Deutsche Bahn: This is what the new ICE looks like – the board is enthusiastic: “Can build a nest as a guest”

Created: 05/19/2022, 10:59 am

By: Lisa Mayerhofer

The Deutsche Bahn logo can be seen on the front of an ICE.

© Bernd Thissen/dpa/symbol image

Deutsche Bahn (DB) has presented the redesigned interiors of its future ICE fleet.

She wants to avoid making a mistake this time.

Berlin – Most travelers do not associate Deutsche Bahn (DB) trains with a place of well-being and retreat.

DB wants to change that with the design of its new ICE fleet.

Bahn boss Richard Lutz said at the presentation on Wednesday: "Travel, work, relax - and at 300 kilometers per hour feel as comfortable as in your own living room: The new design is tailored to the demands of our passengers for modern travel comfort."

Travelers will be able to see the new design for the first time in December 2023 on a train of the new ICE 3neo, as DB announced.

From this point on, the equipment will be installed in all newly procured long-distance trains.

An overview of the innovations and changes:

Deutsche Bahn's new ICE design: what's changing?

For example the colours: light oak veneer in all classes, in the bistro the covers are in the dark conductor's red "burgundy", the first class is grey, only the second class in shades of blue as before, but with a warmer light.

There are higher quality covers with more wool than synthetics;

Leather seats in first class are passé.

There is a shelf for tablets above the folding table for watching films.

And one source of conflict has been defused: each pair of seats gets a second socket.

In addition, the new ICE gets window sills in the first class.

New seats and colors in the interior.

© Carsten Koall/dpa

Richard Lutz (r), CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG, and Michael Peterson, CEO of DB Fernverkehr AG, stand in a model of a newly designed ICE.

© Carsten Koall/dpa

Driving in the new ICE: how hard are the seats?

Not as hard as the seats that the ICE4 was introduced with a few years ago.

The train has exchanged after criticism.

Something like this shouldn't happen again.

900 passengers were therefore able to help develop the new seats as test subjects.

"We listened," says the railway.

At the same time, it promises robust and durable seats - because on average they have to withstand four passengers a day for many years.

A hostess clamps a tablet in the holder of her front seat.

© Carsten Koall/dpa

During the presentation of the new design in an ICE model, a woman clamps an iPad in a holder for tablets in the seat. © Carsten Koall/dpa

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To what extent should the new ICE become a "place of well-being"?

The distances between the rows of seats remain the same.

However, the new seats can be adjusted in a variety of ways and no longer have any space in the second class - if you fold up the armrests, you get a bench.

There is more storage space.

A continuous seat shell behind both backrests protects against prying eyes.

"I can build my nest here as a guest," says long-distance transport manager Michael Peterson.

Deutsche Bahn is also working on a new reservation system: Families, business travelers and other user groups should be able to be booked in specific, flexibly definable zones.

When can you see the new design?

The first train will leave in December 2023. It is the 17th ICE3 neo train, of which 73 have been ordered.

23 low-floor long-distance trains from the Spanish manufacturer Talgo are also to receive the same design.

They will be delivered from the end of 2023 and will operate under the name ICE-L on cross-border and tourist routes.

For cost reasons, the existing fleet is not yet being converted, says Peterson.

New trains of the still young ICE4 also come in the well-known design.

What are Deutsche Bahn's goals?

"We are underpinning our claim to attract even more people to Deutsche Bahn," says CEO Richard Lutz.

Train instead of plane or car - this is how Germany wants to achieve its climate goals in transport.

In 2030, twice as many people are expected to travel on long-distance rail services as in 2015. Many new trains will be bought for this purpose.

The number of ICE rises to 450 in this decade;

By the end of this year there will be 360 ​​- five years ago it was about a hundred less.

However, the previous design of most ICEs dates largely from the 1990s.