Deutsche Bahn has put together the “second largest procurement package” in its history. It has ordered 56 ICE L from the Spanish manufacturer Talgo and 17 ICE 3neo from Siemens Mobility for 2 billion euros. The new trains should gradually come onto the rails from 2026, Deutsche Bahn announced.
Deutsche Bahn most recently ordered 43 ICE 3neo trains in February of this year with a total value of 1.5 billion euros. Together with other orders, the current investments add up to 12 billion euros, according to the Deutsche Bahn statement. By 2030, a total of 90 ICE 3neo and 79 ICE L will be part of the long-distance train fleet.
For these trains, the DB had concluded corresponding framework agreements with the manufacturers. All vehicles have now been called up from the ICE 3neo, for the ICE L DB still has an option for a further 21 trains. The average age of ICE and Intercity trains will drop from 18 today to 12 by 2030. The new trains will add 39,000 seats to the existing ICE fleet.
Also Denmark and Austria
Deutsche Bahn presented the ICE L for the first time in September 2022. She emphasizes the “same-level entry and exit on 76 centimeter high standard platforms”. The new train consists of a newly developed multi-system locomotive, 17 passenger cars with 562 seats, restaurant cars and a control car.
The ICE L can travel at a maximum speed of 230 km/h and will be traveling between Berlin and Amsterdam for the first time from October 2024; then everywhere in Germany. Thanks to the multi-system locomotive, time-saving use in cross-border traffic is also possible. In the future, this will also include connections to Denmark and Austria.
(Image: Deutsche Bahn / Oliver Lang)
The new ICE 3neo, which has been in use since December 2022, consists of eight cars, is 200 m long and can travel at a top speed of 300 km/h. It has 340 seats in second class and 99 in first class – all with their own socket and holder for a tablet – as well as eight bicycle parking spaces, eleven toilets and additional doors. Wheelchair users should be able to board more easily with a new lift. Reservation displays with colored LED displays should provide information about reserved and free seats at a glance. The window panes are mobile phone permeable.
(Image: Deutsche Bahn)
The ICE 3neo is primarily intended for connections via the German “race routes”, for example between NRW and Frankfurt and further to/from Munich via the new Wendlingen-Ulm high-speed route or between Berlin and Munich. In 2024, the train is to replace the fault-prone predecessor models on the connections from Frankfurt to Amsterdam and Brussels.
(anw)
