Deutsche Bahn orders 43 new ICE trains from Siemens

Credit: Siemens Mobility

Deutsche Bahn (DB) has announced that it is buying 43 additional trains of the new ICE 3neo type from Siemens for an estimated €1.5 billion.  With this order, the company is expanding its ICE 3neo fleet to a total of 73, following a previous order for 30 trains of this type in July 2020. By the end of the decade, the company are aiming to increase their ICE fleet to a total of 450.

The 73 additional trains will enable DB to expand its daily capacity for long-distance transport by a further 32,000 seats. With this increase in its fleet, DB will have the capacity to meet the requirements of the synchronised timetable for nationwide service planned for 2030.

“The new ICE stands for progress on the rails, fast, digital, barrier-free,” Dr Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport, said. “The 73 new trains with their additional seats will make a major contribution to implementing the country’s synchronised timetable for nationwide service.”

Capable of a top speed of 320 km/h, the new ICE 3neo provides numerous innovations for enhancing passenger comfort along with its 439 seats. There is special window glass to ensure stable mobile phone reception, eight bicycle spaces in each train, redesigned luggage racks providing more storage space, lighting with changing colour tones depending on the time of day, tablet holders and power sockets at all seats including the 2nd class, as well as additional doors for faster boarding at stations and a new power lift to ease access for wheelchair users.

“More railways are the key to climate protection in Germany,” Dr Richard Lutz, CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG, said. “With the new ICE, we are not only providing more capacity in our trains but are also enhancing the quality and comfort for our passengers.”

“With our new high-speed trains, we are supporting Deutsche Bahn in realising its vision of transporting more people with maximum comfort, punctuality and better service, all with the greatest sustainability,” Dr Roland Busch, President and CEO of Siemens AG, said. “We are working on the basis of a long-standing, trusting partnership with DB, and are relying on a proven train platform that we have enhanced with numerous innovations for the passengers.”

DB and Siemens presented the first ICE 3neo type at the ICE plant in Berlin-Rummelsburg at the contract announcement. The train was built in the record time of just 12 months, faster than any other ICE in the past, with the first ICE 3neo ready to enter passenger service at the end of this year. The new trains will initially operate between North Rhine-Westphalia and southern Germany on the high-speed route via Cologne and the Rhine/Main valley.