Longer and faster high-speed trains will run in Germany in 2021

ICE4 high-speed train crosses Bartelsgraben Bridge, source: Deutsche Bahn

Deutsche Bahn continues to invest in the high-speed fleet. The company’s new focus is the extra-long vehicles that consist of 13 carriages. In addition, they will be able to run faster compared to other DB’s high-speed trains – up to 265 kilometres per hour.

The longer and faster high-speed trains belong to the XXL-ICE type, according to the classification of Deutsche Bahn. They include 13 carriages with a seating capacity for carrying up to 918 passengers. It is the highest figure among the DB’s high-speed fleet of all generations.

Starting from early 2021, this type of trains will perform scheduled services from Hamburg in the north to Munich and Stuttgart in the south of the country. Besides the capacity, the XXL-ICE trains have another distinctive feature. They will accelerate up to 265 kilometres per hour while the other series of the German high-speed vehicles run at no more than 250 kilometres per hour.

Multi-billion investments

DB is investing 8.5 billion euros in enhancing its high-speed connections and expanding the dedicated train fleet. The German railway operator has just received the 50th ICE4 train from Siemens Mobility. By 2026 these vehicles of the latest generation will make up one-third of DB’s high-speed fleet.

At the moment, Deutsche Bahn is operating slightly more than 300 ICE high-speed trains of various generations (from ICE1 to ICE4). This number will increase up to 421 units in 2026. More than half of that amount will consist of the ICE4 and ICE3 vehicles – 137 and 82 units respectively. They are produced and commissioned at the Siemens facilities in North Rhine-Westphalia (Krefeld and Wegberg-Wildenrath).

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Author: Mykola Zasiadko

Mykola Zasiadko was editor of online trade magazines RailTech.com and RailFreight.com.

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