Germany’s FIRST High-Speed Train, is it still good? 

I was lucky enough to drive these trains myself for 6.5 years. Rarely has someone let me down and stayed put. Admittedly, the years have taken their toll on the machines, but they are still the most reliable horse in the DB stable. Greetings from a train driver from Germany.

I personally like the ICE 1 the most. It is the most cozy i think and it has the most leg room. The leg room in second Class is as good as it is in in First Class of newer ICE trains.

The ICE 1 was THE milestone for high-spped rail service in Germany and I totally agree with you that they still live up to their quality, despite being almost 40 years old. Switzerland took some of these into their inventory where they serve long-distance-hauls between Hamburg/Berlin and Interlaken-Ost, as well as Berlin-Basel SBB. The main reason for that decision is their reliability. I wouldn‘t be too surprised if Switzerland would extend their lifespan even past 2030! Although the ride isn‘t as smooth as in a modertn ICE3 (neo)/ICE 4 set, they still can compete easily with other HSR sets worldwide. Interestingly when the USA ditched the ICE in favor for the Bombardier Acela, many Americans considered that decision a bad one as the Bombardier trainsets often tend to fail service. Yet Amtrak sticks to their decision and a recent upgrade even was made in favor for Bombardier instead of Siemens (although the Velaro D (which represent the ICE 3) was never officially tested in the USA). To this very date the USA still lack a reliable HSR throughout the country and it‘ll take for sure another 30-50 years until the USA will be up to code in that. Currently only west and east coast are benefitting from recently initialized projects for next-gen HSR services with completion of the lines mid 2030 to 2040. As you mentioned the ICE 5, yes, the DB are indeed investigating in a replacement for the Velaro D as these trains are also almost 30 years in operation. Siemens and Talgo have both shown concepts already, both looking sleek and modern, while the Talgo has the more aerodynamic design IMHO. You‘ll find videos about future ICE train generations here on RU-vid as well. One word about punctuality: Yes, it is known that long-distance trains of DB are commonly known for their (sometimes heavy) delays and DB still struggles to have them on schedule by now. But it must be also noted that DB has no „Taktfahrplan“ unlike Switzerland, meaning that even the slightest delay can lead to even bigger delays the longer the train is operating. DB is currently undergoing major schedule redesign to overcome this problem but it‘ll take some time, like all good things do. I still have the dream where trains in Germany run as punctual as in Switzerland but with a network that complex and sensitive to delays, this will be no easy task at all.

Just don't go outside of the Frankfurt station and you'll be fine :D

You forgot to mention the high ceilings and upper level windows in the restaurant car which is the special touch of the ICE1 train and no other ICE will ever have anymore.

The ICE 1 is like a good old friend who should never disappear 😊.

I remember travelling on one of these in August 1992 when I was Inter-Railing and being really impressed with the ICE. I didn't realise they were so new at the time, until watching this video

As a german I expected this video to end horribly. So I'm quite surprised that it seemed like a good run. Though I am annoyed that my thought was "Oh, only 3 minutes late? That's on time!" :D To bad the rail connection to my city got literally washed away in 2021 and they're still not back in action

You CAN use the DB lounge if you have a first class ticket.

1998: I was 20yrs old and booked a 2nd class Eurail pass for Germany. Basically I could travel anywhere on the DB network for 7 days in a month. I slept at Frankfurt airport on the terminal seats a few occasions. I also managed to catch the sleeper train from Brussels to Berlin, and slept in a couchette. These ICE1 trains whisked me the length and breadth of Germany. I was amazed. Fastforward 25 years and I am now very much a First Class traveller by train. Thanks for sharing.

It felt like time travel riding this the first time. Digital displays showing your speed and position. They even had A phone booth connected to the mobile network. blasting with 280 km/h to your destination in no time. This was always an experience.

The ICE 1s restaurant car is gorgeous. Btw.: Germanys first high speed train was the "Fliegender Hamburger" from 1932.

I used those trains a lot for weekly commuting between Berlin and Düsseldorf in 2008. I liked the design but they were overdue for refurbishment and only had a single socket on tables for four and nothing for all the pairs of seats in between. As soon as they were updated, they were very usable and pleasant - showing that trains can be brilliant for a long time with good maintenance and occasional updates.

I was 10 years old, when the ICE was introduced in 1991. A lot of people here in Germany were immensely proud and looking forward to our domestic national high speed rail service at the time! I remember when the Hannover-Würzburg HSR line was built in the 80s. It cost billions and was quite a an achievement, with gigantic viaducts/bridges and countless tunnels, since the line goes through the super hilly central German uplands, often visible along closeby to the main Autobahn A7 route, with gigantic construction sites at the time… Before that, there were some upgraded main electrified trunk lines in Germany for fast intercity service, which had been upgraded up to 180-200km/h in the 70s along certain routes, but no proper high speed rail until THIS. At the time when the whole German HSR network was originally planned, it was also still a fully nationalized company (it‘s semi-privatized since the 90s, for better or worse). Germany being a pluricentric country with several regional hubs and having a relatively dense network is surely prone to failure when it gets to delays, especially regarding the huge amount of passenger and cargo traffic everywhere. After the 90s, with new international routes towards the East re-established, along with an overall massive increase of traffic, have caused quite a few challenges, not to mention the increasingly bad management of DB in recent years. DB was never perfect, but never this bad in past decades compared to now. Sometimes I think it might be better to put it back under whole national state control, with its own ministry, as was still the case in the 80s.

I am a train driver from DB Fernverkehr and I love the Br401. Although it is over 30 years old it is still such a masterpiece.It's always a pleasure to drive one of them myself.♥️

As far as I'm aware, the station featured in 1:13 isn't actually Frankfurth (am Main) Hbf, but much rather Nürnberg Hbf..

I’m very excited that you took a route that I also travel on quite regularly (Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe-Berlin). Whenever I can, I try to book a connection that's operated by an ICE 1. They are definitely the most comfortable ICE trains. Very happy that you enjoyed your journey. Tbh it even makes me a bit proud.

7:00 Actually, the speed of the high speed railway Hannover-Würzburg is limited to 250 km/h only in tunnels, outside even 280 km/h are allowed. If the train is delayed or not, doesn't matter. But due to the fact that this railway mostly consists of tunnels following close to each other, there are only a few parts between Hannover and Göttingen as well as between Fulda and Würzburg, where it makes sense to push the train to 280 km/h, in case of a delay. But that is the decision of the driver. I've already been on an ICE going 280 km/h there, even though running on time.

6:35 you can actually see an "Feuewehr-Zug" (Firebrigade Train)

As someone who is from Fulda, I am happy that you actually mentioned our town 😅

For your subscribers in the United States it should be familiar to them because 30 years ago DB Baureihe 401 ran between Washington Union Station in New Haven Connecticut both directions alongside the X2000 from Sweden. The high speed line is called Schnellfahrstrecke Hannover Würzburg which your train did the Fulda Hannover segement via Kassel Wilhelmshöhe. The reason why the route has 4 tracks on some parts it's designed to send freight trains during the evening

Brunswick is not the 'historical' name, but rather the english transliteration of Braunschweig, as it has always been known to the Germans.

I like all the ICE's to be honest. 😊 I also can't wait to see the new DB Talgo train sets in action. 😎

It's amazing the ICE 1 still is so great in terms of quality today despite it being over 30 years old!

1:37 HLB not only operates routes to Hanau and Aschaffenburg from this station, but also Eltville, Siegen/Dillenburg, Kassel/Treysa and Nidda - more than Vias. They even used to have 2 more routes, which have recently been taken over by DB-owned operator Start.

I'm originally from Kassel, nice that you mentioned the RegioTrams, I've been taking one to school and back every day from 1st grade until high school graduation haha

Very nice Video! Greetings from Germany🇩🇪:)

Ooooooh i love the first generation ICEs! The restaurant with the elevated roof is so classy!

I think Hamburg actually is Germany’s busiest station

I fucking hate how the ICE is 30 years old and still looks/works better than Amtrak’s 20-year old Acela 😑

I love the look of the ICE 1 and 2

Its so cute how you spell german expressions! Im living in Göttingen, north of Kassel and did spend my childhood and youth in a village next to the High Speed Line. I went and am sometimes still seeing ICEs just 15 minutes away from our house there- too bad you didnt include Göttingen in your Presentation!

This is my favorite train in Germany. I hope they will have a couple of them preserved as part of their heritage fleet in the future as I would like to ride one of these myself. Great video buddy and thanks for uploading.

I rode on many trains in Germany last may. They are pretty old overall, but still a century newer than anything the United States has.

I rode the ICE (and X2000) in Amtrak service 30 years ago. Instead they bought junk they are trying to replace. Yet the original ICE and X2000 will be in service to and through the end of this decade.

As a little kid I went on the ICE1 once when they were new, I no longer live in Germany but been back for holidays. Last time, I took this service to Frankfurt looking forward to it. The first one broke down, the replacement caught on fire not long after resulting in everyone getting cramped onto an ancient IC service resulting in me almost missing my flight. The ICE1 however still feels very modern and hopefully next time I'll have better luck.

Damn thanks for uploading. Must be older footage, since in 2:34 you can see a special "Metropolitan" trainset, which left service IIRC two yeras ago.

As a German i have to say that those trains are very confortable, quiet and for me who only uses trains to get to vecation so i don´t need to use seem on the daily basis, i only had good experiences with th ICE trains exept one time where the AC was broken in a carrage and my booked seat wasn´t available and i had to search a new seat and hope that nobody else comes and booked the seat.

Everything is fine as long as the Trains don't break down. I have had my fair share of "Reparatur am Zug"!

there as new inside Design for ice 3 neo br 408 - i really like it because there is a lot of wood inside, i really would like you checking this out and give your comment keep up your good work!

Funny enough, the ICE 1 that was shipped to the US once i was able to be in the front car with the traindriver cause i'm a trainee at DB Fernverkehr and i was shown the interior of that kind of trains.

Based on the german train I would guess the Alex video will release soon? :) As a child I had a small model of this train, I still think it looks neat from the outside. Never had the chance to travel on one :( Love your german pronounciations, they are very good.

I'm glad you enjoyed. It's nice that it's 30 years old and still in great shape, it's sad that they want to replace it.

We have the ICE 1, the ICE 2, the ICE 3, the ICE 4, and the ICE T! But there´s no Velaro D´s or Neo´s running here! But not long ago, while I was at a skatepark, a red BR 101 came and stopped an ICE L right in front of us! I was so shocked! But I´ve seen ICE L´s every now and then! We have a TON of ICE 4 and not many ICE 3´s and ICE T´s!

I took ICE trains this year. They were expensive, late and absolutely full. My train from Berlin to Frankfurt had people without seat reservations sitting in reserved seats, standing in the isles. A filthy guy with a large dog tried to sit next to me I had to get staff to help. A group of guys got extremely drunk on another train in reserved 1st class they were extremely loud. Many staff didn’t do anything and the buffet car was too busy. Never again.

My first travel on an intercity train also happen to be on an ICE 1 which happened more than a year ago. Unlike your travel, though, I took an ICE Spriter which took the route further east, going through Erfurt and Halle instead of Kassel and Wolfsburg. A side effect is that most of my journey was on conventional tracks, though I didn't mind it too much in that I prefer rail over air travel. My return journey also ran through the same route, incidentally also ICE 1. The only things which went wrong there was that I got an ICE 1 twice, my first ride had broken reservations and display screens and that they were only relatively punctual (i.e. a couple minutes late) but otherwise was quite a smooth ride.

Nice vid and good pronounciation of german Cities and words.

Nice! We've a similar tram system here in The Netherlands called 'Randstad Rail'. Based around the city of The Hague and even uses the same types of trams(:

These are probably my favourite high speed trains.

I certainly laughed when you tried to put the beer glass in the dedicated detent. Those kinds of things drive me crazy 😅

9:59 lol I love that that you refuse to call them ICE's.

The first ones are the most comfortable in my opinion

“But for some reason I decided to film the floor” 👏🏻

GWR take note, these are the seats you should be offering the passenger and not torturing them with ironing boards

One should note that although the later ICE versions are supposed to be „more modern“ doesn‘t really mean they are better than the ICE 1. Legroom has decreased as well as general comfort of the seats in the later ICE versions. Unfortunately I don‘t have a link to a video which shows the comparison. Also the early ICE 1 interior is really in need for refurbishment by now.

I remember being very excited to see them back in 1994 but our regional pass did not allow free travel on it unlike EuroCity etc. My first trip on one was in 2001 and I was very impressed.

When did you take this trip? The at 2:33 train is one of the old Metropolitan trains (basically a luxury variant of the German intercity trains) that were decommissioned in 2021. Either this recording is from before the decommissioning or they were reactivated.

1:34 if you filmed this on a tuesday or thursday then there's quite a big chance I was on that specific train. Nice vid as always!

Didn't expect your train to be on time, what a nice suprise 😅💪🏼 Germany sadly has a different time-system as other countries, meaning that everything up to five minutes late, as well as canceled trains, are being counted as on time. So if all planned connections tomorrow would get canceled, they would be counted as 100% on time... But even with this questionable calculation, the DB long distance trains were only 65,2% "on time" in 2022 (statista) 🤦🏼‍♂️

Thankyou sr. For introducing of this beautifull train and it's fecilitys ❤

The ICE1 is just the best train, the DB ever took in service for long distance high speed and it seems, that it will been forever. It is just the only one, that can be passed inside from one end to the other. In each car, you have seperate computers to control the doors, the air condition and each of the two toilets. Each car has four doors. Furthermore, you have a mix of compartments and open space. The space itself is uncomparable. For luggage, garbage and supplements, there is a lot of space, too. Despite there is a whole restaurant car that cuts first and second class. Unfortunately, no other train could reach the same standards.

2 mins late for a ICE is pretty impressive

If you wanna look at a trainride, that is a bit... "slower" and older, maybe the HSB is something for you. Thats the "Harzer Schmalspurbahnen". They mainly run steam trains for tourists, BUT there most of the routes are build in the public transportation network and are used as "normal" trains. So, if you will, thats the last steam powered regional train in germany. They run, for example the "Harzer Querbahn". That goes from Wernigerode to Nordhausen. Sometimes they use there Dieselengines or just Dieselunits. But sometimes they are using the steam trains :)

Hi, I'm just here to compliment your pronounciation of these German city names

Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe or as it goes by its nick name "Palace of a thousand winds" 😃

As with our much loved HST 125's, this train proves that new isn't always best.

The front grill reminds me of my 2005 Saab 9-5.

The ICE 1 trains will always be legendary in the eyes of train enthusiasts, even though they're being replaced by new versions of the ICE, which isn't quite as comfortable as the one you're on. Good German engineering. 🇩🇪 Will Germany go in the way of France and ban domestic flights due to environmental and convenience considerations? Only time will tell. But first, DB needs to fix its poor reliability. 🛠

Brunswick is as historical of a name as Japan, Rome, Munich or Korea.

1:13 was the Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof :)

Many Germans insisted on calling the train the I nter C ity E xpress, but I always thought it was great, when foreigners use the nickname Icetrain, it's a great compliment.

Had the ICE 1 a few times as a replacement for the ICE 4 earlier this year traveling from Leipzig to Frankfurt aM. I'd say I was lucky then, since they are way more comfortable than the ICE4.🥰

@ 8:13 'That's what I call a realy, realy proper poured Weizenbier. 😁Zum Wohl 🍻 After 32 year in business, they still look better than everything the USA has to offer, not to mention the speed. 😉 Two days ago I saw a YT-Vid about the problems of the Acela trains from Alstom. Looks like they made a wrong decission back in '93! 😂 Thx for taking us with u on this trip. 👍🏾😎

nice watching from Bangladesh

DB has it's bad reputation somewhat earned. A lot of things go wrong on a daily basis. But going wrong in the meaning of leaving you stranded is actually quite rare. There were only two instances over the last two decade where I actually had to take a room - both payed for by DB btw. But if you have an important appointment to make you should take rather two than one trains early, sadly...

Frankfurt am Main was not named after the river Main. The "am Main" is only there as there are two cities called Frankfurt the other one being on the river Oder. The am Main means on the Main.

As compared to India, 30 years back comparing this train to anything here would have been difference of day and night. Now that things are improving, it’s understandable why people are coming back

You got very lucky with the ticket price. If you aren’t you pay about 210€ for that route

i very like your explanations around the journey and the train 10 out of 10 brilliant excellent

For me, the ICE 1 will always be the symbol of modern long-distance traveling in Germany and the train which will come to my mind first when I think about the ICE. All of his successors were clear steps backwards. The ICE 4 may be larger and can accommodate more people, but it is significantly less comfortable and no longer has six-seat compartments, which are extremely comfortable when traveling with small groups or alone on low-occupancy trains. It's also slower. Why have railways built for speeds up to 280 kph when the trains operating on them only go 265 kph (this number alone says alot)? It's clear the DB has to save costs and the ICE is no exception. So let's enjoy the classic ICE while we can.

The ICE 1 was always and probably will always be the coolest German train. TBH, I feel like all the first gen HSR trains were much more iconic than anything that's come since. Maybe it's just rose tinted glasses, but newer HSR trains don't have as much character to me. They all seem very similar and a bit blah.

I actually prefer to ride in 1st class ICE1 over the modern units. Since they are old fashioned tech (power cars either end) rather than traction motors spread along the unit, they are supremely quiet. In the modern ones you can often hear a subtle whining sound from the electric motors that are always somewhere close by. Most may not even notice, but when you are interested in trains, know the sound and subconsciously listen for it, it then suddenly becomes impossible to overhear.

I have the ice 1 as a model railway from märklin 🙂

The problem of the DB is that the Trains are Delayed or cancelled.. but Cool video!

We would like to see the trip from Frankfort to Marseille on the SNF

0:31 kinda depends. Hamburg has more travelers per day than Frankfurt, it is surprisingly also not the station with the most trains (Hamburg again if you include S-Bahn, München if you exclude) but it can be argued that it is the most important one, as it is a major interchange hub in the middle of Germany. Hamburg and München most often are the end of the line, with just a selected few going further (Altona of course not counting). Frankfurt on the other hand has lines runing in all directions from it. When I visit both my grandparent oer train I most often have to change at either Köln of Frankfurt.

at 2:23 International routes : Switzerland , Austria , Belgium , France AND the Netherlands :D

Germanys high standart is the trains being late or canceling services even we in Switzerland have to experience that with Trains that come from Germany😂

Living in Berlin and having worked in Mannheim and Amsterdam for many years, I have travelled hundreds of thousands of kilometres on ICE1 and their shorter cousins, the ICE2 trains, which use the same cars, as well as the loco-hauled IC1 trains. For me, these three superb types of stock are unsurpassed for comfort by any other train I have travelled on, the ICE3, ICE-3neo and ICE4 being notably less comfortable - "doctors' waiting rooms", the newer trains are often called. The IC1 trains and their elegant Class 101 locos are unfortunately very soon to be replaced - I dread the introduction of the ICE-L Talgo trains on IC1 lines such as the Berlin - Amsterdam route, having sampled this very uncomfortable and claustrophobic shoe-box-on-wheels at the Innotrans exhibition in 2022.

In Spain we have a similar case to these ICE 1 train, but we have AVE 100 series, to put on service in 1992 due to the opening of Madrid - Seville train line. They are still in service, it seems like they are good trains too. Quite older but reliable at the end. For 2024 talgo 106 series will be active trains, AVRIL.

One thing I like to do is pluck the string at the side of the window. And yes if you book ahead you can sometimes get very reasonably priced first class tickets (Supersparpreis). You won't have lounge access though. ICE 1 is especially popular among those who like travelling in compartments (aren't they 5-seat in first class?)

My favourite train of all time some day il ride on one snd the first Eurostar and origional tgv also

Germanys busiest Railway Station is Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (Hamburg Main Station)

Great Video. Thanks!

but was it late???

In my opinion the ICE 1 is best enjoyed in a six seat compartment and it's my favourite ICE to ride then.

After this Video, i would really love to travel with the ICE 1. Most of the time I'm travveling between Cologne and Munich. There the ICE3, ICE4 or ICE3 Neo are most common in use. The ICE3 has a very cool panorama Lounge on both end of the train, where you could view through the cab and the front window of the driver, if they disable the intellegent glass. However, the Seats in those ICEs arent that comfortable. The one of your Video looks very padded, in the newer models, they're very thin. Also there aren't the classic compartments anymore. In the ICE 3 would be, the mentioned panorama lounge. In the newer models, there are "compartments" on both end oft the train, and some train cars with some divider between seats. The Resturants Menu is quite good and the prices are fair. If the railroad network would be better, there wouldn't be the issues about punctuality, and would the prises be a little bit cheaper, than it would be awesome to travel by train in Germany.

Fun Fact: The older ICEs can travel faster than the newer ones. Too bad there aren't many high speed track miles in Germany, so they usually achieve the same times than the cheaper and more spacious ICs.

ICE 1, 30 years!? Well, now I definitely feel old, I still remember when they were new! I need a cuppa and toasties! 😉😆😂

Thanks for the red arrow. I wouldn't have seen the train