ICE train of ideas

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As ICE Ideenzug the designated German train two ICE 1 trainsets , where the mid-1990s ideas to offer improvement of trains ICE were tested. The trains ran daily with two pairs of trains between Hamburg and Stuttgart . In addition to DB AG, Mitropa was also involved in designing the test trains. Some of the ideas tried out on the trains were later incorporated into the regular ICE trains.

The two multiple units ran in the 1999 annual timetable as ICE 775/774 (Hamburg – Basel) and ICE 573/576 (Hamburg – Stuttgart). The idea train concept was later discontinued. The multiple units ran later than regular ICE trains, without testing. In the course of the modernization ( “redesign” ) of the ICE 1 multiple units, which was ongoing until the end of 2008 , the two idea trains lost what was left of the service facilities.

As part of the redesign of the ICE T , an ICE-T multiple unit was presented in December 2013 in which innovations are being tested in two cars.

Unrealized ideas

Most of the concepts tested in the ICE Ideenzug did not find their way into the regular ICE trains:

  • A train secretary was seated in the conference compartment of the trains. Under the name of Service & Information , similar to a hotel reception, she provided advice on travel and issued tickets as well as taking phone calls. She sold phone cards and souvenirs and booked hotels on request.
  • In the 1st class service area, coffee machines and fruit baskets in the car were tested (for free self-service). In both classes, snacks were offered for sale in the snack caddy .
  • Play boxes with colored pencils and puzzles were offered for children.
  • In the dining car of the trains, three-course menus that changed monthly were offered at times. New meals, such as an “American breakfast” and fresh baguette with butter for travelers who ordered a main course, were also tried out. It was also possible to reserve restaurant seats during the journey.
  • Using a video camera in the driver's cab, passengers at seats with video screens could see the route ahead; in tunnels the image automatically switched to short films and other videos. This possibility was already considered when the ICE trains were introduced, but was only tested in practice in the ICE idea train.

The display of newspapers in 1st class, which was also tested , was only introduced later in regular ICE trains.

The trains were manned with more staff than regular trains.

Ideas carried over to the series

Among other things, service call buttons above the 1st class seats and the at-the-seat service , the service with drinks and small meals at the seat by the service staff, have been incorporated into the regular ICEs . Refreshing towels are still handed out in 1st class today.

After a test of smoke consumers in the on-board bistro of one of the two idea trains, all ICE-1 trains were equipped with these devices and the previously existing smoking ban in the bistro was lifted.

Other implemented ideas include cell phone amplifiers in some cars, the use of reusable bottles in the dining car and concepts for internet access on the train . In mid-November 1998 an online kiosk with free internet access was set up on the two idea trains . The pilot project was limited to six months.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c News soon . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , Issue 1/2, 1999, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 11.
  2. ^ DB Mobility Logistics AG (Ed.): Deutsche Bahn starts modernizing its ICE-T trains . Press release from December 6, 2013.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g A train full of ideas . In: ZUG , No. 9, 1995, without ISSN, p. 14 f.
  4. ^ Deutsche Bundesbahn, press and public relations: ICE - the new travel experience of the railway . In: BahnAkzente , edition 11/1990, p. 11.
  5. ↑ Message "Surfing" in the ICE . In: Railway technical review . 48, No. 1/2, 1999, p. 3.