Denmark’s STRANGE looking international train! 

Another reason for the strange front of the IC3 is that the rubber diaphragm 'catches' an amount of air in front of it, forming an "air pillow" that greatly reduces the air resistance. So it's actually much more aerodynamic than if it had a flat front like the English train you showed! The diaphragm gets deflated when they couple together, and then re-inflates after being decoupled. Also, your pronunciation of "Aarhus Hovedbanegård" sounds like you have a very strong Swedish accent :p

As a dane, ive never questioned the design of our train designs.. just rolled with it, but this video gave much insight on how others sees our odd danish trains.

The border checks at the Flensburg - Padborg border started due to the European Refugee Crisis 2015. My mom crosses that border daily, because she's one of Danish minority people living in Flensburg, that you mentioned and works in Denmark.

Oh man. As mentioned the IC4 train was a complete failure and the replacement - IC5 - is now delayed until 2027. At that point many of the IC3 trains have been operating for at least 35 years. It was a brilliant design in the 80s, but they are getting very, very tired. And I don't think people are giving the wiered design enough credit. Coupling/decoupling trainsets might happen multiple times during the 4,5 hour trip from Aalborg to Copenhagen growing the train from 1 three-car unit to 5.And its so damm efficient. Basically the train driver just drives one unit into the rear of the other one at a walking pace. It gives a small shake, some "air release noises" and that is it. The same thing when decoupling. The train goes into the station at a walking pace. The train driver hits a button and the units disconnect and brake individually. Its fairly impressive and something I experience very day when taking my 12 minute ride to Aarhus

Finally: the rubber train

The self powered three-in-one layout is actually a leftover from before the Great Belt Bridge was built. They needed to fit on the ferries and each ubit being powered meant they could shunt them on board without dedicated locos

6:48 In its early years, IC3 used to come with onboard catering, at least on national routes in Denmark. A trolley loaded with goodies like candies, sandwiches, sodas, coffee, and tea would make its way through the entire train a couple of times during those long journeys. And if you needed something in between, no worries - just track down the steward chilling in the galleyway for a quick fix.

Nice video. I like these Danish IC3 trains. Despite their odd appearances they are really comfortable. I once travelled from Odense to Copenhagen with some friends from Chile and Russia. I had booked tickets without seat reservation because it was a rather calm time of the day. However, my friends kept on walking through the train, passing several empty seats. When I asked them about it they answered they'd be searching for the second class. Everything looked that comfortable to them, they thought the whole train was 1st class;-)

1:17 Hamburg Hauptbahnhof doesn't just feel overcrowded, it really is overcrowded. One weird thing is that, despite the fact that it is a through running station, every single regional train (except for the S-Bahn) terminates there. That's why so many people change trains there.

Very fair review. The reason for the rubber front, is simply to reduce friction with the air, also when coupling several trains together. My grandfather was with DSB for 40 years. He started with steam, before ww2, and ended with diesel electric. The beautiful MY. The IC3 rattleling sounds have soothed many a hangover sunday cross Jutland journeys.😊

"Cheaper shops" he's talking about the good ole tradition of Ølviking: Norwegians raid Sweden, Swedes raid Denmark, and Danes raid Schleswig-Holstein while Icelanders wish flights were cheaper.

5:15 little funfact about Hamburg-Dammtor; In the german rail-community its a pretty big meme to joke about Hamburg Dammtor. It is considered a so called "Haltepunkt" which are basically stations that do not have any switches, something that usually only applies for the very smallest stops, So people began clowning that Hamburg Dammtor is a "Haltepunkt" while serving very many people and trains.

I will really miss the IC3/IR4 trains once they get replaced by the IC5. The interior design is so elegant and smart and the fact that you can walk from one end of the train to the other through diferent sets is genius. Shame the company that made them back in the 90s went bust.

The IC3 really was an ingenious piece of engineering 35 years ago. And the design was surprisingly cheap. They were really good at thinking outside the box for solutions. A famous example is that the gear is a direct copy of a gear used in a Volvo truck. That gear is still working. There was no need to design something from scratch if a usable solution already existed.

Neat to see a review on the Danish workhorse. This is gonna be a very long comment coming from a Danish guy just fyi. Regarding catering then DSB has not had any onboard restaurants or even kiosks on their trains since the 90's. The IC3's and some of its electric IR4 sister units did have a small kiosk compartment by one of the doors but that has been long out of use. DSB also used to have an onboard trolley service but it was removed in 2014 to cut down on expenses. Since 2020 however theyve reintroduced something similar to a trolley, with a service worker, carrying a tray of snacks and a backpack full of hot water to make instant coffee. Its supposed to be on most Lyntog services but you have no guarantee of knowing whether the service will even be on your train or not, plus the prices for whats on offer are also very expensive. Even compared to the 7eleven kiosks at stations. As for the future, DSB's new Talgo trains in 2024 and Alstom built IC5 electric trains in 2027 (yeah it just got delayed from 2025 to 2027) will feature onboard vending machines selling coffee and light snacks. The IC5's which will replace the IC3's on most routes will feature exclusively standard class as DSB wants a "flexible seating plan" where they can designate a whole carriage or no carriages as 1st class, quiet areas, family zones, or any other way they want based on the demand for the exact service they're providing. DSB loves to use any train they have for any kind of service. A mockup of the IC5 made by Alstom has also gotten a lot of criticism with its seats by Danes for being of subpar comfort compared to the IC3's. Danish passengers have very VERY high expectations to comfort. Also the border controls have been in place ever since the migrant crisis of 2015, and politicians have been extending the "temporary" border checks ever since on all primary routes in and out of Denmark. Officially on the grounds of human trafficking and combatting terrorism, but it has always been very related to islamophobia and racism and keeping illegal islamic and african immigrants out. Especially since only the main ways in and out on the main routes like the highways and main roads, but most of the minor roads across the border further west along with the local rail line from Niebüll into Denmark have no border checks at all. The Border controls have been a mixed bag here in terms of opinions with a good chunk of people, especially those living in the border region, not liking them, but an even greater amount wanting them to be permanent, especially right wing voters and politicians, with a right wing centrist government currently in power in Denmark. Also yeah IC services in Denmark are quite slow. They're usually more comparable to something that'd be labelled an Interregional in other countries. If you want a fast service, you'd take the Lyntog or Lightning train. But that too also stops in several smaller towns/cities after reaching Fredericia. Mainly because of a lot of mayors pitifully demanding that the lightning trains stop in their small city. One high speed rail bridge meant to bypass the town of Vejle in the triangle region was caught in political limbo for 9 years and then cancelled because of Nimbys complaining about their fjordside mansion prices going down, and the mayor of Vejle that complained that "Vejle would be erased off the Danish map" by Lightning trains serving the largest cities bypassing the city and the long winding route on each side of the fjord. As for the price, yeah its expensive, and 1st class ticket prices are usually fixed. The normal 2nd class tickets are usually as well, but DSB also offers discounted tickets with dynamic pricing. Namely the "Orange" tickets which can only be bought in their app and on their website, and not through any 3rd parties. The Orange ticket is completely inflexible, valid for only 1 specific departure but usually at rock bottom prices and in limited quantity, usually sold out at least a month in advance. Theyve also introduced the Orange Fri which is also rather cheap, available in greater quantities, and can be fully refunded if cancelled up to 30 minutes before departure. The Orange Fri tickets have become very popular on long distance services.

This summer I visited Europe including Denmark and Germany these trains where fun to ride and there quirky design makes them fun to ride and look at

I booked this train like 4 months in advance and it was 80 euros from Amsterdam to Aarhus first class. So although it's pricy a week before, if you plan well in advance it can be a total bargain. I really liked the seats and wifi and coffee, tea and biscuits were provided for free. Sorry you had to make due with bottled water. I was checked at Padborg as well, they asked what I was doing in Denmark. I said I came to watch football (because I have a weird obsession with the Danish national team) and he said: can't you watch football in the Netherlands? And when I said I supported Denmark instead he shook his head, gave me my passport and left. Really weird conversation.

Sadly this service won't exist anymore in a few days. This is because the international Denmark/Germany-Route will only be served by an electric vehicle with former german IC-Coaches. So there won't be any service from Hamburg to Aarhus until the track from Fredericia to Aarhus will be electrified :(. There will only be Hamburg-Copenhagen from now on

As a Dane i have been waiting for this review can't wait to see your thoughts

I don't mind the lack of onboard catering. I have never once bought any food or drinks on board a train, it is always way too expensive. I just bring my own food or buy something at a supermarket at or near a station.

International train travel should be always viewed as an adventure. Then any delays or mishaps are easier to deal with

9:35 Pro tip: you can hang the wires around the coat hanger then it wont be in your face

9:49 the easy solution for cables is to route them by tucking them between the headrest and the headrest pillow which is attatched by velcro, you can even remove and adjust the pillow easily

Another great vlog from my favourite hunk-geek. It is so nice to be able to travel vicariously when I can't do it in person. Thankyou.

The sockets in the ceiling were never intended for passenger use. They are there for the vacuums used by the cleaning crew in the depot.

I used to take the train from Cologne to Hamburg very often, then often change to the Danish train and travel via Puttgarden/Rødby to Copenhagen. I really liked the trains, they were/are comfortable and somehow everything slows down. But especially when the train pulled into the ferry and the boat crossing was always the highlight.

That shape is surprisingly good from an aerodynamic point of view. I remember seeing the results of test work in the 1970s using basic shapes from a rectangular block to a saloon car shape. The lowest drag was a rounded edge block or IC 3! Also the saloon cars now made by Audi etc. were also predicted in these tests, its just taken nearly fifty years for them to become acceptable.

Superb videos ! 👍

11:40 The Schengen treaty allows for countries to reinstate border checks for a limited time in case of a threat to public safety. The Danish government just keeps redeclaring this threat over and over again for years, now. Although checks are very relaxed, it is a shame. That's not how a united Europe is supposed to work. 🙁

I think that those binbags started to show up in the late 80's, early 90's, when I worked for SJ cleaning carriages, it used to be metal bins before them, which slowed you right down as you had to check them all to see if they've been used or not, with these you could just walk pass, with a quick glance to your left and right....those were the days! 😉😊

Excellent; informative and well researched,as always, thanks!

The IC3 does also couple with IR4, that is a 4 car electric version. But all Danish design and built. The power outlet, was a compromise to locate it over, since there was no real other place to place it. I've seen laptop chargers fall down onto people, but a extender cord does fix that. I've tried to drive the IR4, and it's a good train with many features for it's time. Still need to try the IC3 :)

Danish border police are checking up due to extreme refugee flow, it has been like that for quite some time

Before the bridge between sjælland and fyn, these trains would use rail-ferries to cross. I'm sure the flat front helped store them more compactly within the ships. Importantly they could be easily split into two to fit the whole length. Of course after the bridge this isn't a factor anymore.

I really like how much effort you put into pronouncing the names of towns and landscape!

I love your videos. You are always so positive about even regular stuff.

Anonther curious fact about the IC3 (DSB class MF) is that it can not only be coupled in multiple with other IC3s, but also with the IR4 (DSB class ER), which basically is the electric IC3, originally intended for regional trains on Sjælland, hence the R in the name. The diesel-mechanical IC3 and the electric IR4 can thus be coupled together and controlled as one train. I believe they are the only trains in the world capable of this.

We have trains with the same front in Belgium, the MS96 (Class 96). The rest of the design is wholly different though, hope you'll review them one day!

as a dane, im very very proud of how you pronounces the stations many people cant do it as good as u KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!

I took this or a similar train from Hamburg to Copenhagen last year. Indeed everyone was so confused when it arrive at the platform. We didn't expect our 5-hour international journey to be in what looked like a subway train equipped to dig its own tunnels.

The Danish/Swedish X31 trains are similar. The seating layout is good. The class 158 were the product of a collaboration between the Danish design team and the Derby Railway Technical Centre.

These trains are really stuffy and cramped when a lot of people are on board. They feel smaller than other trains. Glad they switched them out for regular German IC trainsets during peak season on the Hamburg - Copenhagen line.

Being Danish this was especially interesting, of course. But as always interesting documentary and great pictures. Thank you! 🙂

Nice that u covered Hamburg

Hi! Very good video, what I would really like to see in a video is the EC 172 going from Hamburg to Budapest.

Train vending Maschine is stil cheaper then 7/11 in Denmark

It's nice to see a train not being a total disaster on your channel. :)

Great trip report

For Explanation: they Do the Border Checks to see If anybody is Ilegally in the Country, and They Make sure that there is no National Searched Criminal On the Train. Why do i know that? because i asked once 😊😊

I think these are my favourite European trains for comfort, top class (though like you, I find the plug socket placement....interesting!). Incidentally - I'm assuming this was filmed in 2021/early 2022? The full First catering offer is somewhat better, with a flask of hot water to make tea/coffee and a small snack offered once across the border into Denmark.

Both the IC3 and the DB red trouble decker regional train are very common sights here in Israel (though the IC3 is quickly disappearing from most lines now that electrification is well underway). The IC3s even still have the DSB seats and chime!

I like your video :) really great produced

I have been on units whose exterior and structure are similar to these, in Belgium. The Belgian version is really nice.

Oh no the reason is so obvious and simple! And I wondered for years.

Arghhhhh I am watching your videos for years. It’s so cool to see my small hometown Wrist 6:32 in your video 😍

i'm heavily considering moving to germany for a variety of reasons and it's nice to know that there is a trainline that goes to denmark. so i can travel around scandinavia and the nordic countries easily.

Hi..... great video. I love the danish IC trains. I use them often. I work daily in the Danish Army Bordercontrol Unit, also called Gefion. Denmark is a member of the Schengen Area, which is a zone comprising 27 European countries that have abolished passport control at their mutual borders. However, countries in the Schengen Area are allowed to temporarily reintroduce border controls in specific circumstances. These circumstances typically involve security concerns, public order, or other exceptional situations. Denmark, like some other Schengen member states, has at times implemented temporary border controls, particularly in response to security or migration-related issues. These measures are intended to be temporary and exceptional, with the ultimate goal of maintaining the overall security and functioning of the Schengen Area. But with the global high risk terror thread against Denmark, we have a permanent "temporary" bordercontrol. Eventhough we only have the borders to Germany, we still get lots of illegal persons on the border. Hope this helps to explain this to you.

11:40 Denmark has an opt-out of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice domain in the EU, which means that Denmark's membership of the Schengen area is a bilateral agreement unlike all other Schengen member states in the EU. Denmark has used this clause to have a "temporary border control" as a consequence of the 2015 immigration crisis.

I was lucky to find on sale an architectural magazine from the 90s which had an article about this train. There are a bunch of really interesting prototype pencil drawings about the chassis, the car, the air cushion.

Nothing will beat the comfort and looks of the IC3, it's truly a good experience. 1st class travel is not needed at all.

Those window hammers are a good idea. But not in the UK. They are always stolen. When I was a Guard on Scotrail in the 80's, they were locked behind the emergency lever on Sprinters. You had to pull the lever to remove the hammer. Guess how many times we were stopped before it was decided to remove them.

I took this train on my Interrail trip to and from Copenhagen last year. So the cost wasn't that big a deal and I got a cheap seat reservation. I also was very pleased with the seat and comfort on the train. But the boarder checks were rather annoying especially in Covid times with different mask mandates.. The train is very popular and I'm looking forward to a reduction in journey time and hopefully increased capacity when the Fehmarnbelt tunnel opens. As far as I know, at least on the Copenhagen line, the Danish rubber-nosed trains have recently been replaced by German IC trains. But as someone who lives in the area and often has connections at Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, I have often seen these DSB trains and always wanted to ride one. I'm glad I still had the chance to try them out ;)

Not strange looking to me since I grew up in Denmark and often travel from Copenhagen to Helsingør. Great video!!

I'm Danish, and i don't mind about how the trains look. As long as they work, and drives in time, i'm happy.

As earlier comments say, the IC5 has been delayed. This probably means the IC4 has to stay a bit longer. Perhaps DSB will buy the last Israeli IC3s. The Danish IC3s are being upgraded to support ETCS (that is why the Hamburg to Århus intercity is suspended), so it seems reasonable to upgrade the Israeli IC3s too and get them running on ETCS equipped tracks. There are quite a few by now.

What a weird train a carriage with 81~82car and a weird rubber head cover😂

I'm in this video! You drove past me at 14:52! It was quite a while ago, so I'm surprised to see myself AND that youtube even recommended this video to me.

I'll just say this - Rendsburg is a very lovely place to visit for a few hours. Did a day trip away from Hamburg and visited Flensburg and Rendsburg, totally worth it 😀

Border checks at Padburg happen so frequently there for the same reason border checks happen near the German/Austrian border, the Austrian/Hungarian border and so forth: most illegal migrants from the middle east travel from country to country to where their relatives already are / the state pays them the most money.

Your German pronunciation is just adorable!

its very interesting seeing some one cometing on the citys and towns that you live and travel around in.

I'm glad you mentioned the Danish minority, my partner is a part of that! He lives in Denmark now though and I travel on this train monthly when I go to visit him. It was interesting to watch and hear your thoughts on the journey. I love the IC3s, theyre some of the most comfy trains I’ve ever travelled on. Interesting is that the IC (now a EuroCity!) between Hamburg and Copenhagen doesn’t stop after Padborg until Kolding, unlike the HamburgAarhus line

Muito lindo trem cama boa viagem trem de borracha 1:22

11:30 the border checks are due to Denmark being run by xenophobic populists. They run "spot checks" that are, in fact, constant. However, spot checks are allowed under the Schengen Treaty, unlike a regular border control like we are used to from other borders. It has been going on for at least half a decade now and was the first large instance of the Schengen treary being subverted like this as is now common on refugee routes. Germany started checks of their own a couple years back as reciprocity, since German popular opinion is trending anti-migration as well.

Wow Hamburg stations is a real royal Jewel. Art Nouveau splendor as I can tell. Funny looking First World Train, pretty practical and reliable though. Denmark looks fabulous, I love countries with a decided Progress Mentality, and it shows. Very pleasant ride, thanks...! 👍

Your pronunciation of "Aarhus" actually had me shocked. It was so good!

These trains were tested in Canada in the 1990s. As I recall, there was a problem with snow buildup in the stairs. When travelling from Copenhagen to Hamburg in 2001 I saw the decoupling feature for the ferry.

one thing about the 1st class section. even when the train is overly full of people with loads of standing passengers 1st never gets standing people so you get to keep your calm and relative silent car unlike the rest that can get pretty congested

That train rattles the waiting area glass when it passes by a station, its suprises me every time.

Great video as always! 👍 I‘ve been on one of these iconic Danish trains a couple of years back; the journey was from Copenhagen to Hamburg, albeit along the famous “Vogelfluglinie“ across the southern Danish archipelago in the Baltic Sea, including a train ferry from Lolland island in Denmark to the island of Fehmarn in Germany. I was on first class back then, and, since the train left København Hovedbanegård in the morning, there was a complimentary breakfast served on board (a pretty basic but still quite decent Danish/German-style one with rolls and jams etc.). For the whole journey in 1. class, one could drink coffee or tea as well as mineral water for free. I was able to get a special deal that day for the trip because DSB had something called “visit our neighbours“ or something like that back then, for trips into Sweden and Germany. Thanks to that, I only paid about €15 more than the regular price I would have paid in second class. Overall, I really liked these weird-looking trains. I thought it was really comfortable, relatively quiet and also clean on board. And the ride on the train ferry was also quite interesting (it will disappear totally once the Fehmarn-Lolland tunnel will open).

I caught the 3 car diesel version back in 1999 from Sweden to København with another railway workmate. We were amazed to see that the whole drivers desk and controls swung back too. There was also a children's play area at the end of one coach. We were also lucky enough that the train ferry was still operating from Helsingborg to Helsingør. When the train left the ferry cars and cyclists were leaving alongside with no fence to separate them from the train. Sad that the train ferriy has stopped now along with the Puttgarten to Rødby ferry, another one I was lucky to go on in 1996 with a loco hauled train.

This train used to be very common in Israel from the late 80's the mid 2010's Nowdays they aren't in service anymore and were replaced by the Viaggio Light by Siemens alongside the Bombardier Double-deck Coach

Absolutely class video

A fun little bit of trivia on the IC3 was that they briefly operated on Amtrak and VIA Rail in the US and Canada respectively in the 90s. It was a trial to determine if multiple units would work well in North American service, Amtrak ultimately didn't want them since they struggled on steep hills (to which a Danish engineer when questioned about this simply said "We don't have hills in Denmark") And VIA didn't want them, since they had less capacity (only one set ran in Canada) and were slower than the LRC sets running at the time, which is ironic as 180 Kph is faster than our current trains which can only do 145-160 in service, since our new 200 kph trains are held back by old speed limits and track conditions

I took this train multiple times, albeit from Copenhagen to Hamburg and back. It's so slooow. Can't wait for the Fehmarnbelt tunnel to be finally completed.

i was in the Hamburg station a couple of years ago, only thing i really remember was that it was very overcrowded

very nice scenery

Nice and honest video 😊 One thing to note: If you plan well in advance, you'll often be able to grab a first class ticket for only around 100 kr more than second class. Do this! The line to Hamburg is currently being serviced by ye olde IC1, and there the difference between first and second class is so big it feels like two different trains. I went on a trip, and outbound I was in a very nice spacious compartment with soft and comfy seats. But because DB has messed up, I wasn't able to make my planned train on the journey back, and DSB could only get me a seat on second class on the next train. There, the seats were hard, the AC was all over the place, and it was really noisy. Definitely not as nice as the IC3.

Love the videos, I was hoping to make a request going forward - when you tour the interior is there any chance you could make note of any wheelchair spaces that are avaliable?

In Belgium we're used to this view too. We have the Electric MS96 units who have the same sort of caps! Owned by national operator NMBS / SNCB

I have cleaned that train before, because of the number it had, I'm just glad it's easy and fast to clean, but the ic5 that always breaks down or the outlets don't work is the annoying one to clean because it's so long and take 2 hours 1 hour and 45 min if it's working lol

Flemsburg - well known for people interested in WW2 history

Reminds me of the dutch "Koploper" where the driver cab is on top, and there you can walk underneath the drivercab when they are joined

One IC4 train actually ended up in Lybia in DSB colourscheme. It was a gift from Silvio Berlusconi to Gadaffi.

That particular cruise ship (1992 to 2022 - The Norwegian Cruise lines: Norwegian Dream) could reduce the size of it's funnel, to fit under the bridge. Most ships can't do this. If you look closely, the exhaust pipes are folder to the right of the image. She was scrapped in 2022.

The cushion in front is filled with air, and the driver can deflate it when coupeling with other train sets. It's somewhat hilarious to watch!

Thanks a lot for the info Sir. I am on a journey to Denmark from India. I was indeed baffled by the unique front of some of the trains. Now I Know

Reggarding the trashbags, there is a metal hook right next to the empty bags. There You can plave a bag - and use it as a bin

I always loved the look of the danish IC3 to be honest, and yes, there is absolutely no point in driving first class in DSB trains. it is pretty much the exact same thing as anywhere else in the train

My guy reviewing this train like it's about 5-10 years old, when in reality these trains we're first put in service in 1990