#ice 3

After visiting Karlsruhe Palace, I had a bit of time while waiting for a (packed) regional train South to wander around the station. There was quite a lot going on, as on top of the local traffic from S-Bahns to REs, busy intercity lines to Freiburg and Basel, Stuttgart and Munich, Mannheim and Frankfurt meet here. A chance to see my favourite German high-speed train: the Baureihe 403 ICE 3.

ICE 3: Class 403, but from 1997 to 2006 in two sub-series that differ mostly in air conditioning (the second one had good air-conditioning out the gate, the first one had weak air conditioning that was upgraded later). Single system, can only run in Germany (and up to Basel SBB). 50 sets built.

ICE 3M: Class 406, delivered at the same time. Multi-system capable, can also run in Belgium and the Netherlands. Three (originally four) are owned by dutch railway NS and have corresponding logos, but that’s more a financial thing and has no operational relevance. 17 built; two half trains were destroyed beyond economical repair in different accidents, so after a bit of reshuffling, 16 are left.

ICE 3MF: A sub-series of the 406 that used to be adapted for running into France. These could not run into Belgium and the Netherlands. All of them have now been converted back to normal 406s and the France services taken over by the 407. Six were converted from the normal 406, but all of them have been reverted back now. I’m just mentioning them here to confuse you.

Der neue ICE 3/The new ICE 3: Class 407, built between 2009 and 2012. Multi-system capable and approved for Germany and France. While it has the same length and overall concept, it is in many ways a completely new design with all-new internal components. This is now part of a train platform called Siemens Velaro, which has also been sold to other countries in more or less similar forms. A total of 17 were built.

ICE 3neo: Class 408, ordered in 2019 with first runs in service later this year (2022) if everything goes well. Functionally a class 407, but with an additional door with a built-in wheelchair lift, new seats, bike racks and similar enhancements. The trains will probably take over the running to Belgium and the Netherlands, and the 406s will be downgraded to domestic duties only. The initial order was for 30, but that was just bumped up in a press event earlier today (February 1st) to 73 in total, and it is possible that this increases again.

That means the ICE 3 fleet consists of at least two different concepts, the second of which could have been called ICE 5. Thanks to DB ordering a new upgraded version of the ICE 3 roughly once per decade without ever increasing the version number, we now have two different generations of “ICE 3 but new”. Oh, and until 2030, DB will receive both new ICE 4 and new ICE 3 trains, where the new ICE 3 trains are actually a slightly newer, more modern design than the ICE 4.

The difference between (new) ICE 3 and ICE 4 is that the ICE 3 is an expensive top-of-the-line highest-speed train (can travel up to 320 km/h/200 mph in France; Germany only allows 300 km/h/186 mph), while the ICE 4, despite sounding newer and better, is actually a more low-cost train designed for only 250 km/h/155 mph top speeds (some upgraded to 265 km/h/165 mph).

Frankfurt central station, as it looked this afternoon.