Those ICE3 trains were ahead of their time. Hard to believe that most of them are almost 25 years old already now. I rode a few ICE3's where the first class coaches were at the front and back, and you could look over the driver's shoulder out the front window. (And yes, for the vintage computer enthousiasts: Those on-board computers are Pentium 1's and they still run MS-DOS.)
I remember when we were working in Germany in the late 1970s, we took the train from Bodensee to Dortmund and loved every minute of it and being thirsty Irishmen we needed refreshments, the attendant bringing the trolley around had a good laugh and a chat with us and gave us all the beer in his trolley (we paid for it of course) and told us that we were stopping in Stuttgart for 15 minutes don’t know the reason why, anyhoo he told us to nip out to the supermarket and get some beer there, as it would be cheaper than his prices well he’d a chat with one of the station staff and he went and got us a crate of beer, no wonder I love Germany and it’s people, ps on the building site if we were building a house the owners came every morning with a crate of beer for us once they heard we were Irish we must have a reputation us lot
Maybe it's been noted by others, but anyone who plans to travel via ICE should be aware that you need to book your tickets in advance as early as possible in order to get the relatively low fares. I guess the price you paid was a "Sparpreis", i.e., a budget ticket with limited refund options. The standard fare, however, are so-called "flex" tickets which allow you to take any train on the day of travel, but will be _way_ more expensive, almost 200€ for first class for the trip from Stuttgart to Dortmund..!
Note, though, that if you go too cheap, you lose access to the lounge in the station, which is a nice perk, but not available with the cheapest fare rate (I think it's called "Super-Spar-Preis"? )
It is also important to add that the high speed railway between Stuttgart and Mannheim is currently being renovated which increases the travel time between these two cities by a about 45 min.
Travel time to Dortmund was about 40 Minutes longer than the usual 3h 30min. From November 1st the Stuttgart-Mannheim HSL will serve ICE trains again and they will run at speeds up to 280 kph there.
@@outdoorolli5754 According to the standard, the notation for speed is km/h, not 'kph'. Please respect global stabdards, especially as the latecomers that you are
@@michaellaudahn, Höflichkeit finde ich ehrlich gesagt in einem sozialen Netzwerk wichtiger als Paragraphenreiterei. Die Amerikaner sind "-ph" gewöhnt und denen komme ich entgegen.
@@outdoorolli5754 Du bist höflich gegenüber den amerikanern, sagst du. Wie höflich sind denn die amerikaner den anderen gegenüber? Mit deiner nachgiebigkeit sendest du nur das falsche signal aus. Es wird zeit erwachsen zu werden, sonst wird man nicht ernstgenommen.
@@michaellaudahn, die Amerikaner, die hier schreiben, sind mit Sicherheit höflicher als die Deutschen. Wenn Sie sie deshalb nicht ernst nehmen können, liegt das sicher nicht an Ihrer Reife.
Apart from the fact that Germany's 4G network is rubbish, Wi-Fi speed is not fully depended upon the 'regular' 4G network. The DB rail system presumably has their own network incorporated in the network system for mostly communication purposes.
@@Chrisivisi It's all Telekom afaik. Might be that DB has some bandwidth reserved though. They definitely don't have their own infrastructure nor do they use the Telefonica network.
@@_Asparagus__ Nope, DB Fernverkehr uses all three networks (Telekom, Vodafon, Telefonica), which are bonded to maximize troughput. I think some system from Icomera is used.
One thing that may have helped you during boarding is the coach order (Wagenreihung) function in both the DB Navigator app (which you were using) and in the DB Stations app, which shows you up-to-date information of what order the coaches are in and where they'll be stopping on the platform. Would have made the right one trivial to identify! Of course, you shouldn't _have to_ rely on this, to begin with...
@@DylansTravelReports Hm, that hasn't happened to me before, but you definitely have far more experience. If there's a deviation there's usually also an announcement - but that is another thing you definitely shouldn't have to rely on.
By the way, the insufficient travel speed between Stuttgart and Mannheim was due to the fact that the high-speed line Stuttgart-Mannheim is still out of service until October 31st due to renovation work. So all trains have to be diverted over old slow lines.
Btw: I recently found out about the DB's fastest ICE. It is the ICE S (S for speed) with Vmax 400 km / h. It is not available for the standard service but for the technical service of the DB (collecting measurements on the track and the overhead wire for high speed trains). It can reach its top speed on the high-speed route between Leipzig and Berlin. The train has already been to Austria and Switzerland to take measurements there as well. - Heinz
I have yet to journey to Germany but look forward to finally making the trip. Happy to see on-board restaurant cars are returning to service. Seems like a smooth, quiet ride for you. Was stressing out for you over the crazy boarding process. Thanks for the video. Stay safe and see you on Monday, Dylan!
Thanks for this video. The ICE3 is for sure the best of the ICE trains. The new ICE4 is really a step back (in terms of speed and comfort). The ticket prices are like with airlines - if you are lucky and can book early in advance you pay 15 EUR for a cross country ticket from Hamburg to Munich (with Bahncard 25). If you have to be flexible you might have to pay up to 200 EUR. All in all the Deutsche Bahn is not so bad as some people say. Of course this is not Japan where they apologize for 30sec late departure but considering how old the German railway infrastructure is it is still ok.
Travel time from Stuttgart to Dortmund was about 40 Minutes longer than the usual 3h 30min, since HSL Stuttgart-Mannheim is currently under construction. From November 1st 2020 it will serve ICE trains again and they will run at speeds up to 280 kph there again.
Here‘s a quick tip if you find yourself trying to board an ICE without working displays on the outside: If your train consists of two units, one unit will always have coaches 2x (21 to 29). The other unit will have coaches 3x (31 to 39). Not all ICE trains will use all those numbers (e.g. 5 car ICE-T units), but the 2x/3x scheme applies to all ICE trains consisting of two units. Check the coach closest to the coupling. If the first digit is correct, you‘re in the correct unit. Also you missed a feature in your seat tour: On all first class and some second class seats there is a control underneath the seat that allows you to extend or retract the seat cushion by a few cm. Can be seen really well in your Amsterdam to Berlin IC review at 7:32.
Nice review of the first class of the ICE 3, I was on the same ICE 3 from Munich to Stuttgart. We were on vacation in Croatia, where our car broke down and so we had to take a bus to Zagreb and then the Nightjet to Munich and then get our IC, but we were half an hour late at the German-Austrian border, so we went with the ICE.
Thanks, Dylan! Another great video. We travel well with you. It is true that when boarding, finding your place and your compartment like that is not practical at all! Just as I don't like these badly placed seats at all because you can't see the landscape, it's disappointing, it happened to us in two of our last trips on other trains. We always try to change in this case. You were lucky the train wasn't crowded. Very nice video. Thanks to you !
I enjoyed this review, and agree with all that you say. The ICE3 is certainly a wonderful train, with a remarkable quality finish, and I have travelled on many of them. Unfortunately timekeeping on many D.B Inter City services has become quite haphazard. You were especially unfortunate in that someone had forgotten to set the exterior information screens !
great video on the ICE service between Stuttgart and Dortmund i always admire the interior of them and the 2013 velaro ones are my favourite yes Stuttgart hbf is getting renovation hopefully it will turn it into a big European rail hub also i liked the bridge entrance into cologne and the cathedral great video
(13:41) The line between Frankfurt/Airport and Cologne/Deutz has nickname "fastest tram of world". Because DB isn't longer a division of Bund (Federation of countries) and losted special rights of government DB had to conclude individual agreements with each town and village affected by the line. Therefore some requested own station which decreased average speed and degreeded the line to a suburb line. - Greeetings, Heinz
@@aswler if you think that is arrogant you don't understand germany. We dont have a few large big cities and nothing in between, the population is very wide spread. Even the big cities usually dont have more than half a million inhabitants, only 4 have more than a million and with all those small cities we still have over 80 million inhabitants. So what is needed is a good and fast intercity NETwork and you want to stop whenever there are railjunctions with rails in different directions, so even smaller cities aside from big and fast tracks can have a good multiconnection. And other than that it is understandable that you dont want a train line that your city cant profit from. Anyway there only two additional stops, where one of them allows trains to pass by with the full speed of 300km/h.
@@aswler This is inefficient because you are creating megapoli that way. (Imagine the car does not exist) People will relocate if they live exactly in the middle of two of the those big cities and need longer to either of them than the ICE takes for the whole journey between the two big cities. As everybody wants to live there you find yourself either paying alot of rent or taking the U-Bahn or S-Bahn again to cut costs. In the end everybody except a few wealthy people have the same door-to-door travel time as when the ICE did not exist. Example: Lutherstadt Wittenberg is a City with 45.000 inhabitants and in the middle between Leipzig and Berlin. With regional trains you need 1h24min to Berlin Hbf and 57min to Leipzig Hbf. Fortunately ICE Trains are stopping there and they reduce the travel time to Berlin to 42min (50% reduction!) and to Leipzig to 31min (almost 50% reduction). Wittenberg is a railhub like alot of similiar sized cities due to the dense rail network . There are active railtracks in 6(!) different directions, and the towns and cities next to those benefit from fast connections to Leipzig and Berlin via Wittenberg. It only takes additional 5min to stop in Wittenberg but cuts the travel times for those who live in the area significantly
always interesting to see who smiles and who scowls as u walk through the train with your camera. There was definitely more than the other on this one.
I remember visiting Stuttgart in the early 2000s and there was an exhibition in the station about how they were going to rebuild it so it was no longer a terminus. At least they're doing that now!
Great video, thoroughly enjoy your videos about the ICE. Man, I just wish they would hurry up and construct way more high speed lanes. We urgently need one between Mannheim and Frankfurt and frankly, they really should invest the funds for a high speed line in the Ruhr area because travel times there are atrociously slow. Last month I rode an average of 80 km/h between Hamm and Cologne.
Good one Dylan ! Just a suggestion to show some videos of the arriving city like the city view outside the station and you taking a taxi or a metro to your hotel.
The downside is the lack of carriage info while boarding and train information thought that was poor from ice it would be confusing for an elderly couple. The plus side of this trip is I couldn’t believe how quiet this train was even walking through gangway
Was it the audio? Or was this one of the quietest trains you’ve ever been on? The boarding “process” would have sent directly to the bar car to have a double scotch and soda. (Or 4) LOL.
Thanks for a preview of what I might expect when I ride first class ICE first class from Frankfurt to Berlin in September. i'm glad these first class cars don't include those obtrusive compartments that clutter the coach and block the view.
Enjoyed the video great looking train and great to have a quick look at the engineering works going on. I was stationed in west Germany between 80 to 83 and travelled to many of the places mentioned in the film. I even blew a staff car up on auto bahn coming back from dusseldorf airport
Hi Dylan That was a really nice train ride. I,m glad that there was a restaurant on the train. That was nice of the train crew handing out heart shaped cookies. See you next monday
Still after four years it is still in construction, when I went to Stuttgart in 2016 I see the main station as something was going on and still I remember that I was doing from Zurich to Stuttgart and really my travel to Germany was amazing.
I can say that on the ICE3 trains, the burgers are really good, the chilli is amazing, and even the ham and cheese toastie which has mustard (not a thing I usually like, but this was tastefully applied to add flavour not overhwhelm) was really nice as well when I travelled a third time on an ICE3 train in second (the burger and chilli were from a trip both ways in first class)
After the High Speed line Stuttgart - Mannheim has been renovated and has reopened on Nov. 1st 2020, traveltime is 40 Minutes less today - about 3h 30 Min to Dortmund. Dylan went over bypass lines built in the 19th century.
Great video. I think DB is one of the best operators in Europe. Certainly on par with the best services in the UK. Another suggestion for the next time you're in that particular area Dylan (although it won't make for a video). Check out the Technik Museums at both Speyer and Sinsheim. They're both crammed full of interesting transport exhibits.
If I recall correctly, on most Hbf ICE platforms there is an information board showing the layout of each train where you can see the coach number and its relative stopping point on the platform. (Sometimes changed without notice!).
Interesting ride. Menu looks quite nice, and having seasonal items is a neat idea. Now I know how to say 'pumpkin' in German, which might be useful someday. I was surprised that you didn't comment on the little recess for a drink in the surface of the tray at your seat. Such a thing is not always present on trains - I noticed that the Thalys train in your other video didn't have this small feature, for example.
@@DylansTravelReports I see what you mean. I just watched one of your other reviews, of the Flixtrain ride, I think it was, in which you showed the extra cup holder down below as well as the complete hole through the tray, which looks like it could be more stable (provided your cup can fit without falling through completely, of course). (I was binging on your videos last night, I guess :) )
Interesting to see what they’re like now. As far back as 2008, I travelled on a similar set from Frankfurt Flughafen to Brussels Midi. In that one, it was possible to sit behind the cab and look out in front - unusual nowadays, and rare on high speed ones. I expect you noticed what it was like along the stretch of the route which is parallel with the Autobahn; no chance of racing against the train along there!. On that occasion, part of the new high speed route in Belgium was still under construction, so it was the old river side route between Aachen and Liège, then onto the newer ‘Grande Vitesse’ route almost as far as Brussels. Quite a complex piece of kit - ISTR 3 different forms of traction power (15 kV on the DB section, 3 kV dc and 25 kV ac on the SNCB), and 5 different types of signalling equipment along that journey - 3 of them in Germany.
In other videos, central screens in the middle on the coach of this ICE's show the speed and next stations. In your trip there were showing ICE and no more. Could be that particular stock isn't to do that route normally? It would explain why the outside panels were off.
This journey looked comfortable enough, and the onboard facilities seemed more than adequate. However, one of two things were disappointing - full rubbish bin at your seat - and given the price of the ticket a hot beverage served free of charge would not come amiss. Also, the welcome announcements at the various stations were inconsistent and appeared to be given in English only sometimes, in addition to German. However great a proponent I am of language-learning, it is good customer service to give the announcement in English too, every time. The lack of indication of carriage numbers upon boarding in Stuttgart must have been equipment failure - what a recipe for chaos! One hopes it was not intentional! However this trip looked like a slick ride and I enjoyed the journey.
The linguistic inconsistencies are probably a product of Dylan's editing and time of filming. I've ridden DB numerous times and all announcements were made in German and English. I can't imagine that has changed.
@@bpeezy2254, not all announcements. If something gets wrong and things are getting more complicated, there won't be any english announcements anymore.
I feel bad for you, Dylan. The lack of carriage numbers is a BIG concern. Especially for the deaf community. I feel bad for the blind having to depend on someone for help on an ICE train like that too. You forgot to mention that you swapped a seat for a better window. Way to go!! Pity for amtrak doesn't always allow that unless the train is unreserved seats. Over all, a very detailed trip. Maybe in 3 years, go again and see all the changes. Be safe!
It isn‘t. If your disabled you can book DB Mobility Assistance for free, meaning someone will pick you up on the Plattform, bring you to your seat, and at the end of the journey someone will board the train and help you out. Travelling barrier free is easy in Germany.
Had to LOL when I saw the platform confusion at Stuttgart, followed by you scoring another seat adjacent a pillar. I'm sure the discerning Germans would have sent multiple dummies into orbit on that scenario. That said, very classy interior and the hearted biscuit was probably a subtle apology from the on board staff for the three stooges performance at Stuttgart. On a personal note, I hope you and your loved ones in deepest Scotland are keeping sane and well given the news of a second wave of COVID in the UK. Contrastingly, here in locked down Melbourne, we have just had news of lifted social restrictions after being locked down since early July. Economically, local business has been trashed but we look like reopening retail and hospitality from 1st November (just in time for the Melbourne Cup). Hopefully, we will get through our southern summer without a third wave hitting. Cheers, stay well and safe and looking forward to your future presentations.
Getting some sweets (and free newspapers) by the staff is standard in ICE first class. On a long trip you may even get offered them sweets several times. And usually you will be served beverage and food to your place while sitting in first class, but this service has likely been ceased during COVID.
(4:51) Welcome to DB's notorious ICE 3, which I have never experienced without a breakdown. Not working external displays are one of the smallest problem. So far I've still found my seat even if it was already occupied. - Cheers, Heinz
@Dylan - i saw that you used the DB Navigator. With this app you also have the chance to look for the correct and actual sequence of the train sets instead of that on the platform in such cases. It also shows you the point of the platform (A - G, H....) where you can position yourself before the train arrives.
@@itmkoeln I use DB IC and ICEs every week and I can tell you that the data in the DB Navigator are almost always correct. I dont't look after the information in the Platform, only in the app.
I always find 1st class on DB disappointing. It's very expensive for what little you get compared to 2nd. It's basically just more legroom and at-seat service (on some trains).
I think you're getting a wrong impression. The Stuttgart main station was initially supposed to be finished by 2019, now they aim at 2025 at four times the initial costs. They put all their money for infrastructure in projects like this and the new Berlin airport, while much more basic things are totally neglected, e.g. German internet which is among the slowest and least developed in all of Europe..
@@Neville60001 I take it you're from Canada then? Really surprised to hear your internet is slow. Then again, Canada is like 30 times the size of Germany... I don't know much about Canada but it's got a very positive image here, I would love to travel there sometime :)
Ha Ha I really have to laugh in some respect when I read and follow Dylan's trips. first of all I think they are great representations of what he's doing. Thank you Dylan!. my memory's of train travel in Germany go back to 1961! Steam engines. I made the trip from Giessen to Frankfurt few times on weekend pass. (I was Army stationed there) and the trip took over 2hrs to go 40 miles, Bahnhof to Bahnhof. Bench type seats no seating arrangements it was grab the first vacant seat you seen. you did not dare open the window or you would eat coal dust smoke from the engine. no food service. etc. Oh my how times have changed. thanks again Dylan and for sharing.
I was quite surprised by a few things. The signs not being activated, the litter box not emptied, food prices compared to here in Connecticut seem high. I'm also surprised that the Stuttgart station survived WW2 bombings. I found the station to be rather gloomy looking, but that's my opinion. Overall, I think the Japanese and Koreans have the cleanest best run train systems.
In most points I agree with you. Maybe 2 items to consider in deep: The ICE had already been running for about 2 hours, when it arrived in Stuttgart. Since halting-time at the platform is only about 5 minutes, it's almost impossible to clear the bins while passengers are leaving and new ones come in. As far as I know, before Corona every 3 to 4 hours charmen went through the trains to collect the litter, but this might have been stopped to avoid Covid infection. The logistics to supply dining cars on a train station are more costly than at a standardized Mc Donalds Restaurant. Its more or less a just in time business to refill supplies according to consumption. Compared to Swiss train restaurants prices at DB are significantly cheaper. Furthermore one can buy lower priced snacks at a counter. Train stations after WWII were restored, when they were not totally destroyed by several direct hits. The massive structures of the stations often were not harmed, since most of the ammunition used against the German cities were firebombs to destroy housing. Nevertheless Stuttgart Central received heavy damage. Interesting enough in 1940 about 35 km north of Stuttgart at Lauffen am Neckar Nazis built a 1:1 mock-up of the Stuttgart main station and its apron, which was supposed to attract Allied air raids coming short of Stuttgart. This seems to have worked quite well until allied bombing became more accurate by using radar, etc..
Stuttgart Hbf has some original 1922 sections remaining, but you're right, most of the station sustained major damage during Allied bombing. Very little of Stuttgart's city center and manufacturing was left unscathed.
As the Cologne-Frankfurt Link which is the highest speed line in DB network runs on the right bank of the Rhine many fast link trains stop in Cologne Deutz instead of Cologne central (and continue on to Dortmund from there)
Germany mostly is like that, DB isn‘t. Although I don‘t get your comment. If the displays weren’t working, what are they going to do? They can’t just delay the train for some screens.
How did you find overall cleanliness Dylan? I noticed at seat bin and WC bin looked stuffed to the Max with rubbish as well as seat pocket had leftover rubbish wrappers in it too.
It depends if the train was used earlier and was on time at it´s final destination. If trains are running late, they often don´t have the time to clean them.
You should know that the high speed line between Stuttgart and Mannheim were under construction when you took the train. Normally the ride just takes 3 hours to Dortmund.
Anyone else ever notice, whenever I travel through Germany, they're always building or rebuilding infrastructure new or existing. Rarely happens on this scale in the UK.
first class in germany is nothing really special anymore the only thing is that there are less people and you have it quiet so but if you manage to get on older cars then its quite cool the seats are very comfortable. i recommend using first class in local trains and in highly filled trains because its less crowded and you get a seat
I recommend on all ICE 3 types to book first class. 2nd class seats are too narrow and after some hours you need medical help to sort your bones back in right order. - Cheers, Heinz
Sadly the HSL between Stuttgart and Mannheim is undergoing some construction works till the end of this year thats why the only real HSL you used was the section between Frankfurt and Cologne. Otherwise there wouldve been another 250kmh section on the route.
Don't need to add a travelogue, D, but a small mention of the departure towns' features of note....like Stuttgart is the founding city of the motor car, and arriving at..Dortmund- has the largest canal port in Europe..sort of adds to the Journey. Travelling First is very acceptable, it's how most of us would like to travel anyway!
The Velaro version of the ICE3 is far better than it's predecessor! I suffered a journey on a class 411 (tilting version of ICE3) from Koblenz to Wien West in first class - after 7 hours, I could only describe it as a bum-numbing experience! How about some videos of the bummelzuge (inter-regios or local trains)?
@@komeshgeo Have you sat in a seat for 7 hours? This was back in 2003 and the seat cushion became a bit hard after the first 5 hours. I agree with you - all ICEs are great, but Railjets are better.
Yeah customer service is not really a thing in Germany.. it's considered good service that you can use things like WiFi and the onboard lavatories for free (usually you have to pay a fee to use public toilets in Germany)
I'm German, Germany is beautiful in the eyes of a tourist. We Germans are a country of workers, punctuality and order are very important to us. Our humor is sometimes strange but at heart we are very warm and open to tourists and other cultures. Unfortunately, our country has also changed a lot with the immigration of over a million refugees, society has become harsher. I hope you all have a great Time here and come back :)
well while the food and drink are not free and not (in my eyes) particularly cheap either, in 1st class on the ICE normally the staff will serve food and drink at your seat. Maybe not during Corona times....
And, if you travel with 2nd class on normal occasion (before covid), you'll not get sit place unless either you book a place to sit or it's your lucky day
Hey, you did a trip report on Kosice - Bratislava the other day, does that mean we will get a trip report Bratislava - Munich - Stuttgart soon? Or are your trip reports not always from contiguous journeys. Relatedly, i was wondering about how you got to Kosice, i am thinking of travelling (after this new flare up of the pandemic so probably next summer) through Slovakia on a train trip, but Kosice kind of seems like a dead end. I could find some suggestive information that there are trains to Budapest and Kyiv (night train) every day, but I couldn't find any trip reports on them, nor much info on websites like seat61. Would really like to know stuff like which train types they use and the comfort levels you can experience on them! So I was wondering if you had a trip report lined up for either of those journeys.
Those ICE3 trains were ahead of their time. Hard to believe that most of them are almost 25 years old already now.
I rode a few ICE3's where the first class coaches were at the front and back, and you could look over the driver's shoulder out the front window.
(And yes, for the vintage computer enthousiasts: Those on-board computers are Pentium 1's and they still run MS-DOS.)
Me , a german person who needs to use that thing everyday watching this video:👁👄👁
I remember when we were working in Germany in the late 1970s, we took the train from Bodensee to Dortmund and loved every minute of it and being thirsty Irishmen we needed refreshments, the attendant bringing the trolley around had a good laugh and a chat with us and gave us all the beer in his trolley (we paid for it of course) and told us that we were stopping in Stuttgart for 15 minutes don’t know the reason why, anyhoo he told us to nip out to the supermarket and get some beer there, as it would be cheaper than his prices well he’d a chat with one of the station staff and he went and got us a crate of beer, no wonder I love Germany and it’s people, ps on the building site if we were building a house the owners came every morning with a crate of beer for us once they heard we were Irish we must have a reputation us lot
Maybe it's been noted by others, but anyone who plans to travel via ICE should be aware that you need to book your tickets in advance as early as possible in order to get the relatively low fares. I guess the price you paid was a "Sparpreis", i.e., a budget ticket with limited refund options. The standard fare, however, are so-called "flex" tickets which allow you to take any train on the day of travel, but will be _way_ more expensive, almost 200€ for first class for the trip from Stuttgart to Dortmund..!
Some of the prices can be pretty rediculous.
@@DylansTravelReports you get a chocolate treat though
Note, though, that if you go too cheap, you lose access to the lounge in the station, which is a nice perk, but not available with the cheapest fare rate (I think it's called "Super-Spar-Preis"? )
@@ohauss I think even Sparpreis lost this now as well
@@QuikkNic 🤣
It is also important to add that the high speed railway between Stuttgart and Mannheim is currently being renovated which increases the travel time between these two cities by a about 45 min.
Travel time to Dortmund was about 40 Minutes longer than the usual 3h 30min. From November 1st the Stuttgart-Mannheim HSL will serve ICE trains again and they will run at speeds up to 280 kph there.
@@outdoorolli5754 According to the standard, the notation for speed is km/h, not 'kph'. Please respect global stabdards, especially as the latecomers that you are
@@michaellaudahn, Höflichkeit finde ich ehrlich gesagt in einem sozialen Netzwerk wichtiger als Paragraphenreiterei. Die Amerikaner sind "-ph" gewöhnt und denen komme ich entgegen.
@@outdoorolli5754
Du bist höflich gegenüber den amerikanern, sagst du. Wie höflich sind denn die amerikaner den anderen gegenüber? Mit deiner nachgiebigkeit sendest du nur das falsche signal aus. Es wird zeit erwachsen zu werden, sonst wird man nicht ernstgenommen.
@@michaellaudahn, die Amerikaner, die hier schreiben, sind mit Sicherheit höflicher als die Deutschen. Wenn Sie sie deshalb nicht ernst nehmen können, liegt das sicher nicht an Ihrer Reife.
The Wifi speed really fluctuates depending on the trains position since Germany's 4G Network still doesn't have perfect coverage.
Yes I agree although no worse than Britain where speeds can be abysmal on trains
Apart from the fact that Germany's 4G network is rubbish, Wi-Fi speed is not fully depended upon the 'regular' 4G network. The DB rail system presumably has their own network incorporated in the network system for mostly communication purposes.
@@Chrisivisi It's all Telekom afaik. Might be that DB has some bandwidth reserved though. They definitely don't have their own infrastructure nor do they use the Telefonica network.
@@_Asparagus__ Nope, DB Fernverkehr uses all three networks (Telekom, Vodafon, Telefonica), which are bonded to maximize troughput. I think some system from Icomera is used.
The old ice seats are so nice
These were the last ones, that were acceptable for people that are 5 feet 10 inches tall.
@@outdoorolli5754 that is not that tall
@@burgerpommes2001, yes, it' a mess.
The new ice seats are bad even in first class
@@burgerpommes2001 but they're beeing replaced...
One thing that may have helped you during boarding is the coach order (Wagenreihung) function in both the DB Navigator app (which you were using) and in the DB Stations app, which shows you up-to-date information of what order the coaches are in and where they'll be stopping on the platform. Would have made the right one trivial to identify!
Of course, you shouldn't _have to_ rely on this, to begin with...
True, I've found them often to be displayed in thevwrong order.
@@DylansTravelReports Hm, that hasn't happened to me before, but you definitely have far more experience. If there's a deviation there's usually also an announcement - but that is another thing you definitely shouldn't have to rely on.
By the way, the insufficient travel speed between Stuttgart and Mannheim was due to the fact that the high-speed line Stuttgart-Mannheim is still out of service until October 31st due to renovation work. So all trains have to be diverted over old slow lines.
Yes, normal travel time is 40 minutes less.
I estimated the average speed of this trip to be only 80km/h
Btw: I recently found out about the DB's fastest ICE. It is the ICE S (S for speed) with Vmax 400 km / h. It is not available for the standard service but for the technical service of the DB (collecting measurements on the track and the overhead wire for high speed trains). It can reach its top speed on the high-speed route between Leipzig and Berlin. The train has already been to Austria and Switzerland to take measurements there as well. - Heinz
I have yet to journey to Germany but look forward to finally making the trip. Happy to see on-board restaurant cars are returning to service. Seems like a smooth, quiet ride for you.
Was stressing out for you over the crazy boarding process. Thanks for the video. Stay safe and see you on Monday, Dylan!
Glad you enjoyed! See you Monday
Thanks for this video. The ICE3 is for sure the best of the ICE trains. The new ICE4 is really a step back (in terms of speed and comfort). The ticket prices are like with airlines - if you are lucky and can book early in advance you pay 15 EUR for a cross country ticket from Hamburg to Munich (with Bahncard 25). If you have to be flexible you might have to pay up to 200 EUR. All in all the Deutsche Bahn is not so bad as some people say. Of course this is not Japan where they apologize for 30sec late departure but considering how old the German railway infrastructure is it is still ok.
The word "Lieblingsgast" at 13:21 means "(our) favourite customer"
LOL
Travel time from Stuttgart to Dortmund was about 40 Minutes longer than the usual 3h 30min, since HSL Stuttgart-Mannheim is currently under construction. From November 1st 2020 it will serve ICE trains again and they will run at speeds up to 280 kph there again.
Here‘s a quick tip if you find yourself trying to board an ICE without working displays on the outside: If your train consists of two units, one unit will always have coaches 2x (21 to 29). The other unit will have coaches 3x (31 to 39). Not all ICE trains will use all those numbers (e.g. 5 car ICE-T units), but the 2x/3x scheme applies to all ICE trains consisting of two units. Check the coach closest to the coupling. If the first digit is correct, you‘re in the correct unit. Also you missed a feature in your seat tour: On all first class and some second class seats there is a control underneath the seat that allows you to extend or retract the seat cushion by a few cm. Can be seen really well in your Amsterdam to Berlin IC review at 7:32.
Interesting report Dylan. The days when german trains ran on time are long gone.
Nice review of the first class of the ICE 3, I was on the same ICE 3 from Munich to Stuttgart. We were on vacation in Croatia, where our car broke down and so we had to take a bus to Zagreb and then the Nightjet to Munich and then get our IC, but we were half an hour late at the German-Austrian border, so we went with the ICE.
Thanks, Dylan! Another great video. We travel well with you. It is true that when boarding, finding your place and your compartment like that is not practical at all! Just as I don't like these badly placed seats at all because you can't see the landscape, it's disappointing, it happened to us in two of our last trips on other trains. We always try to change in this case. You were lucky the train wasn't crowded. Very nice video. Thanks to you !
It's always a pain when that happens. Glad you enjoyed the video 😁
I remember taking the ICE train from Frankfurt to Cologne when it was snowing! It was a beautiful sight!
I enjoyed this review, and agree with all that you say. The ICE3 is certainly a wonderful train, with a remarkable quality finish, and I have travelled on many of them. Unfortunately timekeeping on many D.B Inter City services has become quite haphazard. You were especially unfortunate in that someone had forgotten to set the exterior information screens !
Other than a few minor glitches, it looks like you enjoyed the trip. Thanks for bringing us along! 🍂
great video on the ICE service between Stuttgart and Dortmund i always admire the interior of them and the 2013 velaro ones are my favourite yes Stuttgart hbf is getting renovation hopefully it will turn it into a big European rail hub also i liked the bridge entrance into cologne and the cathedral great video
Thanks!
@@DylansTravelReports no problem
(13:41) The line between Frankfurt/Airport and Cologne/Deutz has nickname "fastest tram of world". Because DB isn't longer a division of Bund (Federation of countries) and losted special rights of government DB had to conclude individual agreements with each town and village affected by the line. Therefore some requested own station which decreased average speed and degreeded the line to a suburb line. - Greeetings, Heinz
Unbelievable, I did not know that kind of arrogance was possible in Germany.
@@aswler if you think that is arrogant you don't understand germany. We dont have a few large big cities and nothing in between, the population is very wide spread. Even the big cities usually dont have more than half a million inhabitants, only 4 have more than a million and with all those small cities we still have over 80 million inhabitants.
So what is needed is a good and fast intercity NETwork and you want to stop whenever there are railjunctions with rails in different directions, so even smaller cities aside from big and fast tracks can have a good multiconnection.
And other than that it is understandable that you dont want a train line that your city cant profit from. Anyway there only two additional stops, where one of them allows trains to pass by with the full speed of 300km/h.
@@yourTuBaer But these small towns can ve served by S-Bahn, RB and RE.
@@aswler This is inefficient because you are creating megapoli that way.
(Imagine the car does not exist) People will relocate if they live exactly in the middle of two of the those big cities and need longer to either of them than the ICE takes for the whole journey between the two big cities. As everybody wants to live there you find yourself either paying alot of rent or taking the U-Bahn or S-Bahn again to cut costs. In the end everybody except a few wealthy people have the same door-to-door travel time as when the ICE did not exist.
Example: Lutherstadt Wittenberg is a City with 45.000 inhabitants and in the middle between Leipzig and Berlin. With regional trains you need 1h24min to Berlin Hbf and 57min to Leipzig Hbf.
Fortunately ICE Trains are stopping there and they reduce the travel time to Berlin to 42min (50% reduction!) and to Leipzig to 31min (almost 50% reduction).
Wittenberg is a railhub like alot of similiar sized cities due to the dense rail network . There are active railtracks in 6(!) different directions, and the towns and cities next to those benefit from fast connections to Leipzig and Berlin via Wittenberg. It only takes additional 5min to stop in Wittenberg but cuts the travel times for those who live in the area significantly
Hi Dylan, the tour is wow..finally i feel as if i am travelling on the train, coz i see them in marklin model trains few which i have..
always interesting to see who smiles and who scowls as u walk through the train with your camera. There was definitely more than the other on this one.
I remember visiting Stuttgart in the early 2000s and there was an exhibition in the station about how they were going to rebuild it so it was no longer a terminus. At least they're doing that now!
i traveled with the older ice in first class, got myself a seat all the way in the front right behind the driver. absolutely loved the trip.
Yeah, that is amazing when you're able to bag that seat 😁
Great video, thoroughly enjoy your videos about the ICE.
Man, I just wish they would hurry up and construct way more high speed lanes. We urgently need one between Mannheim and Frankfurt and frankly, they really should invest the funds for a high speed line in the Ruhr area because travel times there are atrociously slow. Last month I rode an average of 80 km/h between Hamm and Cologne.
Thanks! I'm sure it will be worth it once complete.
@@DylansTravelReports I will come back in 20 years....
Good one Dylan ! Just a suggestion to show some videos of the arriving city like the city view outside the station and you taking a taxi or a metro to your hotel.
Thanks Dylan, very informative as you always are, nice summer weather too. Stay safe.😷
Glad you enjoyed! Stay safe!
The downside is the lack of carriage info while boarding and train information thought that was poor from ice it would be confusing for an elderly couple.
The plus side of this trip is I couldn’t believe how quiet this train was even walking through gangway
Nice to see yoy passed by Heidelberg, where I live! I'm used to take this trains and they're really confortable. Congrats for your videos!!
Thanks!
I prefer the HSL between Fulda an Hanover. When the ICEs cross the large viaducts there, it feels like flying over the mountain landscape.
Was it the audio? Or was this one of the quietest trains you’ve ever been on? The boarding “process” would have sent directly to the bar car to have a double scotch and soda. (Or 4) LOL.
Thats what i thought it seemed really quiet.
Tbh, they are quite quiet.
Thanks for a preview of what I might expect when I ride first class ICE first class from Frankfurt to Berlin in September. i'm glad these first class cars don't include those obtrusive compartments that clutter the coach and block the view.
Enjoyed the video great looking train and great to have a quick look at the engineering works going on. I was stationed in west Germany between 80 to 83 and travelled to many of the places mentioned in the film. I even blew a staff car up on auto bahn coming back from dusseldorf airport
Very interesting! Glad you enjoyed the video 😁
Hi Dylan That was a really nice train ride. I,m glad that there was a restaurant on the train. That was nice of the train crew handing out heart shaped cookies. See you next monday
Glad you enjoyed! See you Monday 😁
Great video Dylan, thank you for sharing ! 😉
Thanks 😁
Still after four years it is still in construction, when I went to Stuttgart in 2016 I see the main station as something was going on and still I remember that I was doing from Zurich to Stuttgart and really my travel to Germany was amazing.
The new station is due to open at 2025. It's underground and turned by 90 degrees.
czcams.com/video/KBIXbeuYQ78/video.html
Another awesome video. I had to watch this as I love driving this train in Train Sim 2.
I can say that on the ICE3 trains, the burgers are really good, the chilli is amazing, and even the ham and cheese toastie which has mustard (not a thing I usually like, but this was tastefully applied to add flavour not overhwhelm) was really nice as well when I travelled a third time on an ICE3 train in second (the burger and chilli were from a trip both ways in first class)
After the High Speed line Stuttgart - Mannheim has been renovated and has reopened on Nov. 1st 2020, traveltime is 40 Minutes less today - about 3h 30 Min to Dortmund. Dylan went over bypass lines built in the 19th century.
Nice!
Enjoyed the report :D
Glad you enjoyed!
Great video. I think DB is one of the best operators in Europe. Certainly on par with the best services in the UK.
Another suggestion for the next time you're in that particular area Dylan (although it won't make for a video). Check out the Technik Museums at both Speyer and Sinsheim. They're both crammed full of interesting transport exhibits.
Thanks! Will be sure to take a look.
ICE3 a.k.a Siemens Velaro, one of my favourite High Speed Trainset.
Awesome video, please take care while travelling in such conditions.
By the way, perfect journey👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
A subscriber from India❤️
Thanks!
Took ICE3, also first class, from Belin to Munich. Great train!
If I recall correctly, on most Hbf ICE platforms there is an information board showing the layout of each train where you can see the coach number and its relative stopping point on the platform. (Sometimes changed without notice!).
Yes but I've often known it to be wrong.
@@DylansTravelReports True, but a place to start.
Interesting ride. Menu looks quite nice, and having seasonal items is a neat idea. Now I know how to say 'pumpkin' in German, which might be useful someday.
I was surprised that you didn't comment on the little recess for a drink in the surface of the tray at your seat. Such a thing is not always present on trains - I noticed that the Thalys train in your other video didn't have this small feature, for example.
Tbh, I often find the little recess to not really be the best and often just end up knocking over my drink (but maybe I'm just clumsy 😂)
@@DylansTravelReports I see what you mean. I just watched one of your other reviews, of the Flixtrain ride, I think it was, in which you showed the extra cup holder down below as well as the complete hole through the tray, which looks like it could be more stable (provided your cup can fit without falling through completely, of course).
(I was binging on your videos last night, I guess :) )
I've been waiting for you to review ICE 3!!!
4:35 Where the two units join is just like fish sharing a tortilla chip 😉
Interesting to see what they’re like now. As far back as 2008, I travelled on a similar set from Frankfurt Flughafen to Brussels Midi. In that one, it was possible to sit behind the cab and look out in front - unusual nowadays, and rare on high speed ones. I expect you noticed what it was like along the stretch of the route which is parallel with the Autobahn; no chance of racing against the train along there!.
On that occasion, part of the new high speed route in Belgium was still under construction, so it was the old river side route between Aachen and Liège, then onto the newer ‘Grande Vitesse’ route almost as far as Brussels. Quite a complex piece of kit - ISTR 3 different forms of traction power (15 kV on the DB section, 3 kV dc and 25 kV ac on the SNCB), and 5 different types of signalling equipment along that journey - 3 of them in Germany.
In other videos, central screens in the middle on the coach of this ICE's show the speed and next stations. In your trip there were showing ICE and no more. Could be that particular stock isn't to do that route normally? It would explain why the outside panels were off.
I'm not sure. They could have just forgoten to activate the displays.
Nice to see a different style of station
Good to see you try that space ship for once they are awesome trains but they look like they come straight out of the far future in my opinion
This journey looked comfortable enough, and the onboard facilities seemed more than adequate. However, one of two things were disappointing - full rubbish bin at your seat - and given the price of the ticket a hot beverage served free of charge would not come amiss. Also, the welcome announcements at the various stations were inconsistent and appeared to be given in English only sometimes, in addition to German. However great a proponent I am of language-learning, it is good customer service to give the announcement in English too, every time. The lack of indication of carriage numbers upon boarding in Stuttgart must have been equipment failure - what a recipe for chaos! One hopes it was not intentional! However this trip looked like a slick ride and I enjoyed the journey.
The linguistic inconsistencies are probably a product of Dylan's editing and time of filming. I've ridden DB numerous times and all announcements were made in German and English. I can't imagine that has changed.
@@bpeezy2254 That's good to hear!
@@bpeezy2254, not all announcements. If something gets wrong and things are getting more complicated, there won't be any english announcements anymore.
Glad you enjoyed 😁
@@outdoorolli5754 Good information. Tarquin, I stand corrected! I always remember DB translating all announcements, even the route changes and delays.
Thank you for the video.
I feel bad for you, Dylan. The lack of carriage numbers is a BIG concern. Especially for the deaf community. I feel bad for the blind having to depend on someone for help on an ICE train like that too. You forgot to mention that you swapped a seat for a better window. Way to go!! Pity for amtrak doesn't always allow that unless the train is unreserved seats.
Over all, a very detailed trip. Maybe in 3 years, go again and see all the changes. Be safe!
It isn‘t. If your disabled you can book DB Mobility Assistance for free, meaning someone will pick you up on the Plattform, bring you to your seat, and at the end of the journey someone will board the train and help you out. Travelling barrier free is easy in Germany.
Had to LOL when I saw the platform confusion at Stuttgart, followed by you scoring another seat adjacent a pillar. I'm sure the discerning Germans would have sent multiple dummies into orbit on that scenario. That said, very classy interior and the hearted biscuit was probably a subtle apology from the on board staff for the three stooges performance at Stuttgart. On a personal note, I hope you and your loved ones in deepest Scotland are keeping sane and well given the news of a second wave of COVID in the UK. Contrastingly, here in locked down Melbourne, we have just had news of lifted social restrictions after being locked down since early July. Economically, local business has been trashed but we look like reopening retail and hospitality from 1st November (just in time for the Melbourne Cup). Hopefully, we will get through our southern summer without a third wave hitting. Cheers, stay well and safe and looking forward to your future presentations.
Thanks! All the best! These lockdown's are a pain aren't they!
Getting some sweets (and free newspapers) by the staff is standard in ICE first class. On a long trip you may even get offered them sweets several times. And usually you will be served beverage and food to your place while sitting in first class, but this service has likely been ceased during COVID.
(4:51) Welcome to DB's notorious ICE 3, which I have never experienced without a breakdown. Not working external displays are one of the smallest problem. So far I've still found my seat even if it was already occupied. - Cheers, Heinz
yet another amazing video Dylan. Stay Safe.
Thanks! Stay safe.
Please consider making also video about cities communication you visit
@Dylan - i saw that you used the DB Navigator. With this app you also have the chance to look for the correct and actual sequence of the train sets instead of that on the platform in such cases. It also shows you the point of the platform (A - G, H....) where you can position yourself before the train arrives.
If DB publishes the Data and it is accurate...
Yes but it is prettt vague and it's hard to tell exactly which coach stops where.
@@itmkoeln I use DB IC and ICEs every week and I can tell you that the data in the DB Navigator are almost always correct. I dont't look after the information in the Platform, only in the app.
@@DylansTravelReports Let's have a ride together here in Germany and I show you the excellent services in the app live :-)
Have a great weekend!
I always find 1st class on DB disappointing. It's very expensive for what little you get compared to 2nd. It's basically just more legroom and at-seat service (on some trains).
Wonderful Compilation
amazing work Dylan. good video
Thanks 😁
Look. A country investing money in modernizing and expanding its infrastructure. What a noble concept.
So then, why couldn't this country's rail service serve Dylan a hot cup of coffee and snacks as a complimentary gesture?🙄
I think you're getting a wrong impression. The Stuttgart main station was initially supposed to be finished by 2019, now they aim at 2025 at four times the initial costs. They put all their money for infrastructure in projects like this and the new Berlin airport, while much more basic things are totally neglected, e.g. German internet which is among the slowest and least developed in all of Europe..
@@Fubbel42, that's just like here in Toronto with our train station here, Union Station; also, out internet is slow too.
@@Neville60001 I take it you're from Canada then? Really surprised to hear your internet is slow. Then again, Canada is like 30 times the size of Germany... I don't know much about Canada but it's got a very positive image here, I would love to travel there sometime :)
Hey Dylan, thank you for your report. Greetings from Cologne. Do you know you can also extend the seat a little. See you.
Renders of Stuttgart development look awesome. Remind me of Mumbai Chhatrapati International Airport.
Ha Ha I really have to laugh in some respect when I read and follow Dylan's trips. first of all I think they are great representations of what he's doing. Thank you Dylan!. my memory's of train travel in Germany go back to 1961! Steam engines. I made the trip from Giessen to Frankfurt few times on weekend pass. (I was Army stationed there) and the trip took over 2hrs to go 40 miles, Bahnhof to Bahnhof. Bench type seats no seating arrangements it was grab the first vacant seat you seen. you did not dare open the window or you would eat coal dust smoke from the engine. no food service. etc. Oh my how times have changed. thanks again Dylan and for sharing.
I was quite surprised by a few things. The signs not being activated, the litter box not emptied, food prices compared to here in Connecticut seem high. I'm also surprised that the Stuttgart station survived WW2 bombings. I found the station to be rather gloomy looking, but that's my opinion. Overall, I think the Japanese and Koreans have the cleanest best run train systems.
In most points I agree with you. Maybe 2 items to consider in deep:
The ICE had already been running for about 2 hours, when it arrived in Stuttgart. Since halting-time at the platform is only about 5 minutes, it's almost impossible to clear the bins while passengers are leaving and new ones come in. As far as I know, before Corona every 3 to 4 hours charmen went through the trains to collect the litter, but this might have been stopped to avoid Covid infection.
The logistics to supply dining cars on a train station are more costly than at a standardized Mc Donalds Restaurant. Its more or less a just in time business to refill supplies according to consumption. Compared to Swiss train restaurants prices at DB are significantly cheaper. Furthermore one can buy lower priced snacks at a counter.
Train stations after WWII were restored, when they were not totally destroyed by several direct hits. The massive structures of the stations often were not harmed, since most of the ammunition used against the German cities were firebombs to destroy housing. Nevertheless Stuttgart Central received heavy damage. Interesting enough in 1940 about 35 km north of Stuttgart at Lauffen am Neckar Nazis built a 1:1 mock-up of the Stuttgart main station and its apron, which was supposed to attract Allied air raids coming short of Stuttgart. This seems to have worked quite well until allied bombing became more accurate by using radar, etc..
Stuttgart Hbf has some original 1922 sections remaining, but you're right, most of the station sustained major damage during Allied bombing. Very little of Stuttgart's city center and manufacturing was left unscathed.
Wonderful Germany train ride despite few hiccups in display settings nothing like riding a train trains are less chaotic than airport for me.
Interesting building bahouse comes to mind also
As the Cologne-Frankfurt Link which is the highest speed line in DB network runs on the right bank of the Rhine many fast link trains stop in Cologne Deutz instead of Cologne central (and continue on to Dortmund from there)
Another great video Dylan, I’m a bit jealous about the currywurst!
Thanks 😁
Not being able to find my train entry would upset me. That is surprising since Germany has a reputation for everything working and punctual.
Everything working and punctual? Deutsche Bahn is the opposite of that.
Germany mostly is like that, DB isn‘t. Although I don‘t get your comment. If the displays weren’t working, what are they going to do? They can’t just delay the train for some screens.
Yes, the legs are hairy, thank you for pointing this fact out to us.
How did you find overall cleanliness Dylan? I noticed at seat bin and WC bin looked stuffed to the Max with rubbish as well as seat pocket had leftover rubbish wrappers in it too.
So so; I've come across better and worse.
I was surprised that it wasn't cleaner.
It depends if the train was used earlier and was on time at it´s final destination. If trains are running late, they often don´t have the time to clean them.
@@roadrunner6224 With the virus, it's terrible of them not to clean the trains.
You should know that the high speed line between Stuttgart and Mannheim were under construction when you took the train. Normally the ride just takes 3 hours to Dortmund.
Great video !!
Thanks!
Good review, if you could of compared the legroom between first and second class that would be helpful. Overall you do a great job. Thank you.
If you're curious to see what 2nd class is like, I did a whole review on it here 😁: czcams.com/video/awHYXGQfD7Q/video.html
Anyone else ever notice, whenever I travel through Germany, they're always building or rebuilding infrastructure new or existing. Rarely happens on this scale in the UK.
first class in germany is nothing really special anymore the only thing is that there are less people and you have it quiet so but if you manage to get on older cars then its quite cool the seats are very comfortable. i recommend using first class in local trains and in highly filled trains because its less crowded and you get a seat
That type you got there is an ICE Velaro D
I recommend on all ICE 3 types to book first class. 2nd class seats are too narrow and after some hours you need medical help to sort your bones back in right order. - Cheers, Heinz
Wenn man nicht Adipositas hat, ist die zweite Klasse ausreichend. Außerdem gibt es da die unterhaltsameren Leute.
Love stuttgart mother's from there been here a bunch really nice ices are great
Really awesome!
I loved the video. Next time you are in Scotland try taking the train up to Sterling. It is very pretty up there.
Thanks! Will do.
Dylan, that currywurst put me off my morning coffee. Thanks for another gr8 trip report.
Glad you enjoyed 😁
Nice to see the toilet and washroom was up to standard. Quite shocking to hear these German trains often run late!!
Too few tracks for that bunch of traffic...
Sadly the HSL between Stuttgart and Mannheim is undergoing some construction works till the end of this year thats why the only real HSL you used was the section between Frankfurt and Cologne. Otherwise there wouldve been another 250kmh section on the route.
Travel time to Dortmund was about 40 Minutes longer than the usual 3h 30min. From November 1st the Stuttgart-Mannheim HSL will serve ICE trains again.
Maximum 280. In tunnels 250.
I really hope they hurry with construction of Mannheim - Frankfurt HSR.
You should come again and test the new ICE 4 and refurbished ICE 3s.
I have a video filmed on an ICE 4 that I'll be releasing in the coming months 😁
Don't need to add a travelogue, D, but a small mention of the departure towns' features of note....like Stuttgart is the founding city of the motor car, and arriving at..Dortmund- has the largest canal port in Europe..sort of adds to the Journey. Travelling First is very acceptable, it's how most of us would like to travel anyway!
Its Actually Rotterdam That has the Biggedt Canal port in Europe. And if you mean biggest inner Country port that is Duisburg
Erik Gag Thanks Erik...good to be accurate. I must tell Wikipedia!
I hate to do it, but technically Karl Benz invented the automobile in Mannheim in 1886. The first commercially produced cars were made in Stuttgart :)
Brooks Peel Good grief!
I wiz only giving hints...
@@fenackerpan It's OK, Stuttgart says they invented the car until you go to the Mercedes Museum and you learn Karl Benz's dirty little secret....
i live near dortmund! nice
The Velaro version of the ICE3 is far better than it's predecessor! I suffered a journey on a class 411 (tilting version of ICE3) from Koblenz to Wien West in first class - after 7 hours, I could only describe it as a bum-numbing experience! How about some videos of the bummelzuge (inter-regios or local trains)?
Keith Parker Class 411 is an ICE T. Why did you "suffer"? I find the ICE T great!
@@komeshgeo Have you sat in a seat for 7 hours? This was back in 2003 and the seat cushion became a bit hard after the first 5 hours. I agree with you - all ICEs are great, but Railjets are better.
@@keithparker2206 I travel on ICEs at least 4 times a month and usually for 5 hours or longer. I find them very comfortable
For the price of the ticket, regardless the reasonably priced menu, I would've expected one meal for free.
Yeah customer service is not really a thing in Germany.. it's considered good service that you can use things like WiFi and the onboard lavatories for free (usually you have to pay a fee to use public toilets in Germany)
I'm German, Germany is beautiful in the eyes of a tourist. We Germans are a country of workers, punctuality and order are very important to us. Our humor is sometimes strange but at heart we are very warm and open to tourists and other cultures. Unfortunately, our country has also changed a lot with the immigration of over a million refugees, society has become harsher. I hope you all have a great Time here and come back :)
well while the food and drink are not free and not (in my eyes) particularly cheap either, in 1st class on the ICE normally the staff will serve food and drink at your seat. Maybe not during Corona times....
@@talldiversvideos3682 It may be that the reason why food is not served.
@@Fubbel42 I'm impressed that not even public toilets are free. Anyways, I understand what you say. Thanks for your response.
And, if you travel with 2nd class on normal occasion (before covid), you'll not get sit place unless either you book a place to sit or it's your lucky day
If you buy your ticket online in advance, it doesn't cost nearly as much! Art Blackburn
The Class 403 and 406 ICE 3 are not included in Velaro family, they are its predecessors. Only the 407 is a Velaro D.
Hey, you did a trip report on Kosice - Bratislava the other day, does that mean we will get a trip report Bratislava - Munich - Stuttgart soon? Or are your trip reports not always from contiguous journeys.
Relatedly, i was wondering about how you got to Kosice, i am thinking of travelling (after this new flare up of the pandemic so probably next summer) through Slovakia on a train trip, but Kosice kind of seems like a dead end. I could find some suggestive information that there are trains to Budapest and Kyiv (night train) every day, but I couldn't find any trip reports on them, nor much info on websites like seat61. Would really like to know stuff like which train types they use and the comfort levels you can experience on them! So I was wondering if you had a trip report lined up for either of those journeys.
I took a different route back from Bratislava. I arrived in Kosice on the Regiojet Sleeper from Prague.