The German railway giant, Deutsche Bahn, is gearing up for a new era of trains. They’ve kickstarted the search for the next generation of ICE trains, aiming for smoother boarding experiences and a whopping minimum speed of 300 kilometers per hour.
According to the state-owned corporation, this move involves not just coming up with these new trains but also getting them ready for action by the early 2030s. To make this happen, they’re looking to strike a deal for up to 95 trains with the winning bidder.
In the first phase, they’re eyeing 33 of these trains. Picture this: they’re planning for these trains to be as long as four football fields, all on a single level, and packing around 940 seats. The goal? Gradually saying goodbye to the older ICE 1 and ICE 3 trains as we step into the next decade. They’re hoping to get these contracts sorted out by the spring of 2025.
It’s been quite a journey to get to this point. About a year back, Deutsche Bahn roped in Siemens Mobility and Alstom to each come up with their vision for the next-gen ICE. Now, after some brainstorming, they’ve outlined exactly what they’re looking for in these new trains, making sure the playing field stays fair for all manufacturers involved.
But here’s the exciting part: this isn’t just an upgrade; it’s a whole new ball game. While the current ICE fleet relies on existing high-speed technology, the plan for the next ICE is a ground-up reinvention. That means it’s going to take a bit of time before these swanky new trains hit the tracks.
Deutsche Bahn has been on a mission to revamp and modernize its fleet for a while now. The average age of their trains is currently about 18 years, and they’re aiming to bring that down to 12 years by 2030. They’re still in the process of rolling out the ICE-4 trains, with the last of the 137 set to be up and running by March.
And let’s not forget the ICE 3 Neo, which has been chugging along for a year now; they plan to have around 90 of these trains running by 2028. Oh, and by the end of 2024, they’re aiming to start delivering the ICE L. Lots of exciting stuff on the horizon for train enthusiasts!
