf via Duisburg Hbf – Frankfurt Südbf to Nürnberg Hbf, was extended over the Nuremberg-Ingolstadt high-speed rail line and today the service run is Oberhausen Hbf
Oberhausen Hbf
Oberhausen Hauptbahnhof often shortened to Oberhausen Hbf is a railway station in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.The station was opened in 1847 and is located on the Duisburg–Dortmund railway, Arnhem-Oberhausen railway, Oberhausen–Duisburg-Ruhrort railway and Oberhausen-Mülheim-Styrum...
– Duisburg Hbf – Frankfurt Hbf – Nürnberg Hbf – Ingolstadt Hbf – München Hbf.
The ICE 3 runs at speeds up to 320 km/h (198 mph) on the LGV Est
LGV Est
The LGV Est européenne is an extension to the French high-speed rail network, connecting currently Vaires-sur-Marne and Baudrecourt , and later Vaires-sur-Marne and Vendenheim . , it is the newest high-speed line in France and still under construction, with of a planned in service...
railway Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
– Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in France.
ICE T and ICE TD
Tilting train
A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular rail tracks. As a train rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide about or seated passengers to feel squashed by the outboard armrest due to...
technology, using much of the ICE 3 technical design. The class 411 (seven cars) and 415 (five cars) ICE T EMUs and class 605 ICE TD DMUs (four cars) were built with a similar interior and exterior design. They were specially designed for older railway lines not suitable for high speeds, for example the twisting lines in Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
. ICE-TD has diesel traction. ICE-T and ICE-TD can be operated jointly, but this is not done routinely.
ICE T
A total of 60 class 411 and 11 class 415 have been built so far (units built after 2004 belong to the modified second generation ICE-T2 batch). Both classes work reliably. Austria's ÖBBÖBB
The Austrian Federal Railways is the national railway system of Austria, and the administrators of Liechtenstein's railways...
purchased three units in 2007, operating them jointly with DB. It might be worth noting that even though DB assigned the name ICE-T to class 411/415, the T originally did not stand for tilting, but for Triebwagen (railcar), as DB's marketing department at first deemed the top speed too low for assignment of the InterCityExpress brand and therefore planned to refer to this class as IC-T (InterCity-Triebwagen).
ICE TD
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
-Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
and Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
-Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
lines, but these class 605 (ICE-TD) units experienced trouble from the start so the trains were mothballed. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
, they were used for supplemental services. Their top speed is 200 km/h. They are expensive to use within Germany since full diesel tax must be paid. Starting at the end of 2007, the class 605 has been deployed on the Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
-Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
route. This route, using the Fehmarn Belt
Fehmarn Belt
Fehmarn Belt is a strait connecting the Bay of Kiel and the Bay of Mecklenburg in the western part of the Baltic Sea between the German island of Fehmarn and the Danish island of Lolland. Ferries operated by Scandlines connect Puttgarden and Rødby on the two islands.The strait features a...
train ferry
Train ferry
A train ferry is a ship designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ferries are sometimes referred to as "car ferries", as...
needs diesel trains for both the railway and the ferry, as neither has an electric supply. Later the Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
-Aarhus
Aarhus
Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
started to use these trains. The Danish railway currently has a severe shortage of long-distance diesel trains since their new IC4
IC4
The IC4 is an inter-city train built by Italian AnsaldoBreda for the trans-Great Belt routes of Danske Statsbaner , Denmark's national railway operator. Under DSB's ‘Good trains for everyone’ plan , the intent of the IC4 project was to replace several types of outdated rolling stock...
, with features similar to the ICE-TD, has also been ill-fated and severely delayed in delivery. The ICE-TD can have lower operational cost for this traffic, since diesel for train usage has lower tax in Denmark, and the trains fill their tanks there.
ExpoExpress
For the EXPO 2000Expo 2000
Expo 2000 was a World's Fair held in Hanover, Germany from Thursday, June 1 to Tuesday, October 31, 2000. It was located on the Hanover fairground , which is famous for hosting CeBIT...
in Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, Deutsche Bahn provided 120 additional train services. Some of these special services were operated by ICE trains and labelled "ExpoExpress" (EXE). These services also constituted the first widespread use of the then-new ICE 3 train sets, presenting them to the domestic and international general public.
ICE design
An outstanding characteristic of the ICE trains is their colour design, which has been registered by the DB as an aesthetic modelGeschmacksmuster
Under German law, the Geschmacksmuster is a form of intellectual property that extends industrial design rights over the visual design of objects that is not purely utilitarian...
and hence is protected as intellectual property. The trains are painted in Pale Grey (RAL 7035) with a Traffic Red (RAL 3020) stripe on the lower part of the vehicle. The continuous black band of windows and their oval door windows differentiate the ICEs from any other DB
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
train.
The ICE 1 and ICE 2 units originally had an Orient Red (RAL 3031) stripe, accompanied by a Pastel Violet stripe below (RAL 4009, 26 cm wide). These stripes were repainted with the current Traffic Red between 1998 and 2000, when all ICE units were being checked and repainted in anticipation of the EXPO 2000
Expo 2000
Expo 2000 was a World's Fair held in Hanover, Germany from Thursday, June 1 to Tuesday, October 31, 2000. It was located on the Hanover fairground , which is famous for hosting CeBIT...
.
The "ICE" lettering uses the colour Agate Grey (RAL 7038), the frame is painted in Quartz Grey (RAL 7039). The plastic platings in the interior all utilise the Pale Grey (RAL 7035) colour tone.
Originally, the ICE 1 interior was designed in pastel tones with an emphasis on mint, following the DB colour scheme of the day. The ICE 1 trains were refurbished in the mid-2000s, however, and now follow the same design as the ICE 3, which makes heavy usage of indirect lighting and wooden furnishings.
The distinctive ICE design was developed by a team of designers around Alexander Neumeister
Alexander Neumeister
Alexander Neumeister is a German industrial designer from Berlin. He gained recognition for his designs of the ICE and Transrapid for which he received the German Design Award...
in the early 1980s and first used on the InterCityExperimental
InterCityExperimental
The Intercity Experimental, later renamed ICE V, was an experimental train for research into high-speed rail. It is the predecessor of all Intercity-Express trains.- History :...
(ICE V). The team around Neumeister then designed the ICE 1, ICE 2, and ICE 3/T/TD. The interior of the trains was designed by Jens Peters working for BPR-Design in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
. Among others, he was responsible for the heightened roof in the restaurant car and the special lighting. The same team also developed the design for the now discontinued InterRegio
InterRegio
The InterRegio is a train service seen in some European countries. Mostly they are trains that run "from region to region", as best described by Swiss Federal Railways.-Switzerland:...
trains in the mid-1980s.
Differences in design
| ICE (generally): | Pale grey livery with red stripe and convoluted rubber gaiters between carriages (distinctive from all other DB trains) Black window band with oval door windows (distinctive from Intercity Intercity (Deutsche Bahn) Intercity is the second-highest train classification in Germany, after the ICE. Intercity services are loco-hauled express services, usually over long-distances. There are Intercity routes throughout Germany, and routes generally operate with a two-hour frequency, with multiple routes giving a more... / Metropolitan Metropolitan (train) The Metropolitan was a premium train service operated by Deutsche Bahn AG between Cologne and Hamburg in Germany.... cars) Wheels-on-rails technology (distinctive from the Transrapid Transrapid Transrapid is a German high-speed monorail train using magnetic levitation. Based on a patent from 1934, planning of the Transrapid system started in 1969. The test facility for the system in Emsland, Germany was completed in 1987... ) |
---- |
|
| ICE 1: | two power heads Electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device... and intermediate cars; restaurant car Dining car A dining car or restaurant carriage , also diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant.... with high roof; nose with DB logo that interrupts red stripe (unique to the ICE 1) |
---- |
|
| ICE 2: | one power head and one driving van trailer Control car (rail) A control car is a generic term for a non-powered railroad vehicle that can control operation of a train from the end opposite to the position of the locomotive... accessible to passengers; BordRestaurant/Bistro car has same height as other cars; contrary to ICE 1: nose is vertically divisible, parts of the coupler protruding to the outside |
---- |
|
| ICE 3: | no power heads, but an EMU Electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages... : end cars with rounded windshield and passenger lounge, unpowered transformer car with pantograph Pantograph (rail) A pantograph for rail lines is a hinged electric-rod device that collects electric current from overhead lines for electric trains or trams. The pantograph typically connects to a one-wire line, with the track acting as the ground wire... ; red stripe is interrupted at the end cars by ICE logo, then runs downwards and across the nose lid; window band becomes narrow and ends near the windshield. |
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|
| ICE T/TD: | similar to ICE 3, except: steeper front; pantograph (T)/ aerodynamic cover (TD) on end cars; no ICE logo on the end coaches; red stripe stays straight, red stripe ends near the lamps. |
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|
| ICE T2: | like ICE T series 1, except: painted sheet metal instead of glass between windows, front lamps with LED LEd LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product.... s |
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| ICE V: | violet, wide stripe runs deeper than on newer stock and does not continue over the nose lid; Deutsche Bundesbahn Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '... logo and preliminary ICE logo; clad rubber gaiters; power heads larger than intermediate cars and with rounder front; front hedge ICE 2-like since 1995 |
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| ICE S: | old-style pastel violet/orient red stripe turns yellow/grey on intermediate coaches, designating a service vehicle; ICE logo with additional letter "S" in white; gray and yellow lines form a curve on intermediate car 2; high-voltage lines between carriages; maximum speed 330 km/h instead of 280 km/h |
Trainset numbers
While every car in an ICE train has its own unique registration number, the trains usually remain coupled as fixed trainsets for several years. For easier reference, each has been assigned a trainset number that is printed over each bogie of every car. These numbers usually correspond with the registration numbers of the powerheads or cab cars.| ICE 1: | Tz 01 to 20 | traction motor Traction motor Traction motor refers to an electric motor providing the primary rotational torque of a machine, usually for conversion into linear motion .... s use thyristor Thyristor A thyristor is a solid-state semiconductor device with four layers of alternating N and P-type material. They act as bistable switches, conducting when their gate receives a current trigger, and continue to conduct while they are forward biased .Some sources define silicon controlled rectifiers and... frequency converters Frequency changer A frequency changer or frequency converter is an electronic device that converts alternating current of one frequency to alternating current of another frequency. The device may also change the voltage, but if it does, that is incidental to its principal purpose.Traditionally, these devices were... |
| Tz 51 to 71 | traction motors use GTO Gate turn-off thyristor A gate turn-off thyristor is a special type of thyristor, a high-power semiconductor device. GTOs, as opposed to normal thyristors, are fully controllable switches which can be turned on and off by their third lead, the GATE lead.-Device description:... frequency converters |
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| Tz 72 to 90 | GTO control, fitted for service into Switzerland | |
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| ICE 2: | Tz 201 to 244 | |
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| ICE 3: | Tz 301 to 337 | first series |
| Tz 351 to 367 | second series | |
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| ICE 3M: | Tz 4601 to 4613 | 7 trainsets, numbers intermittent |
| Tz 4651 to 4654 | owned by NS Hispeed Nederlandse Spoorwegen Nederlandse Spoorwegen , or NS, is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands.Its trains operate over the tracks of the Dutch national railinfrastructure, operated by ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003... |
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| ICE 3MF: | Tz 4680 to 4685 | refitted for service into France |
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| ICE T: | Tz 1101 to 1132 | first series |
| 7 cars | Tz 1151 to 1178 | second series |
| Tz 1180 to 1184 | refitted for service into Switzerland | |
| Tz 1190 to 1192 | sold to ÖBB ÖBB The Austrian Federal Railways is the national railway system of Austria, and the administrators of Liechtenstein's railways... |
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| ICE T: | Tz 1501 to 1506 | |
| 5 cars | Tz 1520 to 1524 | originally fitted for service into Switzerland, cab cars switched with Tz 1180 to 1184 |
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| ICE TD: | Tz 5501 to 5520 | |
Interior equipment
The ICE trains adhere to a high standard of technology: all cars are fully air-conditioned and nearly every seat features a headphone jack which enables the passenger to listen to several on-board music and voice programmes as well as several radio stations. Some seats in the 1st class section (in some trains also in 2nd class) are equipped with video displays showing movies and pre-recorded infotainment programmes. Each train is equipped with special cars that feature in-train repeaters for improved mobile phoneMobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
reception as well as designated quiet zones where the use of mobile phones is discouraged. The newer ICE 3 trains also have larger digital displays in all coaches, displaying, among other things, Deutsche Bahn advertising, the predicted arrival time at the next destination and the current speed of the train.
The ICE 1 was originally equipped with a passenger information system based on BTX
Bildschirmtext
Bildschirmtext was a V.23 online service launched in West Germany in 1983 by the Deutsche Bundespost, the German postal service. Btx originally required special hardware, which had to be bought or rented from the post office...
, however this system was eventually taped over and removed in the later refurbishment. The ICE 3 trains feature touch screen terminals in some carriages, enabling travellers to print train timetables. The system is also located in the restaurant car of the ICE 2.
The ICE 1 fleet saw a major overhaul between 2005 and 2008, supposed to extend the lifetime of the trains by another 15 to 20 years. Seats and the interior design were adapted to the ICE 3 design, electric sockets were added to every seat, the audio and video entertainment systems were removed and electronic seat reservation indicators were added above the seats. The ICE 2 trains have been undergoing the same procedure since 2010.
ICE 2 trains feature electric sockets at selected seats, ICE 3 and ICE T trains have sockets at nearly every seat.
The ICE 3 and ICE T are similar in their interior design, but the other ICE types differ in their original design. The ICE 1, the ICE 2 and seven-car ICE T (Class 411) are equipped with a full restaurant car. The five-car ICE T (Class 415) and ICE 3 however, have been designed without a restaurant, they feature a bistro coach instead. Since 1 October 2006, smoking is prohibited in the bistro coaches, similar to the restaurant cars, which have always been non-smoking.
All trains feature a disabled toilet and wheelchair spaces. The ICE 1 and ICE 2 have a special conference compartment whilst the ICE 3 features a compartment suitable for small children. The ICE 3 and ICE T omit the usual train manager's compartment and have an open counter named "ServicePoint" instead.
An electronic display above each seat indicates the locations between which the seat has been reserved. Passengers without reservations are permitted to take seats with a blank display or seats with no reservation on the current section.
Maintenance
The maintenance schedule of the trains is divided into seven steps:- Every 4,000 kilometres, an inspection taking about 1½ hours is undertaken. The waste collection tanks are emptied and fresh water tanks are refilled. Acute defects (e.g. malfunctioning doors) are rectified. Furthermore, safety tests are conducted. These include checking the pantographPantograph (rail)A pantograph for rail lines is a hinged electric-rod device that collects electric current from overhead lines for electric trains or trams. The pantograph typically connects to a one-wire line, with the track acting as the ground wire...
pressure, cleaning and checking for fissures in the rooftop insulators, inspecting transformers and checking the pantograph's current collector for wear. The wheels are also checked in this inspection. - Every 20,000 kilometres, a 2½ hour inspection is conducted, called Nachschau. In this inspection, the brakes, the LinienzugbeeinflussungLinienzugbeeinflussungLinienzugbeeinflussung is a cab signalling andtrain protection system used on selected German and Austrian railway linesas well as the AVE in Spain.In Germany, the system is mandatory on all lines where trains exceed speeds of...
systems and the anti-lock brakes are checked as well. - After 80,000 kilometres, the train undergoes the Inspektionsstufe 1. During the two modules, each lasting eight hours, the brakes receive a thorough check, as well as the air conditioning and the kitchen equipment. The batteries are checked, as well as the seats and the passenger information system.
- Once the train has reached 240,000 kilometres, the Inspektionsstufe 2 mandates a check of the electric motorElectric motorAn electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force...
s, the bearingsBearing (mechanical)A bearing is a device to allow constrained relative motion between two or more parts, typically rotation or linear movement. Bearings may be classified broadly according to the motions they allow and according to their principle of operation as well as by the directions of applied loads they can...
and the driveshaftDriveshaftA drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, propeller shaft, or Cardan shaft is a mechanical component for transmitting torque and rotation, usually used to connect other components of a drive train that cannot be connected directly because of distance or the need to allow for relative movement...
s of the bogieBogieA bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...
s and the couplers. This inspection is usually carried out in two modules taking eight hours each. - About once a year (when reaching 480,000 km), the Inspektionsstufe 3 takes place, at three times eight hours each. In addition to the other checkup phases, it includes checks on the pneumaticsPneumaticsPneumatics is a branch of technology, which deals with the study and application of use of pressurized gas to effect mechanical motion.Pneumatic systems are extensively used in industry, where factories are commonly plumbed with compressed air or compressed inert gases...
systems, and the transformer cooling. Maintenance work is performed inside the passenger compartment. - The 1st Revision is carried out after 1.2 million km. It includes a thorough check of all components of the train and is carried out in two five-day segments.
- The seventh and final step is the 2nd Revision, which happens when reaching 2.4 million kilometres. The bogieBogieA bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...
s are exchanged for new ones and many components of the train are disassembled and checked. This step also takes two five-day segments.
Maintenance on the ICE trains is carried out in special ICE workshops located in Basel, Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig and Munich. The train is worked upon at up to four levels at a time and fault reports are sent to the workshops in advance by the on-board computer system to keep maintenance time at a minimum.
Route planning and network layout
Unlike the French TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
or the Japanese Shinkansen
Shinkansen
The , also known as THE BULLET TRAIN, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-shinkansen with a...
systems, the vehicles, tracks and operations were not designed as an integrated whole; rather, the ICE system has been integrated into Germany's pre-existing system of railway lines instead. One of the effects of this is that the ICE 3 trains can reach a speed of 300 km/h (186 mph) only on some stretches of line and cannot currently reach their maximum allowed speed of 330 km/h on German railway lines (though a speed of 320 km/h is reached by ICE 3 in France).
The line most heavily utilised by ICE trains is the Riedbahn between Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
and Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
due to the bundling of many ICE lines in that region. When considering all traffic (freight, local and long distance passenger), the busiest line carrying ICE traffic is the Munich–Augsburg line, carrying about 300 trains per day.
North-South connections
The network's main backbone consists of six north-south lines:- from Hamburg-Altona via Hamburg Hbf – Hannover Hbf – Kassel-WilhelmshöheKassel-Wilhelmshöhe railway stationKassel-Wilhelmshöhe is a railway station in the city of Kassel, in the German state of Hesse. It is the city's most important railway station, as it is connected to the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line, with InterCityExpress services calling at the station.- History :When the Deutsche...
– Fulda BfFulda railway stationFulda station is an important transport hub of the German railway network in in the east Hessian city of Fulda. It is used by about 20,000 travellers each day. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station. It is a stop for Intercity-Express, Intercity services and regional services....
– Frankfurt Hbf – Mannheim Hbf either via Karlsruhe Hbf – Freiburg BfFreiburg HauptbahnhofThe Freiburg Hauptbahnhof is the main train station in the German city of Freiburg im Breisgau. It is a Category 2 station serving southern Baden-Württemberg. It was modernized in 1999, replacing a temporary station built in 1949 after the original 1845 station was destroyed in World War II....
to Basel SBB (ICE line 20) or straight to Stuttgart Hbf (ICE line 22) - from Hamburg-Altona – Hamburg Hbf and Bremen Hbf via Hannover Hbf – Kassel-WilhelmshöheKassel-Wilhelmshöhe railway stationKassel-Wilhelmshöhe is a railway station in the city of Kassel, in the German state of Hesse. It is the city's most important railway station, as it is connected to the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line, with InterCityExpress services calling at the station.- History :When the Deutsche...
– Fulda BfFulda railway stationFulda station is an important transport hub of the German railway network in in the east Hessian city of Fulda. It is used by about 20,000 travellers each day. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station. It is a stop for Intercity-Express, Intercity services and regional services....
– Würzburg Hbf either via Nürnberg Hbf – Ingolstadt Hbf or Donauwörth BfDonauwörthDonauwörth is a city in the German State of Bavaria , in the region of Swabia . It is said to have been founded by two fisherman where the Danube and Wörnitz rivers meet...
– Augsburg Hbf to München Hbf (ICE line 25) - from Hamburg-Altona via Hamburg Hbf – Berlin-SpandauBerlin-Spandau railway stationBerlin-Spandau is a railway station situated in the Spandau district of Berlin, Germany located at the western end of the S-Bahn lines and .-Overview:...
– Berlin Hbf – Berlin Südkreuz – Leipzig Hbf – Nürnberg Hbf either via Augsburg Hbf or Ingolstadt Hbf to München Hbf (ICE line 28) - from Berlin Ostbf via Berlin Hbf – Berlin-SpandauBerlin-Spandau railway stationBerlin-Spandau is a railway station situated in the Spandau district of Berlin, Germany located at the western end of the S-Bahn lines and .-Overview:...
– Braunschweig Hbf – Kassel-WilhelmshöheKassel-Wilhelmshöhe railway stationKassel-Wilhelmshöhe is a railway station in the city of Kassel, in the German state of Hesse. It is the city's most important railway station, as it is connected to the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line, with InterCityExpress services calling at the station.- History :When the Deutsche...
– Fulda BfFulda railway stationFulda station is an important transport hub of the German railway network in in the east Hessian city of Fulda. It is used by about 20,000 travellers each day. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station. It is a stop for Intercity-Express, Intercity services and regional services....
– Frankfurt Hbf – Mannheim Hbf either via Karlsruhe Hbf – Freiburg BfFreiburg HauptbahnhofThe Freiburg Hauptbahnhof is the main train station in the German city of Freiburg im Breisgau. It is a Category 2 station serving southern Baden-Württemberg. It was modernized in 1999, replacing a temporary station built in 1949 after the original 1845 station was destroyed in World War II....
to Basel SBB (ICE line 12) or via Stuttgart Hbf – Ulm Hbf – Augsburg Hbf to München Hbf (ICE line 11) - from Amsterdam CentraalAmsterdam Centraal' is the central station of Amsterdam. It is one of the main railway hubs of the Netherlands and is used by 250,000 passengers a day, excluding transferring passengers. It is also the starting point of Amsterdam Metro lines 51, 53, and 54. The station building of Amsterdam Centraal was designed by...
or Dortmund Hbf via Duisburg Hbf – Düsseldorf Hbf – Köln Hbf – Frankfurt FlughafenFrankfurt (Main) Flughafen FernbahnhofFrankfurt Airport long distance railway station is a railway station at Frankfurt Airport in Germany that is served by long-distance trains, mostly ICE services running on the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line. It is the largest airport railway station in Germany with about 23,000 passengers...
– Mannheim Hbf either via Karlsruhe Hbf – Freiburg BfFreiburg HauptbahnhofThe Freiburg Hauptbahnhof is the main train station in the German city of Freiburg im Breisgau. It is a Category 2 station serving southern Baden-Württemberg. It was modernized in 1999, replacing a temporary station built in 1949 after the original 1845 station was destroyed in World War II....
to Basel SBB (ICE line 43) or via Stuttgart Hbf – Ulm Hbf – Augsburg Hbf to München Hbf (ICE line 42) - from Amsterdam CentraalAmsterdam Centraal' is the central station of Amsterdam. It is one of the main railway hubs of the Netherlands and is used by 250,000 passengers a day, excluding transferring passengers. It is also the starting point of Amsterdam Metro lines 51, 53, and 54. The station building of Amsterdam Centraal was designed by...
– Duisburg Hbf – Düsseldorf Hbf (ICE line 78) or Bruxelles-Midi – Aachen Hbf (ICE line 79) via Köln Hbf – Frankfurt FlughafenFrankfurt (Main) Flughafen FernbahnhofFrankfurt Airport long distance railway station is a railway station at Frankfurt Airport in Germany that is served by long-distance trains, mostly ICE services running on the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line. It is the largest airport railway station in Germany with about 23,000 passengers...
– Frankfurt Hbf – Würzburg Hbf – Nürnberg Hbf to München Hbf (passes, but does not call at Ingolstadt Hbf, ICE line 41)
(Also applies to trains in the opposite directions, taken from 2007 network map)
East-West connections
Furthermore, the network has four main East-West thoroughfares:- from Berlin Gesundbrunnen via Berlin Hbf – Berlin SüdkreuzBerlin SüdkreuzBerlin Südkreuz is a railway station in the German capital Berlin. The station was originally opened in 1898 and is an interchange station...
– Hamburg Hbf – Hamburg Dammtor – Hamburg Altona (ICE line 6) - from Berlin Ostbf via Berlin Hbf – Hannover Hbf – Bielefeld Hbf – Hamm (Westfalen)Hamm (Westfalen) railway stationHamm is a railway station situated in the city of Hamm in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia....
either via Dortmund Hbf – Essen Hbf – Duisburg Hbf – Düsseldorf Hbf to Köln/Bonn Flughafen or via Hagen Hbf – Wuppertal HbfWuppertal Hbfis the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Wuppertal, which is just south of the Ruhr Area, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is on the line between Düsseldorf/Cologne and Dortmund. The 1848 reception building is one of the oldest of its kind. The station was originally Elberfeld station...
– Solingen Hbf – Köln Hbf to Bonn Hbf (ICE line 10, train partitions in Hamm) - from Dresden Hbf (with some trains from Berlin Gesundbrunnen) via Leipzig Hbf – Erfurt Hbf – Fulda BfFulda railway stationFulda station is an important transport hub of the German railway network in in the east Hessian city of Fulda. It is used by about 20,000 travellers each day. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station. It is a stop for Intercity-Express, Intercity services and regional services....
– Frankfurt Hbf either via Frankfurt FlughafenFrankfurt (Main) Flughafen FernbahnhofFrankfurt Airport long distance railway station is a railway station at Frankfurt Airport in Germany that is served by long-distance trains, mostly ICE services running on the Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line. It is the largest airport railway station in Germany with about 23,000 passengers...
– Mainz Hbf to Wiesbaden Hbf or (off-peak services) via Darmstadt Hbf – Mannheim Hbf – Kaiserslautern Hbf to Saarbrücken Hbf (ICE line 50, train partitions in Frankfurt Hbf) - from Dresden Hbf via Leipzig Hbf – Erfurt Hbf – Kassel-WilhelmshöheKassel-Wilhelmshöhe railway stationKassel-Wilhelmshöhe is a railway station in the city of Kassel, in the German state of Hesse. It is the city's most important railway station, as it is connected to the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line, with InterCityExpress services calling at the station.- History :When the Deutsche...
– Paderborn Hbf – Dortmund Hbf – Essen Hbf – Duisburg Hbf – Düsseldorf Hbf to Köln Hbf (IC/ICE line 51)
(Also applies to trains in the opposite directions, taken from 2007 network map)
German branch lines
Some train lines extend past the core network and branch off to serve the following connections:- from Berlin Hbf to Rostock Hbf (from June 10, 2007)
- from Hamburg Hbf to Kiel Hbf
- from Bremen Hbf to Oldenburg Hbf
- from Köln Hbf to Aachen Hbf (continuing to Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid)
- from Koblenz Hbf to Trier Hbf
- from Mannheim Hbf via Kaiserslautern Hbf to Saarbrücken Hbf (continuing to Paris EstGare de l'Estis one of the six large SNCF termini in Paris. It is in the 10th arrondissement, not far from the Gare du Nord, facing the Boulevard de Strasbourg, part of the north-south axis of Paris created by Baron Haussmann...
from June 10, 2007) - from Stuttgart Hbf via RottweilRottweilRottweil is a town in the south west of Germany and is the oldest town in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg.Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alb hills, Rottweil has about 25,000 inhabitants...
– Tuttlingen – SingenSingenSingen is an industrial city in the very south of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany and just north of the German-Swiss border.-Location:...
to SchaffhausenSchaffhausenSchaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimated population of 34,587 ....
(continuing Zürich HB) now being replaced by conventional InterCity trainsets - from München Hbf to Garmisch-PartenkirchenGarmisch-PartenkirchenGarmisch-Partenkirchen is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region, and the district is on the border with Austria...
- from Nürnberg Hbf via Regensburg Hbf – Plattling to Passau Hbf (continuing via Linz Hbf to Wien Westbf)
(Also applies to trains in the opposite directions)
Bottlenecks
Several lines on the ICE network are highly trafficked, among them:- from Augsburg Hbf to München Hbf (Munich–Augsburg line)
- from Dortmund Hbf via Bochum Hbf – Essen Hbf – Duisburg Hbf – Düsseldorf Hbf to Köln Hbf (Dortmund–Duisburg and Cologne–DuisburgCologne–Duisburg railwayThe 64 km long Cologne–Duisburg railway is one of the most important lines in Germany. It is the main axis for long distance and urban passenger rail services between Cologne and the Ruhr, served by Intercity Express, Intercity, Regional Express, regionalbahn and S-Bahn trains...
lines) - from Frankfurt Hbf to FuldaFuldaFulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
(Kinzigtalbahn) - from Frankfurt Hbf to Mannheim Hbf (Riedbahn, highest IC/ICE frequency in Germany)
- from Karlsruhe Hbf via Freiburg to Basel SBB (Rhine Valley Railway)
- from Kassel Wilhelmshöhe to Fulda (Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway)
(Also applies to trains in the opposite directions)
ICE-Sprinter
The so-called "ICE-Sprinter" trains are extra fast trains between Germany's major cities running in the morning and evening hours. They are tailored for business travellers or long-distance commuters and are marketed by DB as an alternative to domestic flights. Some of the Sprinter services continue as normal ICE services after reaching their destination. Sprinter trains usually depart around 06:00 for morning services and 18:00 for evening services.A reservation is mandatory on the ICE-Sprinter (currently €11 in 2nd and €16 in 1st class). In addition to the usual 1st class service (on-seat service, free newspapers like Financial Times Deutschland
Financial Times Deutschland
The Financial Times Deutschland is a German language financial newspaper based in Hamburg, Germany, and is published by Gruner + Jahr. The newspaper contains four sections: Business, Politics & Economy, Finance, and Agenda .Founded in February 2000, the circulation grew to 103,000 readers in the...
or Handelsblatt
Handelsblatt
The Handelsblatt is a leading German language business newspaper, published in Düsseldorf by the Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt. It has a circulation of 145.437 daily copies. Its editor-in-chief is Gabor Steingart...
), the 1st class in the Sprinter trains also offers free drinks, an on-seat breakfast or dinner and additional newspapers. In the 2nd class, newspapers are provided in the carriages at no extra cost.
The first Sprinter service was established between Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
and Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
in 1992. Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
-Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
followed in 1993 and Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
-Hamburg in 1994. This service ran as a Metropolitan
Metropolitan (train)
The Metropolitan was a premium train service operated by Deutsche Bahn AG between Cologne and Hamburg in Germany....
service between December 1996 and December 2004. In 1998, a Berlin-Frankfurt service was introduced and a service between Cologne and Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
ran between December 2005 and October 2006. Until December 2006, a morning Sprinter service ran between Frankfurt and Munich (with an intermediate stop at Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
), taking 3:25 hours for the journey.
, the individual ICE Sprinter lines are:
| No. | Departure station | Intermediate stops | Destination | Travel time (hh:mm) | Time of day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1091 1093 |
Berlin Ostbf | Berlin Hbf, Berlin-Spandau Berlin-Spandau railway station Berlin-Spandau is a railway station situated in the Spandau district of Berlin, Germany located at the western end of the S-Bahn lines and .-Overview:... |
Frankfurt (Main) Hbf | 3:36 3:37 |
Morning Evening |
| 1092 1090 |
Frankfurt (Main) Hbf | Berlin-Spandau Berlin-Spandau railway station Berlin-Spandau is a railway station situated in the Spandau district of Berlin, Germany located at the western end of the S-Bahn lines and .-Overview:... , Berlin Hbf |
Berlin Ostbf | 3:37 3:35 |
Morning Evening |
| 1094 | Hamburg-Altona | Essen Hbf, Düsseldorf Hbf | Köln Hbf | 3:29 | Morning |
| 1095 | Köln Hbf | Düsseldorf Hbf, Duisburg Hbf, Essen Hbf, Hamburg Hbf | Hamburg-Altona | 3:29 | Morning |
| 1097 | Hamburg-Altona | Hamburg Hbf, Hannover Hbf | Frankfurt Hbf | 3:19 | Morning |
(Source: Deutsche Bahn AG)
Line segments abroad
Some ICE trains also run on services abroad - sometimes diverting from their original lines.- from Duisburg Hbf to Amsterdam CentraalAmsterdam Centraal' is the central station of Amsterdam. It is one of the main railway hubs of the Netherlands and is used by 250,000 passengers a day, excluding transferring passengers. It is also the starting point of Amsterdam Metro lines 51, 53, and 54. The station building of Amsterdam Centraal was designed by...
(NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
) - from Köln Hbf via Aachen Hbf and Liège-Guillemins to Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid (BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
) - from Saarbrücken Hbf via BaudrecourtBaudrecourtBaudrecourt is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.Situated between Nancy and Metz, it is the terminus of the first phase of the LGV Est train line connecting Paris to Strasbourg....
to Paris EstGare de l'Estis one of the six large SNCF termini in Paris. It is in the 10th arrondissement, not far from the Gare du Nord, facing the Boulevard de Strasbourg, part of the north-south axis of Paris created by Baron Haussmann...
(FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) - from Basel SBB to Interlaken OstInterlakenInterlaken is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland, a well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland.-History:...
(SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
) - from Basel SBB to Zürich HB (SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
) - from Stuttgart Hbf via SchaffhausenSchaffhausenSchaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimated population of 34,587 ....
to Zürich HB (SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
) - from München Hbf via KufsteinKufsteinKufstein is a city in Tyrol, Austria, located along the river Inn, in the lower Inn valley, near the border with Bavaria, Germany, and is the site of a post World War II French sector United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration Displaced Persons camp.Kufstein is the second largest city...
to Innsbruck HbfInnsbruck Hauptbahnhofis the Hauptbahnhof at Innsbruck, the capital city of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol. Opened in 1853, it is one of the country's busiest railway stations, with around 25,000 passenger movements daily....
(AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
) - from München Hbf via Salzburg Hbf – Linz Hbf to Wien Westbf (AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
) - from Passau Hbf via Linz Hbf to Wien Westbf (AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
) - from FlensburgFlensburgFlensburg is an independent town in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the region of Southern Schleswig...
to Århus HÅrhus Central StationAarhus Central Station is the main railroad station in the Danish city of Århus.Serving as the main connecting hub for rail traffic between Aarhus and rest of Denmark on inter-city rail and commuter rail, the station is used by an average of 6.3 million people per year, making it the busiest train...
(DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
) - from PuttgardenPuttgardenPuttgarden is a ferry harbour and a village on the German island of Fehmarn. It lies on an important route between Germany and Denmark known as the Vogelfluglinie which crosses the 18 km strait, the Fehmarnbelt, to Rødby on the island of Lolland....
to København H (DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
)
(Also applies to the opposite directions)
Since December 2006, Stuttgart Hbf and Zürich HB have been connected by a bi-hourly service.
The ÖBB in Austria is also using two ICE T trainsets (classified as ÖBB Class 4011 between Wien Westbahnhof, Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof
Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof at Innsbruck, the capital city of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol. Opened in 1853, it is one of the country's busiest railway stations, with around 25,000 passenger movements daily....
and Bregenz
Bregenz
-Culture:The annual summer music festival Bregenzer Festspiele is a world-famous festival which takes place on and around a stage on Lake Constance, where a different opera is performed every second year.-Sport:* A1 Bregenz HB is a handball team....
(without stops in Germany). They are, however, not using the tilting technology. Since December 2007 ÖBB and DB are offering a bi-hourly connection between Wien Westbf and Frankfurt Hbf.
Since June 2007, ICE 3M trains have been running between Frankfurt Hbf and Paris Est
Gare de l'Est
is one of the six large SNCF termini in Paris. It is in the 10th arrondissement, not far from the Gare du Nord, facing the Boulevard de Strasbourg, part of the north-south axis of Paris created by Baron Haussmann...
via Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
and Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...
. Together with the TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
-operated line between Paris Est
Gare de l'Est
is one of the six large SNCF termini in Paris. It is in the 10th arrondissement, not far from the Gare du Nord, facing the Boulevard de Strasbourg, part of the north-south axis of Paris created by Baron Haussmann...
, Stuttgart Hbf and München Hbf, this ICE line is part of the "LGV Est européenne
LGV Est
The LGV Est européenne is an extension to the French high-speed rail network, connecting currently Vaires-sur-Marne and Baudrecourt , and later Vaires-sur-Marne and Vendenheim . , it is the newest high-speed line in France and still under construction, with of a planned in service...
", also called "Paris-Ostfrankreich-Süddeutschland" (or POS
SNCF TGV POS
The TGV POS is a TGV train built by French manufacturer Alstom which is operated by the French national rail company, the SNCF in France's high-speed rail lines. It was originally ordered by the SNCF for use on the new LGV Est, which was put into service in 2007...
) for short, a pan-European high-speed line between France and Germany.
From late 2007 on, ICE TD trains will link Berlin Hbf with Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
via Hamburg Hbf.
Intra-Swiss ICE trains
To avoid empty runs or excess waits, several services exist that operate exclusively inside Switzerland:- three services from Basel SBB to Interlaken OstInterlakenInterlaken is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland, a well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland.-History:...
- two services from Basel SBB to Zürich HB
- three service from Interlaken OstInterlakenInterlaken is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland, a well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland.-History:...
to Basel SBB - one service from Interlaken OstInterlakenInterlaken is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland, a well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland.-History:...
to Bern - two services from Zürich HB to Basel SBB
- one service from Bern to Interlaken OstInterlakenInterlaken is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland, a well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland.-History:...
These trains, despite being officially notated as ICEs, are more comparable to a Swiss InterRegio
InterRegio
The InterRegio is a train service seen in some European countries. Mostly they are trains that run "from region to region", as best described by Swiss Federal Railways.-Switzerland:...
or RegioExpress
RegioExpress
The RegioExpress is a fast regional train in Switzerland, run by the Swiss Federal Railways or by other private railways ....
train, calling at small stations like Möhlin
Möhlin
Möhlin |Rheinfelden]] in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.-History:The area around Möhlin was prehistorically settled. A neolithic settlement has been discovered at Chleizelgli, while scattered Bronze Age items were discovered around the municipality. There was a Roman era estate as well as...
or Sissach
Sissach
Sissach is a municipality and the capital of the district of Sissach in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland.-Geography:Sissach has an area, , of . Of this area, or 28.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 46.6% is forested...
. As common in Switzerland, these trains can be used without paying extra for a supplement.
Accidents
There have been several accidents involving ICE trains. The Eschede disaster was the only accident with fatalities inside the train, but other accidents have resulted in major damage to the trainsets involved.Eschede disaster
Eschede
Eschede is a municipality in the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Situated approximately 15 km northeast of Celle, Eschede lies at the border of the renowned Südheide Nature Park, a protected area of large forests and heaths. Today around 20 small villages are part of the...
that happened on 3 June 1998 was a severe railway accident and the worst ever to involve a high-speed train, as well as the worst railway accident since modern Germany's foundation in 1949. Trainset 51, travelling as ICE 884 "Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was a German physicist, who, on 8 November 1895, produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range today known as X-rays or Röntgen rays, an achievement that earned him the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901....
" from Munich to Hamburg, derailed at 200 km/h (125 mph), killing 101 and injuring 88.
The cause of the accident was a wheel rim which broke and damaged the train six kilometres south of the accident site. The wheel rim penetrated the carriage floor and lifted the check rail of a set of points
Railroad switch
A railroad switch, turnout or [set of] points is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one track to another at a railway junction....
close to Eschede station. The broken-off check rail then forced the point blades of the following set of points to change direction, and the rear cars of the trainset were diverted to a different track. They hit the pillars of a street overpass, which then collapsed onto the tracks. Only three cars and the front powerhead passed under the bridge, the rest of the 14-car train jackknifed into the collapsed bridge.
Other accidents
On 27 September 2001, trainset 5509 fell off a work platform at the HofHof, Germany
Hof is a city located on the banks of the Saale in the northeastern corner of the German state of Bavaria, in the Franconia region, at the Czech border and the forested Fichtelgebirge and Frankenwald upland regions....
maintenance facility and was written off.
On 22 November 2001, powerhead 401 020 caught fire. The train was stopped at the station in Offenbach am Main near Frankfurt a.M. No passengers were harmed, but the powerhead had to be written off.
On 6 January 2004, trainset 1106 caught on fire while it was parked at Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. Two cars were written off, and the others are now used as spares.
On 1 April 2004, trainset 321 collided with a tractor
Tractor
A tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction...
that had fallen onto the track at a tunnel entrance near Istein
Efringen-Kirchen
Efringen-Kirchen is a town in the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.-Fortifications:During World War I fortifications were built at Istein, these were destroyed at the end of the war. In 1936 plans were drawn up to turn the location into the "Gibraltar of the West" with two...
and derailed. No one was injured. Trainset 321 was temporarily taken apart, its cars being switched with cars from other ICE 3 trainsets.
Powerhead 401 553 suffered major damage in a collision with a car on the Riedbahn in April 2006.
On 28 April 2006, trainset 73 collided head-on with two BLS Re 465 locomotives at Thun
Thun
Thun is a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland with about 42,136 inhabitants , as of 1 January 2006....
in Switzerland. The driver of the Swiss locomotives was unfamiliar with the new layout of the station, which had been recently changed. He did not see a shunting signal ordering him to stop. The locomotives automatically engaged the emergency brakes when he passed the signal, but came to a stop on the same track as the approaching ICE. The ICE was travelling at a speed of 74 km/h. The emergency brake slowed the train to 56 km/h at the point of collision. 30 passengers and the driver of the ICE suffered minor injuries, the driver of the Swiss locomotives having jumped to safety. Both trains suffered major damage. The powerhead 401 573 had to be rebuilt using components from three damaged powerheads (401 573, 401 020 and 401 551).
On 1 March 2008, trainset 1192, travelling as ICE 23, collided with a tree which had fallen onto the track near Brühl
Brühl, North Rhine-Westphalia
Brühl is a town in the Rhineland of Germany. It is located in Rhein-Erft-Kreis, 20 km south of Cologne city center and at the edge of Naturpark Kottenforst-Ville Nature Reserve.-History:...
after being blown down by cyclone Emma
Emma (windstorm)
Emma was a severe extratropical cyclone which passed through several mainly Central European countries, most devastatingly on Saturday March 1, 2008, killing at least twelve people in Austria, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. Wind speeds reached up to 166 km/h in Austria, and up to...
. The driver suffered severe injuries. The trainset is back in service, its cabcar having been replaced with that from trainset 1106.
On 26 April 2008, trainset 11, travelling as ICE 885, collided with a herd of sheep on the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line near Fulda
Fulda
Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
. Both powerheads and ten of the 12 cars derailed. The train came to a stop 1300 meters into the Landrückentunnel
Landrückentunnel
The Landrücken Tunnel is a railway tunnel on the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line. With a length of it is the longest tunnel in Germany.- Geography :The tunnel is in east Hessen between the stations of Fulda and Würzburg...
. 19 of the 130 passengers suffered mostly minor injuries, four of them needing hospital treatment.
A cracked axle was blamed for a low-speed derailment of a third-generation ICE in Cologne in July 2008. The accident, in which no-one was hurt, caused the German rail operator Deutsche Bahn to recall its newest ICEs as a safety measure. In October 2008, the company recalled its ICE-T trains after a further crack was found.
On 17 August 2010, the ICE from Frankfurt to Paris hit a truck that had slid from a higher embankment unto the rail near Lambrecht
Lambrecht
Lambrecht is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany lying roughly 6 km northwest of Neustadt an der Weinstraße. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde.- Location :...
. The first two carriages derailed and ten people were injured, one seriously.
On 11 January 2011, trainset 4654 partly derailed during a side-on collision with a freight train near Zevenaar
Zevenaar
Zevenaar is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands, near the border with Germany.- Population centres :*Angerlo*Babberich*Giesbeek*Lathum*Ooy*Oud Zevenaar*Zevenaar...
in the Netherlands. There were no injuries.
Germany
ICE trains are the highest category (Class A) trains in the fare system of the Deutsche Bahn. Their fares are not calculated on a fixed per-kilometre table as with other trains, but instead have fixed prices for station-to-station connections, depending on a multitude of factors including the railway line category and the general demand on the line. Even on lines where the ICE is not faster than an ordinary ICIntercity (Deutsche Bahn)
Intercity is the second-highest train classification in Germany, after the ICE. Intercity services are loco-hauled express services, usually over long-distances. There are Intercity routes throughout Germany, and routes generally operate with a two-hour frequency, with multiple routes giving a more...
or EC
EuroCity
EuroCity, abbreviated EC, denotes an international train service within the European inter-city rail network. In contrast to trains with the "IC" label, "EC" trains are international trains that meet certain criteria. The EuroCity label replaces the older Trans Europ Express name for...
train (for example Hamburg to Dortmund), an additional surcharge will be levied on the ground that the ICE trains have a higher comfort level than IC/EC trains.
Netherlands
In the Netherlands, a comparably low € 2 surcharge has to be paid for each trip on the "ICE International". Monthly and annual passes include this surcharge. When travelling on a student travel card the surcharge also has to be paid.Austria
On the intra-Austrian lines (Vienna-Innsbruck-Bregenz, Vienna-Salzburg(-Munich), Vienna-Passau(-Hamburg) and Innsbruck-Kufstein(-Berlin)) no additional fees are charged.Switzerland
Likewise, the trains running to and from ZurichZürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Interlaken
Interlaken
Interlaken is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland, a well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland.-History:...
and Chur
Chur
Chur or Coire is the capital of the Swiss canton of Graubünden and lies in the northern part of the canton.-History:The name "chur" derives perhaps from the Celtic kora or koria, meaning "tribe", or from the Latin curia....
, as well as those on the intra-Swiss ICE trains (see above) can be used without any surcharge.
In Switzerland and Austria, a ride on the ICE takes nearly as long as on a domestic train. This is because of the comparably short length of travel and the low speeds in these countries (often no more than 160 km/h, sometimes 200 km/h) when compared to Germany.
Denmark
The ICE trains Hamburg - Copenhagen cost the same as the EuroCity trains, there being no other trains. The ICE trains Hamburg - Aarhus have a surcharge of €9 as against other trains (for which two changes are needed). Inside Denmark the ICE trains have the same fare as regional trains.H0 Scale
The ICE prototype has been produced by both MärklinMärklin
Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH or Märklin is a German toy company. The company was founded in 1859 and is based at Göppingen in Baden-Wurttemberg. Although it originally specialised in doll house accessories, today it is best known for model railways and technical toys...
and Fleischmann
Fleischmann
Fleischman and Fleischmann are common family names which mean "butcher" in German. Other names which have the same meaning include Fleischer, Boucher, Metzger and Resnick...
, although is not a current catalogue item. Models of the ICE 1 & ICE 2 have been made by Fleischmann
Fleischmann
Fleischman and Fleischmann are common family names which mean "butcher" in German. Other names which have the same meaning include Fleischer, Boucher, Metzger and Resnick...
, Roco
Roco
Roco, based in Salzburg, Austria, is a manufacturer of model railway equipment.-History:The company was founded in 1960 by Ing. Heinz Rössler and started with a plastic Minitanks series. After export to the USA became successful, the model line was expanded with model trains in H0 scale and the...
Märklin
Märklin
Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH or Märklin is a German toy company. The company was founded in 1859 and is based at Göppingen in Baden-Wurttemberg. Although it originally specialised in doll house accessories, today it is best known for model railways and technical toys...
and Trix
Trix (company)
Trix is a German company that originally made Trix metal construction sets. In 1935 it began producing the electrically powered model trains that it became famous for, under the Trix Express label...
. The ICE 3 has been produced by Märklin
Märklin
Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH or Märklin is a German toy company. The company was founded in 1859 and is based at Göppingen in Baden-Wurttemberg. Although it originally specialised in doll house accessories, today it is best known for model railways and technical toys...
, Trix
Trix (company)
Trix is a German company that originally made Trix metal construction sets. In 1935 it began producing the electrically powered model trains that it became famous for, under the Trix Express label...
, Mehano
Mehano
Mehano is a Slovenian toy company, founded in 1952 as Mehanotehnika, produces a large range of both traditional and electronic toys, as well as model railroad equipment. The company had borne its current name of Mehano since 1990 . Mehano applied for bankruptcy/closure in November of 2008,...
and Piko
Piko
PIKO is one of the largest and best-known model train brands in Europe and also enjoys a wide following in the United States and other parts of the world...
. Lima and Fleischmann
Fleischmann
Fleischman and Fleischmann are common family names which mean "butcher" in German. Other names which have the same meaning include Fleischer, Boucher, Metzger and Resnick...
both produce ICE T models in H0. Roco make a model of the ICE TD.
N Scale
FleischmannFleischmann (model railroads)
Fleischmann is a German manufacturer of model railway products.Fleischmann was founded in Nuremberg in 1887 by Jean Fleischmann, as a toy company. Their first model train, in O scale, was produced in 1938...
have the ICE 1, ICE 2 and ICE T in their N scale range. Minitrix produces models of the ICE 3.
Z Gauge
MärklinMärklin
Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH or Märklin is a German toy company. The company was founded in 1859 and is based at Göppingen in Baden-Wurttemberg. Although it originally specialised in doll house accessories, today it is best known for model railways and technical toys...
have made models of the ICE V and ICE 3 in their 1:220 scale Mini Club range.
Lookalikes
Piko produce in H0 the "Piko City Express" which looks like ICE 1, LGB sell two different kinds of LCE trains ( LGB LCE 1 and LCE 3.. Both mimicking the license version of ICE 1 and ICE 3.London
In January 2010, the European railway network was opened to a liberalisation intended to allow greater competition. Both Air France-KLMAir France-KLM
Air France-KLM is a European airline holding company incorporated under French law with its headquarters at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport in Tremblay-en-France, Paris...
and Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
have indicated their desire to take advantage of the new laws to run new services via the Channel Tunnel
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
and the High Speed 1 route that terminates at London St Pancras.
Before this in December 2009, Deutsche Bahn received permission to run Intercity-Express (ICE 3
ICE 3
ICE 3 is a family of high-speed EMUs of Deutsche Bahn. It includes classes 403 and 406, which are known as ICE 3 and ICE 3M respectively...
M) trains through the Channel Tunnel after a safety requirement to have splittable passenger trains was lifted. Deutsche Bahn had previously expressed a desire to run through trains between London and Germany. Although speculation continues of direct rail services between London St Pancras
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
and Köln (Cologne) Central station
Köln Hauptbahnhof
Köln Hauptbahnhof is the central railway station in Cologne, Germany.The station is an important local, national and international hub, with many ICE, Thalys and Intercity trains calling there, as well as regional RegionalExpress, RegionalBahn and local S-Bahn trains...
before the 2012 London Olympics
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
, and that Deutsche Bahn could start high-speed train services from St. Pancras International
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
to Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof
Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof
is the central station for Frankfurt am Main. In terms of railway traffic, it is the busiest railway station in Germany. With about 350,000 passengers per day the station is the second most frequented railway station in Germany and one of the most frequented in Europe.- Proto-history :In the late...
by December 2012, Deutsche Bahn's own publicity in October 2010 gave an expected date of 2013, with services splitting to serve Rotterdam and Amsterdam as well as the German cities.
On 28 July 2010, Deutsche Bahn announced plans to run an ICE 3 train through the Channel Tunnel during autumn 2010, in preparation for possible future operations. This took place on 19 October 2010.
Passenger carrying ICE trains will have to meet safety requirements in order to transit the Channel Tunnel. As mentioned above, the requirement for splittable trains has been lifted, but concerns remain over the length of ICE trainsets, ICE is too short to ensure sufficient proximity to tunnel emergency exits, but DB claim that a Tunnel safety exercise on 18 October 2010 had been "highly successful". fire safetyThe current Velaro ICE3MF sets would not meet the specialist Channel Tunnel fire safety requirements necessary for the carriage of passengers through the Channel Tunnel, but the future Siemens Velaro
Siemens Velaro
Siemens Velaro is a family of high-speed EMU trains used in Europe and China. The Velaro is based on Deutsche Bahn's ICE 3 high-speed trains, but is a full Siemens product unlike the ICE 3 which involved other manufacturers....
ICE-3D sets (due to enter service in later 2010) include the necessary additional fire-proofing. and the ICE's distributed power
Distributed power
In rail transport distributed power refers to the placing of additional locomotives at intermediate points in the middle of the train, remotely controlled from the leading locomotive, to allow longer trains where operational considerations or economics require it. Distributed power thus describes...
arrangements. There have been suggestions that French interests have advocated stringent enforcement to delay a competitor on the route. Eurostar also recently chose Siemens Velaro-based rolling stock; there were concerns that the Alstom
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
(the builders of the passenger trains that already use the Tunnel) and the French Government would take the matter to court. In October 2010, the French transport minister suggested that the European Railway Agency
European Railway Agency
The European Railway Agency is one of the agencies of the European Union. The decision to set up the agency was made in April 2004. The agency has two main sites, both in Nord Department, France...
(which is based in France) should arbitrate. After safety rule changes which might permit the use of Siemens Velaro rolling stock, the French government dismissed their delegate to the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority
Channel Tunnel Safety Authority
The Channel Tunnel Safety Authority is an international regulatory body responsible for safety in the Channel Tunnel.The CTSA was established by the Treaty of Canterbury...
, and brought in a replacement.
In March 2011, the European Rail Agency Report, allowed trains with distributed traction for use in the Channel Tunnel. This means that the ICE class 407 trains which DB intends to use for its London services will be able to run through the tunnel to the United Kingdom.
Lyon/Marseille
At the end of 2011 daily trains should run on the LGV Rhin-RhôneLGV Rhin-Rhône
The LGV Rhin-Rhône is a high-speed railway line composed of three different branches:* The Eastern branch, from Genlis, near Dijon to Lutterbach, near Mulhouse* The Western branch, crossing Dijon, joining the LGV Sud-Est near Montbard...
, which is currently under construction. The trains will start in Frankfurt and run to Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
and Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
via Dijon
Dijon
Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....
.
Ridership
From its inception in July 1991 to 2006, ICE has transported some 550 million passengers, including 67 million in 2005. In 2009 ICE trains transported more than 77.2 million people.Trivia
- On 5 October 2006, the Deutsche Post AG released a series of stamps, among them a stamp picturing an ICE 3, at 55+25 euro cents.
- At both ends of ICE-T, ICE-TD and ICE 3 trains there is a passenger compartment (one end 1st and the other end 2nd class) with a view of the tracks and all controls, through a transparent glass window separating the compartment from the driver's cabin. The driver can, however, put "cup-cake frosting" on the glass at will at the press of a button.
- Bicycles are not permitted on any ICE trains, unless wheels and handlebars have been removed and they are fully enclosed in a bike bag (no surcharge is payable).
- Three specially built washing-bays for ICE trains exist in Hamburg-Eidelstedt, Frankfurt-HöchstFrankfurt-Höchst stationThe Frankfurt-Höchst station is an important station in the Frankfurt district of Höchst and is the second largest station in the city with twelve tracks. It is currently mainly used by S-Bahn, suburban and regional services...
and München HbfMünchen HauptbahnhofMunich Central Station is the main railway station of the city of Munich in Germany. It is one of the three long distance train stations in Munich, the others being München-Pasing and München Ost. The station sees about 350,000 passengers a day, which puts it on par with other large stations in...
. - The ICE 3 was trainsurfedTrain surfingTrain surfing is riding or climbing on the outside of a moving train. This activity is illegal in many countries and is prohibited by administrative law.-History:...
in 2005. - In 2006, LegoLegoLego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...
modelled one of its train setsLego trainLego Trains is a product range and theme of the construction toy Lego, which incorporates buildable train sets. Products in the range have included locomotives, tracks, rolling stock, train stations, signal houses, and other track-side buildings. The theme is popular among adult fans, as well as...
after the ICE.
See also
- List of Intercity-Express lines
- List of Intercity-Express railway stations
- Train categories in EuropeTrain categories in EuropeRailway companies in Europe assign their trains to different categories or train types depending on their role. Passenger trains may be broadly split into long-distance and local trains; the latter having average journey times of under an hour and a range of less than 50 kilometres. Goods trains...
External links
- Railfaneurope.net, The ICE Pages - Unofficial website
- Railfaneurope.net – Pictures of ICE trains DB.de, hochgeschwindigkeit – DB corporate web site celebrating 15 years of ICE traffic Fernbahn.de – Coach alignment of all DB long-distance trains
- Bahn.de, Long-distance network maps - Network maps of both IC and ICE networks
- Bahn.de, ICE network (2010) – PDF map by Deutsche Bahn AG (German Railways Inc.)
- Grahnert.de - ICE routes for 2009
- youtube.com - ICE 3 video operating at maximum service speed of 185 MPH / 300 km/h