Intercity (Germany)

IC logo

IC and ICE network in Germany

An Intercity of the Deutsche Bahn

Control car of an Intercity of the Deutsche Bahn

The Intercity (short IC , former spelling InterCity ) is also an internationally used type of long-distance train , which is positioned below the Intercity-Express in Germany .

In Germany, the Intercity within Deutsche Bahn AG is operated by DB Fernverkehr AG , based in Frankfurt am Main . It runs almost exclusively on domestic German routes, its counterpart for cross-border traffic is the EuroCity .

history

First-class offer every two hours from 1971

Former logo of InterCitys in Germany (1971–1991)

The German InterCity network provides for platform-level connections in junction stations, here Köln Hbf, 1980:
left IC 625 " Meistersinger " (Hanover - Wuppertal - Wiesbaden - Munich),
right IC 109 " Rheinpfeil " (Hamburg - Duisburg - Mainz - Basel)

The InterCity traffic of the Deutsche Bundesbahn started on September 26, 1971. The spelling was different from the start. An advertising page in the 1971 summer course book announced: "InterCity trains: Germany every 2 hours - Intercity trains start on September 26, 1971".

In 1971, the InterCity trains replaced the long-term long- distance express train (F) and, in contrast to this, ran in a regular schedule with so-called "system stops" on four lines (see route network 1971 ), which covered the most important economic centers of the then Federal Republic of Germany (Bremen, Hamburg, Hanover, Rhine / Ruhr, Rhine / Main, Rhine / Neckar, Munich and Nuremberg) and Basel connected with each other. “System stop” means that every train on this line had a scheduled stop at this station. Right from the start, the timetables were designed in such a way that two trains from different lines were facing each other on the same platform at the same time in five important junction stations, thus offering transfer connections with minimal expenditure of time, but the greatest possible connection security. In the above-mentioned stations, the IC trains usually waited up to 10 minutes for each other in the event of a delay (so-called IC correspondence connections). According to the DB, the InterCity system was the first long-distance train system in the world that ran every two hours.

Other comfort features also included larger, air-conditioned compartments and higher speeds. After the budget for the superstructure was reduced to slow down the economy and traffic increased at the same time, the InterCity trains were initially unable to run at the target speed of 200 km / h. It was not until 1978 that more than 100 kilometers of upgraded lines were available that could be driven at 200 km / h, while the locomotives required for this were already available years earlier. The InterCity was subject to special operational monitoring for InterCity traffic (Bü-IC) at the newly created Central Transport Management . InterCity traffic at 200 km / h required special permits from the railway building and operating regulations up to May 1991 , which up until then only provided for maximum speeds of passenger trains of up to 160 km / h.

Within three months of the introduction of the InterCity system, the number of long-distance passengers increased by 40 percent, while in the same period ten percent fewer passengers were traveling in the express train . The introduction of the trains was accompanied by an advertising campaign under the motto Intelligent Travel .

Initially, these were trains that only had first- class cars and a dining car and ran every two hours. The TEE trains (also purely first-class) were integrated into the IC clock on the relevant routes. This brought about a concept that a working group set up in 1967 to further develop the existing long-distance train network had worked out. This group has probably also the term Intercity first coined, in any case, six new F-train pairs were introduced to the winter timetable on 29 September 1968, in addition to their common names in addition (also in the timetable) with Intercity A to F , respectively. Four of them ran with TEE class 601 railcars , whose TEE emblem was replaced by an "InterCity" sign; the pairs of trains A and C were hauled by a locomotive. The additional designation "InterCity" was given up again for the summer timetable on June 1, 1969, especially since these train pairs did not form a coherent network and certainly not a regular timetable.

Soon after its introduction in 1971, it became apparent that this two-hourly service, which was limited to first class and aimed at a limited number of customers (mainly business travelers), could not be kept, as they increasingly switched to airplanes. The InterCity supplementary network of DC trains introduced in 1973 did not help much here, especially since it was not crowned with success itself. When the DB had to post losses in long-distance traffic in 1974, alternatives were sought. A working group was therefore set up to develop new possible solutions and report directly to the board. It was recognized that the two-tier system could be the future. Investigations by this working group showed that 80 percent of all long-distance travelers traveled on the four lines of the previous IC network, which, however, only comprised 21 percent of the entire long-distance train network. This group had to be won over for a new offer. After considerable resistance from the operational service to give up an exclusive offer for an upscale clientele, which in some circles seemed too extensive, the DB board decided on October 4, 1977 to offer the InterCity trains in future generally in two classes and every hour.

The first double-class IC trains started running on the less busy Bremen - Munich line as early as 1976. However, it was only a matter of individual trains, the utilization of which in the first class was unsatisfactory and which therefore became candidates for deletion, which, however, would have destroyed the concept of a network that was available anytime and anywhere. This attempt finally led to the realization that the future of the IC could lie in the two-class system. Before the general introduction of the new IC system, a test was carried out from the 1978 summer timetable on the Hamburg - Cologne route with IC trains first and second class at approximately hourly intervals.

Two-class network every hour from 1979

IC 515 "Senator" (Hamburg - Munich) on the left bank of the Rhine at the bank tunnel opposite the Loreley with new, air-conditioned second-class open-plan coaches (1984)

At the beginning of the summer timetable on May 27, 1979, the IC '79 program with the slogans “Every hour, every class” and “Only the tram runs more often” was introduced in all trains, including second-class cars, and the rhythm was set to an exact hourly rhythm doubled. However, it disappeared to the IC routes in particular to the timetable change in 1979 and 1985 a number of previous daytime trains running express trains . The night trains , however, were largely unaffected by the growing IC network ; their number only declined later. While D-trains with tickets over 50 kilometers long could be used without a surcharge, a flat-rate surcharge was levied on IC trains from 1971 to 1991 regardless of the ticket and the distance covered in the IC. In the second grade it was DM 5 for many years  .

For IC 79 , everything was done to shorten travel times. In addition to the gradual expansion of the routes for a maximum speed of 200 km / h, the trains largely dispensed with through coaches and the associated time-consuming coupling and shunting. On the other hand, regions whose passenger volume was insufficient for an hourly service were nonetheless connected with individual IC trains that continued from the core network with no transfer, for example Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Aachen, Saarbrücken, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Vienna, Geneva and Milan. Initially, these single trains were classified as express trains on the sections outside Germany.

In order to minimize dwell times in the on-the-go stations, IC trains - with a few exceptions - unlike conventional D trains, carried neither baggage cars nor rail mail cars , which meant that there was no time-consuming loading business during the tight stops. (At that time, baggage trolleys were used to carry baggage that passengers had sent by train to their destination for a fee; it was reloaded by railway staff. Letters and parcels were transported in mail vans; these were also loaded and unloaded during stops on the way.) In addition, 1979 White light cubes with capital letters A to (initially) E are set up on all IC platforms at a distance of 53 meters (two car lengths) to enable passengers to get on as quickly as possible without having to search for the reserved car. Prior to this, stood alone, the car level indicator -Infovitrinen on the platform available; it was not possible for the passenger to determine the exact position of a car on the platform.

In the 1978 test, the first class wagons were lined up at the southern end of the train, but at the request of the SBB, the wagon sequence was changed so that the first class wagons between Hamburg, Cologne and Basel were at the northern end of the train (in Basel SBB trains from Germany always change the direction of travel). In this way, the first class cars were parked at the end of the platform / cross platform when they arrived at the terminal station in Zurich Hauptbahnhof . This was a concession from DB to SBB so that the latter would agree to run IC trains on their tracks. However, it was accepted that the first class cars in the terminal stations of Frankfurt am Main or Munich were not on the cross platform, but "far out".

In addition to the regular timetable, the IC network was distinguished from the start by the fact that travelers at the connecting stations at Hanover Central Station , Dortmund Central Station , Cologne Central Station , Mannheim Central Station and Würzburg Central Station had the opportunity to get from a line to the train at the same platform through correspondence to switch to the other line. The network configuration showed that from 1979 in all correspondence stations the first and second class wagons were facing each other at the platforms, whereby the transfer times from IC to IC could be minimized.

However, since it was still feared that the previous first-class passengers might avoid the new trains, not only were the first and second classes strictly separated in the InterCitys (by the dining car lined up in between), but also a total of seven purely first-class TEE train runs Newly included in the train service, which ran on important routes before the actual regular trains. Later, however, these trains were abandoned due to a lack of demand, the potential for a separate premium offer parallel to the established double-class InterCitys turned out to be too low. The last TEE was discontinued in Germany in 1987.

When the first major post-war new line Fulda – Würzburg was opened in 1988, the latest vehicles were used: the 120 series with IC cars in the so-called product color design

As early as 1985 (see route network 1985 ) the IC network was expanded from four to five lines so that three instead of two trains per hour and direction now ran between Rhine / Ruhr and Rhine / Main. This was intended to avoid or at least reduce overcrowding of trains on the relatively short but highly sought-after section between these two central metropolitan areas. Another significant restructuring took place in 1988 when the first longer new line section Fulda – Würzburg went into operation (see route network 1988 ).

Replacement as a top offer by the ICE from 1991

Shortly after German reunification in 1990, the long-awaited new high-speed lines Hanover – Fulda and Mannheim – Stuttgart went into operation on June 2, 1991 after two decades of planning and construction work. With the simultaneous start of high-speed traffic with Intercity Express trains, new IC lines were set up and the line from Hamburg via Göttingen and Mannheim to Munich was converted from IC trains to ICE trains and thus accelerated.

See also : route network 1991

In the following years, additional lines were created and / or converted to ICE, but some routes are now being operated competitively again, as some of the former IR lines were "upgraded" to IC lines after the discontinuation of the Interregio trains (IR) . On the Rhine / Ruhr - Rhine / Main route, ICE trains mostly run on the high-speed route through the Westerwald, while IC / EC trains use the more touristy route along the Rhine, with a travel time difference of around one hour.

In 2000, the EC / IC trains carried 11.3 billion passenger kilometers (Pkm), which was 0.6 billion Pkm less than in the previous year.

A comprehensive modernization of the fleet began in October 2001: On March 14, 2002, the first renewed IC / EC car was presented. A total of 200 million euros was invested to upgrade the 1,198 vehicles of the total of around 1,750 IC / EC cars for at least ten additional years of operation. Another redesign program began in the summer of 2012 , in which a large number of the IC cars received new seats and further detailed modernizations.

While IC trains used to be at the forefront of national rail traffic, today they are below ICE trains in terms of comfort, service and travel times. Since the DB Intercity on-board restaurant cars were shut down, on-board restaurants have only been found in individual trains that are operated with rolling stock from foreign railway companies, otherwise there is usually only one on-board bistro car with limited service compared to a full on-board restaurant. The IC trains on route 61 (Karlsruhe – Stuttgart – Nuremberg) have been running without any catering service since the timetable change in June 2011, after the snack caddy service, which was introduced as a “replacement” in December 2010 after the on-board bistros were discontinued, was also discontinued. In addition, the IC trains sometimes stop more often on routes with competing ICE traffic or run on other (mostly slower) routes. Sometimes there are also former interregional wagons with less comfort, in particular not all wagons of a train are always air-conditioned. While open-plan cars are mainly used in the second class, in the first class there are often only compartment cars or only open-plan cars.

Planned further development

On March 18, 2015, Deutsche Bahn announced its future concept for long-distance rail transport up to 2030 under the title “More rail for metropolises and regions - the largest customer offensive in the history of DB long-distance transport”. According to this concept, the core network of long-distance traffic is to be served exclusively by the Intercity-Express or comparable products from the railways of neighboring countries ( e.g. TGV and Railjet ). The Intercity train type, on the other hand, is to serve additional routes in the area on an expanded line network and enable direct connections from medium-sized centers. Even routes on which no long-distance transport was previously offered are to be integrated into the new intercity network, thus enabling a connection to the long-distance network of Deutsche Bahn for almost all cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. All Intercity lines are to be served every two hours (with the exception of individual routes that are primarily of tourist importance).

In order to enable the goals of the concept, a stronger tariff integration for long-distance / local transport is sought. This is already being implemented between Stuttgart and Singen, for example, for the recognition of local transport tickets from December 2017, Deutsche Bahn will receive financial compensation for the shortfall in income from the state of Baden-Württemberg. In return, the state does not need to order a regional express on this route. In addition, double-decker trains are to be used in the new Intercity network, which only have "simple on-board catering", i.e. no on-board bistros.

For the connection Berlin - Amsterdam and (partly non-electrified) tourist traffic to Sylt and Oberstdorf, Talgo trains with speeds of up to 230 km / h (working title “ ECx ”) are to be procured from 2023 .

Vehicle use

Original car use

First-class open seating car in the IC 783 "Ernst Barlach" (July 1989)

Intercity car set with DB series 103 in oriental red / pastel violet in Karlsruhe (August 1995)

Intercity of the DB in traffic red (old paintwork) when passing through the Großkugel station (2000)

From 1971, the Rheingold cars previously used in TEE trains were now used in IC service. These were 99 air-conditioned first-class open-plan cars with 48 seats, type Apmh-62 (Apmz ¹²¹ ), and 266 compartment cars Avmh-62 (Avmz ¹¹¹ ) with only nine compartments, built between 1962 and 1975. The last series from 1975 was the Avmz car Equipped with swing-and-slide doors until the conversion to hinged folding doors until the turn of the century.

Until the delivery of 100 first-class Eurofima compartment cars in 1977, blue express train cars of the type Am ^{203 of} the previous F-Zug network were required as amplifiers . From 1975 a new type of open-plan car of the type Apmz ¹²² with slightly modified windows and also new pivoting sliding doors (as with the Avmz) and now 51 seats was added. Many of the former TEE cars can still be found in IC use.

In the meantime, however, five European railway administrations were planning to jointly order new standard wagons whose dimensions corresponded to the previous IC wagons. These cars were financed by Eurofima . After the first prototypes in 1972 and 1974, 500 cars of the types A9 (first class with nine compartments) and B11 (second class with eleven compartments) came into production across Europe from 1976, of which the DB 100 cars as Avmz ²⁰⁷ (today Avmz ¹⁰⁸ ) in the TEE -Painting discontinued as IC car. After most of the cars had been converted to a pressure-tight design, they were classified as Avmz ¹⁰⁷ .

The cars used in IC traffic also include type WRmz ¹³² , WRmz ¹³⁵ dining cars, the WRbumz ¹³⁹ quick-pick cars and the ARmz ²¹¹ , ARmz ²¹⁷ and ARmz ²¹⁸ semi -dining cars . Later, pressure-tight on-board restaurant cars of the type WRmz ¹³⁷ converted from “QuickPick” cars and, from 1991, DR cars of the type WRm ^{130 were} also used in IC trains.

With the introduction of IC trains first and second class from 1976, the A block usually consisted of three first class cars, the B block of up to seven express train cars of the type Bm ²³⁴ , which were also converted for 200 km / h Differentiation from the previous wagons from 1979 onwards were designated as Bm ²³⁵ . Up to 1985, up to four first-class cars could be seen in a train on IC line 1 (Hamburg - Rhine / Ruhr - Munich). On line 4 (Bremen - Hanover - Munich), on the other hand, mostly shorter train sets with only two first-class and five to six second-class cars were used. At the beginning of the 1980s, statistics on the 150 IC trains at the time show the most common configurations:

• 33 trains: 6 2nd class cars / dining car / 3 1st class cars
• 29 trains: 7 2nd class cars / dining car / 3 1st class cars
• 24 trains: 7 2nd class cars / dining car / 4 1st class cars

However, the difference in comfort between the DB-IC wagons in the second class and the wagons of the neighboring European railway administrations, which also used air-conditioned material for the second-class section, such as the Eurofima B11 wagon or the French Corail area, quickly became clear - and compartment cars . On the basis of the Eurofima wagons, a second-class open-plan wagon was developed for IC traffic, bearing the type designation Bpmz. The type numbers ranged from 291 to 296 due to the different equipment. In terms of the basic principles, this vehicle corresponds to the Eurofima car. Due to the persistent customer demand, new mixed open-plan / compartment cars of the type Bvmz ^{185 were} purchased from 1987 , which only had a total of five real compartments, in addition to an open- plan compartment with 34 places in the middle of the car, which consists of six "quasi-compartments" with four Seats and two seats opposite the aisle was formed. These cars have already been pressure-ready at the factory .

After the IC network was expanded to the new federal states in 1990, train sets with two first-class cars, the train restaurant, three compartment cars and two open seating cars became standard there. Since the existing wagons of the Deutsche Reichsbahn could not meet the increased expectations of customers, 112 type Bmz ²³⁶ compartment wagons were procured, which were derived from the UIC-Z wagons of the Halberstadt design . Thus, the DR had wagons with eleven compartments each, which were not air-conditioned, but now had fabric-covered upholstery and corresponded to the color taste of the time. While the (air-conditioned) first-class cars and the second-class open-plan cars were provided by the Federal Railroad, the DR was still able to use its non-air-conditioned WRm dining car (built in 1984).

Class 612 railcars in IC service between Nuremberg and Dresden (June 2004)

In individual IC trains, especially in the outskirts of the day, rail mail cars for the Federal Post Office or baggage cars for DB's own express freight transport were carried (for example trains see under Post InterCity ). These were specially upgraded for this use for a top speed of 200 km / h. Rail mail traffic in IC trains ended in 1997.

Push-pull trains were first used in intercity traffic at the end of the 1980s; these were converted local trains . These had been given large seating that corresponded to the rest of the Intercity cars and were used in particular to connect Wiesbaden to the Intercity network. The wagons represented splinter classes in intercity traffic and were retired by 1998.

A rather unusual picture could be seen for a few months on the route Nuremberg  - Dresden from the end of 2003 : After the trains of the ICE TD were retired after numerous problems for the time being, some train units of the 612 series had been given long-distance paintwork and served the former Intercity Express route as IC trains. However, the trains designed for local traffic could not meet the IC standard, mainly because of their equipment. In August 2004 they were replaced by trains hauled by locomotives, and since December 2006 there have been no more ICs on the Saxony-Franconia Magistrale . As an alternative, DB Regio operated the IRE Franken-Sachsen-Express on this route until December 2014 on behalf of DB Fernverkehr - but again with class 612 railcars.

From 2004, the two train sets of the now discontinued luxury Metropolitan train from the 1990s were repainted to the current IC design and used as IC or ICE trains in their own circulation. Since 2009, the Metropolitan trains have been running exclusively as ICE as scheduled.

Today's car use

See also : table of Deutsche Bahn intercity cars at the bottom of the article

Single-story passenger coaches

DB Intercity with class 181.2 multi-system electric locomotive on the Moselle route in Wittlich Hbf

Even today, the DB uses different types of wagons for its IC trains. The classic IC consists of compartment and open seating cars of both car classes, the latter for the second class only from around 1981. In the first car class, only air-conditioned cars are used. With the new delivery of air-conditioned open- plan Eurofima type Bpmz cars , since the mid-1980s the proportion of cars with air conditioning has also predominated in the second class, and since the late 1980s there have also been air-conditioned compartment cars in the second class with the Bvmz ¹⁸⁵ .

DB Intercity control car, type Bpmbdzf in Stralsund Hbf

The positive experience with the use of control cars in terminal and terminus stations on Interregio trains from 1995 onwards led to the acquisition of control cars for Intercity trains from 1996 onwards. As with the Interregio, these were converted from former Reichsbahn express train passenger cars of the Halberstadt design . There are two types of construction:

• Bimdzf ²⁶⁹ : These cars largely correspond to the control cars built for interregional traffic (code letter "i"). Since the discontinuation of interregional traffic, the interregional control cars have also been repainted and used in intercity trains. These cars do not have air conditioning.
• Bpmbdzf ²⁹⁷ : These coaches are designed as open- plan coaches (code letter "p") with additional equipment suitable for the disabled (code letter "b"). In the passenger area, they largely correspond to the Bpmz open-plan cars and, like these cars, are air-conditioned.

All control cars have compartments for transporting bicycles (code letter "d").

The non- air-conditioned second-class compartment cars of the types Bm ²³⁵ and Bmz / Bomz ²³⁶ are no longer used. Instead, the interregional conversions of the Bimz types that resulted from the previous series can still be found frequently. Amplifier wagons are usually former interregional wagons, but sometimes the complete second wagon class is also made up of these wagons. If there is no control car in the train, a Bimdz is usually set up instead, so that today it is possible to take bicycles with you in almost all ICs.

BordBistro not yet modernized

The expensive to operate dining cars of all types were largely replaced by the cheaper to operate BordBistros (ARkimbz) of the earlier Interregios. Only a few IC trains and some EC trains provided by the DB can still be found in today's type WRmz ¹³⁴ dining cars (“board restaurants”) . In individual IC sets, however, type WRmkz cars, a dining car converted from a restaurant to a bistro, and type Bvmkz cars, a compartment car with a kitchen area, are also used.

As a rule, IC trains today consist of one or two, and only in exceptional cases three, first class cars, one of which is an open seating car (if there is more than one first class car), an "Bord-Bistro" car taken over from the Interregio and up to nine second class cars. Most IC trains are now driven as push-pull trains, so they have a control car.

Modernization program IC mod : redesigned large area

Since 2003, almost all air-conditioned IC cars have been equipped with electronic displays for seat reservation. In addition, displays for displaying the travel route inside and outside, similar to those on the Intercity Express trains, were installed, the so-called FIS passenger information system. In addition to refreshing the colors (new interior colors and seat covers) and converting the lighting in the open- plan car (openly visible fluorescent lamp strip instead of the previous indirect lighting on the sides), there were major conversions , especially with the Bvmz ¹⁸⁵ . Many Bvmz were converted to Bvmsz and equipped with a service compartment for the train attendants and a mother-child compartment. As a result of these measures, seats have been lost, but the open compartments in the middle of the car have been replaced by an open-plan compartment in the style of the Bpmz car, which means that more seats have been gained. A few Bpmz have been rebuilt so that bicycles can also be carried in them. However, these are mostly used in international train routes.

Since 2012 there has been a new modernization program (known as IC mod ), which is intended to equip the intercity cars for further use until the 2020s. In the period up to the end of 2014, the cars in the Neumünster, Kassel and Nuremberg plants will be comprehensively modernized for 250 million euros. This includes technical measures in the areas of bogies , brakes, doors, energy supply and air conditioning systems to increase the reliability of the vehicles as well as measures in the interior. A total of around 46,000 new seats with grab handles, seat numbers in Braille and sockets will be installed there. The first class receives leather seats, wall coverings, tables and 42,000 square meters of carpeting will also be replaced. The design is based on the interior of the ICE. In addition, the bistro cars and toilets are being redesigned. The number of cars with bicycle parking spaces will be increased from 129 to a total of 163. The IC line Stuttgart – Cologne – Hamburg will preferably be converted to modernized wagons. At the beginning of June 2013, 250 of 770 wagons had been converted. The cars are to be used until 2023. In the first class, the cars were equipped with LTE-capable repeaters . In addition, the IC cars will be equipped with WLAN in 1st and 2nd class. The conversion should be completed by the end of 2021.

Double deck car (Intercity 2)

Intercity 2, in the foreground the control car, in the background the locomotive

→ Main article : Intercity 2 (Deutsche Bahn)

Since December 12, 2015, double-decker trains have also been running under the name "Intercity 2" ( IC 2 ). 135 new Bombardier Twindexx double-decker cars and 27 class 146.5 locomotives were ordered from Bombardier Transportation . The double-deck cars, which come from a regional transport framework agreement, are only approved for speeds of 160 km / h. The Intercity-2 trains do not have a bistro or restaurant; instead, catering is provided on the square on individual sections of the route. Under the name IC Café-Team , LSG Sky Chefs employees offer travelers cold and hot beverages, snacks and baked goods. However, because of their running characteristics - the fluctuations in the upper deck in particular were perceived as very massive - the new trains met with strong criticism from many passengers, so that reworking should be carried out in the workshops from the end of January 2016.

At the beginning of 2014, Deutsche Bahn ordered a further 17 double-decker trains for use in intercity trains between Stuttgart and Zurich. This has been taking place since the end of 2017.

Double-decker multiple units (Intercity 2)

Double-decker multiple unit 4110 116 as an Intercity from Rostock to Dresden

In June 2019, DB Fernverkehr signed a purchase agreement with the Austrian WESTbahn for the acquisition of 17 double-decker multiple units . These are double-decker multiple units of the Stadler KISS type , which can reach speeds of up to 200 km / h and were previously used by WESTbahn in long-distance traffic between Vienna and Salzburg.

The acquisition comprises two tranches. The first tranche comprises units from 2017. These are referred to as the 4110 series, as was the case with WESTbahn. They are predominantly four-part and have around 300 seats. Since March 2020 it has been used on the newly created intercity line between Dresden and Rostock via Berlin. The four-part multiple units are to be supplemented by the manufacturer Stadler by two intermediate cars by March 2022 at the latest.

The later second tranche is to include six-part multiple units with around 500 seats. The KISS double-decker multiple units are referred to by Deutsche Bahn as Intercity 2 in external communication, as are the Bombardier double-decker trains .

Future use of wagons

Further planning

The long-distance transport concept published by Deutsche Bahn in March 2015 stipulated that 120 double-decker intercity trains should be procured as a vehicle fleet for the new intercity network by 2030. The wagons should have "simple on-board catering", for example snack caddies , and continue to allow bicycles to be taken along .

According to a press report published in November 2015, Deutsche Bahn is planning to procure long-distance train cars approved for higher speeds in addition to the “Intercity 2”, which can only travel up to 160 km / h. These would be intended for use on international routes and for operation on non-electrified routes. After preliminary inquiries to possible manufacturers have already been made, a board decision on the procurement of the cars should be made at the end of 2015. A corresponding tender for a framework contract was published on March 2, 2017. On February 5, 2019, DB Fernverkehr and the Spanish manufacturer Talgo announced that they had concluded a framework agreement for up to 100 trains, 23 of which will initially be called. These 255 meter long Talgo 230 or ECx train units each consist of an electric locomotive, 16 short passenger coaches and a control car. You will have a top speed of 230 km / h. The international connection Berlin – Amsterdam and partially non-electrified routes in the German long-distance network (to Sylt and Oberstdorf) are planned as areas of application.

Locomotives

One of the three IC multiple units of the 403 series put into service in 1973 in Nuremberg (1975)

Only on some sections of the route (for example Kassel – Hamburg, Münster (Westphalia) – Hamburg, Mannheim – Offenburg, Leipzig – Dresden, Cologne – Duisburg, Augsburg – Munich or Dortmund – Berlin) do the trains currently travel their maximum speed of 200 km / h out, this was all the more when introducing 1971. Nevertheless came right from the start even at the time still mostly short first-class trains especially the km 200 / h suitable and extremely high powered six-axle express train locomotives of the series 103 are used . In addition, some of the series 601/602 diesel railcars from the 1950s, which were designed for TEE traffic, were less fast and operated in IC services. On routes with less traffic (Bremen – Munich), the 200 km / h fast new railcars of the 403 series were used from 1974 , of which there were only three short examples. With the changeover of the network in 1979 to both car classes (thus considerably longer and heavier trains) and a consolidation to an hourly cycle that was now maintained without clock deviations, there was no longer any possibility of using short or slow railcars, so that now the 103 locomotives dominated the image of the IC. Locomotives of the class 111 and the then 112 were only used on a few route sections . In the second half of the 1980s , the Hamburg-Eidelstedt railroad depot drew up schedules for 56 locomotives for the 103 series , while the Frankfurt am Main depot assigned 58 locomotives for this.

Later, the above-mentioned series were successively replaced by the new three-phase locomotives of the 120 series, which were delivered in series from 1987 . With the introduction of the 101 series from 1996, the 103 series was gradually almost completely withdrawn, the 111 is only used in regional traffic.

Class 181 two-system locomotives were used in front of all EC trains to and from France (Strasbourg-Stuttgart and Metz-Frankfurt / Main) and on IC trains to and from Luxembourg .

Furthermore, ÖBB locomotives of the 1016/1116 series run ahead of IC trains in German domestic traffic.

Class 218 in double traction in front of IC 2079 from Westerland to Berlin Hbf on the way to Hamburg Hbf

Class 218 diesel locomotives are used on non-electrified routes , often in double traction , for example north of Itzehoe on trains to Westerland / Sylt and from Hamburg in the direction of Puttgarden. After the reunification in the GDR, DR diesel locomotives of the series 119 (229) , 132 (232) and electric locomotives of the series 243 (143) were also in service in front of IC trains. The 212 (112) , which was technically different from the 143/243, was added later . From December 2007, class 112 locomotives were used again in front of such ICs, whose maximum speed does not exceed 160 km / h. Class 110/115 and 113 locomotives were also used as planned.

Class 146.5 locomotives have been in service with the double-decker cars since December 2015 , and the successor series 147.5 since 2018 . In contrast to the previous locomotives in intercity service, these are not traffic red, but (like the wagons) are painted light gray with a red stripe.

Development of the route network

Route network 1971

First German InterCity network, 1971–1984

The original network, at that time only in the first class and only every two hours, extended on four lines:

• Line 1 (red) : Hamburg-Altona  - Bremen - Münster - Dortmund - Essen - Duisburg - Düsseldorf - Cologne - Bonn - Koblenz - Mainz - Mannheim - Heidelberg - Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg - Munich
• Line 2 (blue) : Hanover  - Bielefeld - Hamm - Dortmund - Hagen - Wuppertal-Elberfeld - (Solingen-Ohligs -) Cologne - Bonn - Koblenz - Wiesbaden - Frankfurt - Würzburg - Nuremberg - Augsburg - Munich
• Line 3 (green) : Hamburg-Altona  - Hanover - Göttingen - Fulda - Frankfurt - Mannheim - Karlsruhe - Freiburg - Basel
• Line 4 (yellow) : Bremen  - Hanover - Göttingen - Bebra - Fulda - Würzburg - (Ingolstadt -) Munich

Between 1973 and 1978 the InterCity network was supplemented by City-D-Trains (DC) , which mostly served business centers not connected to the InterCity network as feeder trains three times a day.

Route network 1979

From the 1979 summer timetable, IC ran every hour on all lines and since then has also run 2nd class cars. The offer was advertised under the motto “Every hour, every class!”. In five stations, the trains on two lines stopped at the same platform at the same time, so that it was easier to change trains there. The cars of the same car class also stopped opposite each other. There were increasingly frequent line swaps (“It's not you who change, but your train!”) In order to increase the number of direct connections.

• Hanover: Lines 3 and 4
• Dortmund and Cologne: Line 1 and 2
• Mannheim: Line 1 and 3
• Würzburg: Lines 2 and 4

At the same timetable change, the single-class series 403 and 601/602 were taken out of service.

In 1980, the traffic performance on the four IC lines increased year-on-year by 18%; total traffic grew by 4.5% in the same year.

Route network 1985

In 1985 the Deutsche Bundesbahn celebrated “150 Years of the Railway in Germany”. The IC 85 concept was intended to shorten long-distance travel times , serve additional stations, create new connections and improve service. In the course of extensive marketing measures, the ICE was also advertised, which was only to be introduced six years later.

The number of lines was increased from four to six, and that of trains from 157 to 205 per day. To put the IC-85 system into operation, a maximum speed of 200 km / h is achieved over a total of 440 kilometers of route. The average travel speed increased from 100 to 108 km / h. The travel time between Hamburg and Munich was reduced by almost an hour. Travel times of up to 71 minutes were achieved on international routes. Frankfurt Airport was integrated into the IC network every hour.

The service concept was also updated with the introduction of IC bosses and IC supervisors . On the IC line Hamburg – Hanover – Würzburg – Munich, an at-the-seat service with food and drinks for first-class travelers was offered on a trial basis.

As part of the ceremonial opening of the western introduction of the Riedbahn in Mannheim Central Station , the DB introduced an IC network reform that expanded the network to five main lines and two secondary lines. On this occasion, the formerly longest line 1 was split in two to alleviate the frequent delays on this line. The southern section Koblenz - Mannheim - Munich was now served by line 2 , the previous southern section via Frankfurt and Würzburg to Munich by the new line 5 . But the trains were soon extended beyond their temporary final stop in Frankfurt (Main), train runs from Kiel via Rhine / Ruhr, Rhine / Main, Nuremberg to Munich or Vienna were not uncommon.

The Dortmund – Mainz / Wiesbaden section was served by both new lines via the Left Rhine route . The lead line 1 continues without intermediate stops of Koblenz to Wiesbaden (about mombach and Kaiserbrücke ), while line 2 and line 5 inverted over Mainz central station. Since three instead of two ICs now drove along the Rhine in a 12-minute time window per hour, the shortening to ten cars (three first-class cars, restaurant and six second-class cars) and the associated weight reduction meant that trains should more easily meet the schedule can. Only a little later, however, more second-class cars were discontinued as required, usually up to nine per IC. Associated with this, however, were problems with adhering to the cycle timetable calculated for ten cars with thirteen cars.

German InterCity network 1985–1987

Network plan from the timetable change on June 2, 1985:

• Line 1 (red) : Hamburg-Altona - Bremen - Osnabrück - Münster - Dortmund - Bochum - Essen - Duisburg - Düsseldorf - Cologne - Bonn - Koblenz - Wiesbaden - Frankfurt
• Line 2 (brown) : Hanover - Bielefeld - Hamm - Dortmund - Essen - Duisburg - Düsseldorf - Cologne - Bonn - Koblenz - Mainz - Mannheim - Heidelberg - Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg - Munich
• Line 3 (green) : Hamburg-Altona - Hanover - Göttingen - Fulda - Frankfurt - Mannheim - Karlsruhe - Freiburg - Basel (-  Switzerland )
• Line 4 (yellow) : Hamburg-Altona - Hanover - Göttingen - Bebra - Fulda - Würzburg - Augsburg - Munich
• Line 4a (gray) : Oldenburg or Bremerhaven - Bremen - Hanover
• Line 5 (blue) : Dortmund - Hagen - Wuppertal-Elberfeld - (Solingen-Ohligs -) Cologne - Bonn - Koblenz - Mainz - Frankfurt Airport - Frankfurt - (Aschaffenburg -) Würzburg - Nuremberg - Augsburg - Munich

In addition, there were individual additional ICs, for example on the route that the TEE Rheingold also ran until it was abolished:

• Line 3a : Amsterdam - Utrecht - Oberhausen - Duisburg - Düsseldorf - Cologne - Bonn - Koblenz - Mainz - (Mannheim - Karlsruhe - Freiburg - Basel) or (Mannheim - Heidelberg - Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg - Munich - Salzburg) or (Frankfurt Airport - Frankfurt - Würzburg - Augsburg - Munich - Innsbruck)

In addition, as before, the routes of individual ICs were exchanged between lines 4 and 5, 2 and 5 (via Essen / Duisburg or Wuppertal) and 2 and 3 (to Basel or Stuttgart).

Between 1979 and 1986 the traffic performance in the InterCity system increased by a total of 84%.

Route network 1988

German intercity network 1988

German intercity network 1989

German intercity network 1990

A small change in the network plan occurred in 1988 after the commissioning of the first section of the Mannheim – Stuttgart high-speed line between Mannheim and Graben-Neudorf . The line 1 was (apart from a few trains in off layers) from Koblenz instead of Wiesbaden to Frankfurt now over Mainz and Mannheim and from there directly to Stuttgart. Due to the lack of timetable routes, the three lines on the left-hand Rhine stretch continued to run a few minutes apart. This situation only changed in 1991 with the renovation of Bonn Central Station.

In the spring of 1988, the Fulda-Würzburg section of the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed line was also completed. From the summer timetable in 1988, trains on line 4 ran on this section instead of using the route via Gemünden and Jossa as before, which reduced the travel time between Fulda and Würzburg by almost 30 minutes. Because of the twenty tunnels on this section of the high-speed line, however, it was necessary to use pressurized rolling stock . The class 103 locomotives previously used there also had to be withdrawn from line 4 due to the lack of pressure in the driver's cabs and replaced by the then brand-new series 120 locomotives.

With line 4, which is offset by 30 minutes from IC line 3, a half-hourly service was offered for the first time in the intercity system between Hamburg and Fulda. Other innovations on line 4, which runs along the high-speed line, included the continuous use of air-conditioned cars in second class as well and a new color concept (“InterCity red” on light gray). Together with the first two newly created interregional lines, 325 trains per day were offered on eight lines.

Since Wiesbaden had now been disconnected from the IC network, line 1a / 2a was set up on which so-called "correspondence IC trains" called "Wiesbaden City" connected Wiesbaden with Mainz twice an hour. These consisted of a class 141 locomotive and two passenger carriages specially converted for this route . In order to avoid having to change locomotives four times an hour, a second-class control car was used at this point in addition to an ordinary first-class passenger car - for the first time on IC trains . Due to a lack of demand, the offer was thinned out or modified in the following years ( line 1a every two hours to Frankfurt, line 2a every hour to Mainz) and later completely discontinued.

Otherwise, the network was essentially retained until the opening of the new Hanover – Würzburg and Mannheim – Stuttgart lines :

• In 1989 the EC 40/1 "Molière" was introduced between Dortmund and Paris Nord.
• From the same timetable change, four pairs of EC trains ran between Frankfurt (Main) and Paris East.
• From the summer of 1990 the only German-German IC train pair ran between Frankfurt (Main) and Leipzig with the IC 154/155 "Johann Sebastian Bach" ; it was the first in the new federal states .

Route network 1991

With the start of ICE traffic, the intercity system underwent significant changes and additions. Berlin was integrated into the IC system for the first time via lines 3 and 5; the average travel speed on the five lines was 107 km / h. With the 1991 summer timetable, DB long-distance services offered 613 trains a day in a system of hourly and two-hour departures.

After German reunification, the IC network, which was mainly geared towards north-south traffic, did not in any way meet the new requirements, but due to the ailing track systems of the Deutsche Reichsbahn , only minor corrections were initially possible:

German ICE / IC network 1991

Network plan from the timetable change on June 2, 1991:

• IC line 1 (red) : Hamburg-Altona - Bremen - Münster - Dortmund - Essen - Duisburg - Düsseldorf - Cologne - Bonn - Koblenz - Mainz - Frankfurt Airport - Frankfurt - Aschaffenburg - Würzburg - Nuremberg - (Ingolstadt - Munich) or ( Regensburg - Passau - Linz - Vienna) ( alternating every two hours )
• IC line 1a (purple) : Wiesbaden - Frankfurt ( every two hours )
• IC line 2 (brown) : (Dortmund - Bochum -) or (Münster - Recklinghausen - Gelsenkirchen -) Essen - Duisburg - Düsseldorf - Cologne - Bonn - Koblenz - Mainz - Mannheim - Heidelberg - Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg - Munich ( eight EC train pairs via Salzburg to Budapest, Klagenfurt, Vienna or Zagreb)
• IC line 2a (purple) : Wiesbaden - Mainz
• IC line 3 (green) : Berlin - Potsdam - Magdeburg - Helmstedt - Braunschweig - Hildesheim - Göttingen - Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe - Fulda - Frankfurt - Mannheim - Karlsruhe ( every two hours , one pair of EC trains via Basel to Zurich)
• IC line 4 (yellow) : Hamburg-Altona - Hanover - Göttingen - Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe - Fulda - Würzburg - Augsburg - Munich ( every two hours via Nuremberg)
• IC line 5 (blue) : ( every two hours Berlin - Potsdam - Magdeburg -) Braunschweig - Hanover - Bielefeld - Hamm - Dortmund - Hagen - Wuppertal - Solingen-Ohligs - Cologne - Bonn - Koblenz - Mainz - Mannheim - Karlsruhe - Freiburg - Basel ( nine pairs of EC trains to Brig, Chur, Geneva, Interlaken, Milan or Sestri Levante)
• EC line 5a (purple) : Amsterdam - Utrecht - Emmerich - Oberhausen - Duisburg - Düsseldorf - Cologne ( every two hours , two pairs of EC trains on line 5 to Chur and Interlaken)
• ICE line 6 (orange) : Hamburg-Altona - Hanover - Göttingen - Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe - Fulda - Frankfurt - Mannheim - Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg - Munich
• IC line 6a (gray) : Oldenburg or Bremerhaven - Bremen - Hanover

In addition, there were other routes that were only used by individual trains and that had not yet been given their own route number in the 1991/92 timetable:

• EC line (gray) : Copenhagen - Puttgarden - Lübeck - Hamburg ( three pairs of trains per day , every two hours from 1992)
• IC line (purple) : Hamburg-Altona - Berlin ( four pairs of trains per day , every two hours from 1992and on to Dresden, later IC line 7 )
• IC / EC line (gray) : (Dresden -) Leipzig - Weimar - Erfurt - Gotha - Eisenach - Bebra - Fulda - Frankfurt - Darmstadt - Mannheim - Neustadt - Kaiserslautern - Homburg - Saarbrücken - Metz - Paris ( four to five pairs of trains per Day , from 1992 every two hours between Dresden and Saarbrücken, later IC / EC line 9 )
• EC line (purple) : Munich - Kempten - Lindau - Zurich - Bern ( three pairs of trains per day )
• EC line (gray) : Munich - Kufstein - Innsbruck - Bologna, Milan or Rome ( three pairs of trains per day , plus two pairs of trains on IC line 2 )

With the exception of seven pairs of trains on lines 1 and 5, which swapped their route between Dortmund Hbf and Köln Hbf, all ICs ran on "their" line, which simplified the network plan considerably. In addition, a start was made on integrating former FD (FernExpress trains) into the regular timetable as IC (for example to Oberstdorf, Mittenwald or Berchtesgaden).

The trains with the longest scheduled travel times included:

1. 29 “Prinz Eugen” : 15 h 44 min from Kiel to Vienna
2. 107 “Mont-Blanc” : 15 h 19 min from Berlin to Geneva
3. 13 “Paganini” : 15 h 19 min from Dortmund to Bologna
4. 25 “Franz Liszt” : 3 pm from Dortmund to Budapest
5. 823 “Gorch Fock” : 14 h 13 min from Westerland to Passau
6. 725 “Berchtesgadener Land” : 14 h from Hamburg-Altona to Berchtesgaden

Given such long journey times, delays could hardly be avoided.

Route network 1992

German ICE / IC network 1992

In addition to the changes already mentioned in the list above, the following were added to the timetable change on May 31, 1992:

• IC line 1 (red) :every two hours only to Nuremberg instead of Munich
• IC line 3 (green) : four additional pairs of trains Hamburg-Altona - Hanover - Göttingen - Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe - Fulda - Frankfurt - Mannheim - Karlsruhe (- Basel - Zurich)
• ICE line 4 (yellow) : every two hours from Bremen instead of Hamburg-Altona, every hour via Nuremberg
• IC line 6a (gray) : every two hours Bremen - Hanover
• IC line 8 (light green) : Berlin - Berlin Schönefeld Airport - Leipzig - Naumburg - Jena - Saalfeld - Probstzella - Lichtenfels - Bamberg - Erlangen - Nuremberg - Ingolstadt - Munich ( every two hours )

For the biggest change in the timetable in the history of the Deutsche Reichsbahn , a continuous two-hour cycle was introduced in the new federal states on May 31, 1992 in the IC / EC network, and the number of daily trains increased from 46 to 90 compared to the previous year.

Route network 1993

German ICE / IC network 1993

After the opening of further upgraded and new lines, especially the German Unity transport projects, more and more IC lines were replaced by ICE lines with high-speed trains. Initially, the IC trains that became available were needed for traffic in the new federal states or for traffic between the merging parts of Germany.

With the inclusion of Berlin in the ICE network from 1993, the IC network was changed again. The ICE line 6 now runs every two hours via Göttingen to Berlin; the remaining trains go either to Hamburg or Bremen, later these trains were also run to Berlin.

In order to offer at least a two-hour service between Hanover and Bremen, individual trains on ICE line 4 will now also run to Bremen instead of to Hamburg as before. In return, IC line 6a will be completely discontinued.

With the timetable change, the ICE line 3 , which is now running every hour again, runs from Hamburg to Basel again as before.

Route network from 1994 to 2002

From 1996 the IC line 8 was tied from Berlin to Hamburg, which together with the IC line 7 between the capital and the Hanseatic city, the hourly service was realized until 1998.

The IC line 5 has been performed since 1997 from Hannover via Magdeburg and Leipzig to Dresden instead of Berlin. The new ICE line 10 from Berlin to Cologne / Bonn was set up for this purpose. At the same time, the branch to Basel, which was previously served by IC line 5 , was abandoned. The line destination was now Nuremberg. From 1998, the trains on ICE line 6 and ICE line 10 then ran the new Berlin - Hanover line .

Route network from 2002 to 2014

Timing lines of the German Intercity (Express) network, 2007

For the 2002/2003 annual timetable, the Interregio trains that had previously been free of surcharges in long-distance traffic were abolished in Germany and converted into Intercity trains subject to a surcharge, with partially unchanged rolling stock and often the same travel speed.

Since then, ICs have also been using train stations in smaller cities more frequently. With the opening of the high-speed line Cologne – Rhein / Main , the IC trains increasingly took over a certain parallel traffic to the ICE of the high-speed line on the Rhine line. Overall, this measure greatly expanded the IC network in Germany - at least visually. However, these are often not integrated in scheduled transfer connections. At the same time, the German long-distance network was reorganized with the commissioning of the high-speed line Cologne – Rhine / Main and new two-digit line numbers were assigned.

The former top train of the Deutsche Bundesbahn has become the “girl for everything”. He has taken over the tasks of the former express trains ( D ), the FernExpress ( FD ) and UrlaubsExpress trains ( UEx ) as well as the Interregios ( IR ). As in the early days, it usually only runs every two hours, but today it mostly runs on secondary or international routes for which the ICE is not (yet) equipped. Setting the tone and with a few “outliers” in the form of (equally fast) ICEs, operating every hour, the IC is now only on the Hamburg - Bremen - Ruhr area - Cologne - Rhine route - Mainz route.

The following shows all IC lines that existed from the reorganization of the line numbers in 2002 to the current timetable, but are no longer served in the current timetable. Most of these are former interregional connections.

line	Train run	comment
IC 14	Berlin - Riesa - Chemnitz	Discontinued at the end of 2006
IC 15	(Binz -) Stralsund - Berlin - Halle - Weimar - Erfurt - Eisenach - Fulda - Frankfurt	Replaced in 2005 by IC 51 and ICE 50
IC 17	Aachen - Cologne - Düsseldorf - Dortmund - Hamm - Bielefeld - Hanover - Magdeburg - Berlin	Discontinued at the end of 2006
IC 18	Berlin - Leipzig	Replaced by ICE 28 in 2005
IC 26	(Binz -) Stralsund - Rostock - Hamburg - Hanover - Göttingen - Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe - Gießen - Frankfurt - Darmstadt - Heidelberg - Karlsruhe (- Baden-Baden - Offenburg - Singen - Constance)	Every two hours
	(Greifswald -) Stralsund - Rostock - Hamburg - Bremen - Münster - Essen - Duisburg - Düsseldorf - Cologne (- Mainz - Mannheim - Heidelberg - Stuttgart)	Every two hours
	(Westerland -) Hamburg - Hanover - Göttingen - Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe - Fulda - Würzburg (- Nuremberg - Passau) / - Augsburg (- Oberstdorf / - Munich - Berchtesgaden)	Discontinued at the end of 2014 in the Nuremberg - Passau section
IC 35	Norddeich Mole - Emden - Rheine - Münster - Gelsenkirchen - Duisburg - Düsseldorf - Cologne - Bonn - Koblenz (- Trier - Luxembourg) / (- Mainz - Mannheim - Stuttgart / - Karlsruhe - Baden-Baden - Offenburg - Singen - Constance)	Discontinued at the end of 2014 in the Koblenz - Trier - Luxembourg and Mainz - Stuttgart section
IC 65	Dresden - Chemnitz - Hof - Nuremberg	Replaced in 2006 by Franken-Sachsen-Express
IC 66	Frankfurt - Würzburg - Nuremberg - Munich	Replaced in 2005 by ICE 41
EC 94	Dresden - Görlitz - Wrocław - Warszawa	Discontinued at the end of 2006
EC 99	Hamburg-Altona - Salzwedel - Berlin - Cottbus - Wrocław - Krakow	Discontinued at the end of 2014

Current line network

→ Main articles : List of intercity lines (Germany)  and list of stations with stops of Intercitys of Deutsche Bahn

Future line network

In March 2015, Deutsche Bahn announced that within the framework of a new IC network ("IC-new"), all major German cities except Offenbach, Bremerhaven, Herne, Bottrop, Moers, Neuss, Remscheid and Bergisch Gladbach would be available within two hours by 2030 -Tact to connect. 190 new direct connections from the area to the 50 largest cities are to be offered. 120 new double-decker trains are to be used, which will completely replace the existing IC passenger cars. The intercity trains are expected to cover 42 million kilometers annually.

The future route network includes many former interregional routes. On several routes of the IC-neu network there was little or no long-distance traffic recently. According to Deutsche Bahn, the restructuring will give five million residents long-distance transport links.

On the core network, the intercity lines are to be converted into ICE lines. These routes are in italics in the table below.

Planning for new Intercity and Intercity Express lines

Train run	current / new line	Vehicle use	time	comment
Warnemünde - Rostock - Waren (Müritz) - Neustrelitz - Oranienburg - Berlin (- Berlin Airport ) - Elsterwerda - Dresden	- 17th	Stadler KISS	from 12/2019	"IC-new"
(Hamburg - Schwerin - Rostock -) Stralsund - Prenzlau - Berlin	26 , 32 , 50	Intercity 2	until 12/2026	"IC-new"
Binz - Stralsund - Rostock - Schwerin - Hamburg	26 , 30	Intercity 2		"IC-new", individual trains
Westerland - Hamburg - Hanover - Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe - Giessen - Frankfurt	26th	Intercity 2		"IC-new", individual trains
Westerland - Hamburg - Hanover - Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe - Würzburg - Ansbach - Augsburg - Oberstdorf or Augsburg - Munich - Berchtesgaden	26th	Intercity 2		"IC-new", individual trains
Leipzig - Naumburg - Jena - Saalfeld - Kronach - Lichtenfels - Bamberg - Erlangen - Nuremberg (- Ansbach - Crailsheim - Ellwangen - Aalen - Schwäbisch Gmünd - Schorndorf - Stuttgart - Vaihingen - Mühlacker - Pforzheim - Karlsruhe)	28 , 61	Intercity 2	from 12/2023	"IC-new"
Hamburg - Bremen - Osnabrück - Münster - Dortmund - Duisburg - Düsseldorf - Cologne - Koblenz - Mainz - Stuttgart	30th	ICE 4		Conversion to ICE
Hamburg - Bremen - Osnabrück - Münster - Dortmund - Duisburg - Düsseldorf - Cologne - Koblenz - Frankfurt - Würzburg - Nuremberg - Passau - Vienna	31 , 91	ICE T		Connection, conversion to ICE
Berlin - Stendal - Wolfsburg - Hanover - Bielefeld - Dortmund - Cologne	32	ICE 4		Conversion to ICE
Dortmund - Duisburg - Düsseldorf - Cologne - Koblenz - Mainz - Karlsruhe - Singen - Constance or Stuttgart - Ulm - Memmingen - Kempten - Oberstdorf	32	Intercity 2		"IC-new", individual trains
Saarbrücken - Kaiserslautern - Mannheim - Heidelberg - Stuttgart - Ulm - Friedrichshafen - Lindau	( 32 )	Intercity 2	until 12/2029	"IC-new", after electrification Südbahn
(Norddeich - Leer - Rheine -) Münster - Hamm - Dortmund / Unna - Siegen - Wetzlar - Frankfurt (- Heidelberg - Karlsruhe)	- 34	Intercity 2	from 12/2021 at the earliest	"IC-new"
(Norddeich - Leer - Rheine - Münster - Gelsenkirchen - Oberhausen - Duisburg - Düsseldorf - Cologne - Bonn -) Koblenz - Trier	35	Intercity 2	from 12/2030	"IC-new"
Leipzig - Erfurt - Fulda - Frankfurt - Mainz - Wiesbaden	50	ICE T		Conversion back to ICE via SFS
Chemnitz - Gera - Jena - Erfurt - Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe - Paderborn - Dortmund - Duisburg - Düsseldorf	51	Intercity 2	until 12/2032	"IC-new", after electrification Weimar – Gera – Gößnitz
Dresden - Leipzig - Halle - Magdeburg - Braunschweig - Hanover - Bielefeld - Dortmund - Wuppertal - Cologne	55	Intercity 2	from 12/2015	"IC-new"
Aachen - Mönchengladbach - Viersen - Krefeld - Duisburg (- Dortmund)	-	Intercity 2	until 12/2030	"IC-new"
(Norddeich - Bremen - Hanover - Braunschweig -) Magdeburg - Berlin - Cottbus	56	Intercity 2	from 12/2022	"IC-new"
Schwerin - Stendal - Magdeburg (- Halle - Leipzig)	56	Intercity 2	from 12/2022	"IC-new", currently only a seasonal IC
Basel - Karlsruhe - Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg - Munich	60	ICE 1		Conversion to ICE via NBS
Nuremberg - Ansbach - Crailsheim - Ellwangen - Aalen - Schwäbisch Gmünd - Schorndorf - Stuttgart - Vaihingen - Mühlacker - Pforzheim - Karlsruhe	61	Intercity 2	from 12/2017	"IC-new"
Nuremberg - Ansbach - Crailsheim - Schwäbisch Hall-Hessental - Stuttgart (- Horb - Tuttlingen - Singen - Schaffhausen - Zurich)	61 87	Intercity 2	from 12/2018	"IC-new", discarded in favor of Regional Express
Bamberg - Schweinfurt - Würzburg - Heilbronn - Stuttgart - Reutlingen - Tübingen	- 61	Intercity 2	until 12/2028	"IC-new"
Amsterdam - Rheine - Osnabrück - Hanover - Wolfsburg - Stendal - Berlin	77	ECx (Talgo 230)	from 2023
Stuttgart - Horb - Tuttlingen - Singen - Schaffhausen - Zurich	87	Intercity 2	from 12/2017	"IC-new"
Stuttgart - Constance		Intercity 2	from 12/2017	2 times a day
Rostock - Berlin - Dresden - Chemnitz - Zwickau - Hof - Regensburg - Landshut - Munich		Intercity 2	from 2030	"IC-new", after electrification Hof – Regensburg

Timetable problems

Bundeswehr InterCity

The InterCity system reached its limits on Fridays and Sundays, with the Bundeswehr weekend vacation traffic between Hamburg and Cologne (- Koblenz) causing major problems. During the 1970s and 1980s, around 200,000 conscripts served , many of whom were stationed north and / or east of their places of residence and often had to travel several hundred kilometers every weekend, for which they received free tickets, so that a corresponding run on the long-distance train network of the Bundesbahn revealed. Initially, the railway used relief trains - from conventional express train wagon material to silver coins . Because of the low top speed of these trains (140 km / h), they were overtaken by the regular, but overcrowded InterCitys.

As a consequence, special Bundeswehr InterCitys were used on Fridays in the north-south and on Sundays in the south-north direction, mostly not consisting of an Avmz car, an IC bar car and a large number of second-class cars air-conditioned Bm ²³⁵ , which had been replaced in the regular InterCitys by Bpmz and later Bvmz cars. Although these trains were also released for general passenger traffic, they were partially avoided by the normal public. Passengers could recognize them by their train number, initially in the 1500/1600 range, later in the 900s, since the train numbers in the core network were then below 900, often also by their names (preferably with reference to the sea or birds of prey such as sea eagles, cranes, Cormorant, buzzard, sparrowhawk), their destination stations located away from the big cities such as Kiel, Eckernförde, Lüneburg, Hildesheim, Goslar, Munster / Örtze, and from the summer of 1990 additionally in the notice timetables with the note "Particularly suitable for Bundeswehr family trips home", the from summer 1991 also appeared as footnote 30 in the course book tables. At the beginning of the 1980s, developments in the Bundeswehr weekend traffic were described as follows:

“The Bundeswehr holiday traffic on lines 1 and 2 was still not 'under control'. It caused considerable concern for those responsible at DB, as there were ongoing complaints from the other travelers because of the sometimes 'rough' behavior of the conscripts. The use of Bundeswehr patrols did not bring any significant improvement either. In addition, certain ICs were still chronically overstaffed. The following changes had to be made to the weekend IC on lines 1 and 2 already in the summer (trains in south and west direction on Fridays, in the opposite direction on Sundays):

1. IC 1516 'Sea Lion' extended beyond Hamburg-Altona to Flensburg,
2. IC 1508 'Seestern' does not begin until in Cologne for reasons of circulation,
3. IC 1524 'Hohensyburg' is extended beyond Hanover as D to Hildesheim,
4. IC 1606 'Seewind' new service Cologne - Essen - Recklinghausen - Hamburg-Altona,
5. IC 1610 'Seeschwalbe' is extended beyond Altona to Westerland for the North Frisian garrisons, from Altona as D,
6. IC 1624 'Weserbergland' is extended beyond Hanover via Lehrte - Hildesheim - Elze as D to Göttingen for the garrisons there.

However, these measures were still not sufficient, so that the following changes were necessary for the winter section:

1. IC 1508 'Seestern' starts again in Koblenz,
2. IC 1509 'Albatros' is extended to Koblenz as IC,
3. IC 1542 'Weserbergland' goes back to Cologne-Deutz (low) instead of Düsseldorf. "

The regular trains for Bundeswehr travelers ran between Hamburg and Cologne (initially two, for a short time four cars). After German reunification , the problems eased significantly.

In the 2000s, the Bundeswehr additional trains were mainly driven from old IR wagons, so that these trains often consist of eight to nine Bimz cars, sometimes there is also an ARkimbz on-board bistro, open-plan cars are rare, as is the first Car class.

With the suspension of compulsory military service in 2011, special Bundeswehr IC connections (for example with the destination stations Munster / Örtze, Westerland or Flensburg) have largely been discontinued or switched to regular weekend repeater trains.

Relief trains and individual traffic

Even in the first years of the IC-79 concept, the problem was that the trains with the numerous second-class cars were already quite long and, due to the limited platform lengths, could no longer simply be reinforced by a few cars. On days with particularly high demand (Fridays and Sundays as well as the beginning and end of school holidays), relief trains were therefore planned a few weeks in advance and in the first few years also in separate timetable booklets ("Additional trains to the Intercity system") and special notices on the IC stops announced. The train numbers for the relief trains were mostly given the (three-digit maximum) number of the main train, which was increased by 10,000, 11,000 or 15,000. Your route could only include the most popular sections of the main train route.

Because the 200 km / h class 103 locomotives were planned for the main trains, these trains were mostly driven with the somewhat slower class 110 and 111 locomotives. However, since these relief trains were usually significantly shorter and lighter than the main trains (typically around 5 to 7 cars compared to 11 to 14 for the main trains), they were able to achieve almost the same travel times despite the weaker trains. Their vehicle material was of necessity simpler and did not always correspond to the current IC colors; Dining cars and air-conditioned cars were generally not carried. Sunday, January 3rd, 1988 is an example of a particularly large number of relief trains: On this day, 14 IC relief trains operated on the Rhine route between Cologne and Mainz alone, most of them in a south-north direction.

Over the years fewer and fewer relief trains were planned, and the distribution of the relevant timetable booklets was also discontinued. For some years now, Deutsche Bahn has been using more and more scheduled intercity trains as relief trains for the ICE, which for a time was only common on special peak days (for example before Christmas) with special timetables. Additional trains are used, mostly in close proximity to the scheduled ICE trips; these trains run especially on the busy days of Friday and Sunday as well as before and after many public holidays ( Easter , Ascension Day, Whitsun etc.).

There are also a few pairs of trains that run daily or at least regularly and are primarily used for vacation traffic without changing trains (for example Hamburg-Berchtesgaden, Heidelberg-Cologne-Hamburg-Westerland, Ruhr area-Oberstdorf). However, by integrating them into the existing timetable, these trains also perceive regular regular intervals.

Furthermore, there are few night-time Intercity services , which are mostly used for long-distance commuters with routes or stops that differ from the daytime network.

Since December 2017, the Luxembourg CFL has been operating a daily pair of trains between Luxembourg and Düsseldorf via Trier, Koblenz and Cologne. From Trier to Koblenz, the local transport tariff and free travel can be used, as the train runs here as the regional express line 11 . North of Koblenz it is an Intercity, which is why the more expensive DB long-distance tariff applies to this section. Double-decker railcars of the Stadler KISS series are used.

line	route	Tact
IC 37	Düsseldorf  - Cologne  - Bonn  - Remagen  - Andernach  - Koblenz  - Kobern-Gondorf  - Treis-Karden  - Cochem  - Bullay  - Wittlich  - Schweich  - Trier  - Wasserbillig  - Luxembourg	a pair of trains

punctuality

The first timetable period for IC traffic in Germany was not always accompanied by punctuality. An investigation of six trains that were observed during the winter timetable 1971/72 over an average of about 100 days each (TEE 32, TEE 33, IC 115, IC 117, IC 130 and IC 135) showed that the cross-border TEE 33 only occurred in 25 % of the cases were five minutes or less late, ie “on time” according to today's DB definition. On four of the observation days it was even delayed by over 30 minutes, although on three of these days a replacement train ( class 110 with two non-air-conditioned first-class cars) was running. If the TEE 33 is excluded, the punctuality rate for the remaining five trains according to the current DB definition is 80%. In detail:

• 38% punctual to the minute
• 42% delay 1 to 5 minutes
• 12% delay 6 to 10 minutes
• 5% delay 11 to 15 minutes
• 2% delay 16 to 30 minutes
• 0.2% delay over 30 minutes

The investigation at that time came to the following conclusions: “Delays of 20 minutes and more in IC traffic were not uncommon in the 1971/72 winter timetable. In order to achieve a better degree of punctuality again, the timetables in the 1972 summer timetable were relaxed, which led to travel times of between 10 and 20 minutes and more on the intercity trains. (...) In general, the following can be said about the punctuality of these trains: in the 1971/72 winter timetable the trains from Hamburg and Hanover were reasonably punctual, while the trains coming from Munich and the cross-border TEE trains mostly had larger delays. Due to the extended travel time in the currently valid timetable, delays of more than 15 minutes no longer occur as often, the planning of slow speed zones is probably noticeable here. The occasional hauling with locomotives of the series 110 or 112 has little effect on punctuality, and it is also becoming increasingly rare. "

During the heyday of the "West German" InterCity network of four or five lines (roughly speaking during the 1980s), it was found that even then not all trains were on time by a long way, but the connections between IC trains were extremely reliable , which led to a high travel chain punctuality for the passenger and thus to a good planning of a long-distance train trip.

The Stiftung Warentest evaluated the arrival times of 94,136 trains at their terminal stations in ten major cities between 6 a.m. and midnight between September 23 and October 31, 2007 (excluding strike days). According to this survey, of 23,261 long-distance trains, 46 percent were delayed by no more than one minute, 16 percent two to three minutes, 10 percent four to five, 12 percent six to ten, 8 percent 11 to 20, 3 percent 21 to 30 and 4 percent more than 30 Minutes late.

The Deutsche Bahn rejected the result of the survey and spoke of an overall punctuality in passenger traffic of “well over 90 percent” in 2007, without giving any more specific figures.

Another problem is the Dortmund – Münster bottleneck : here, double-track operation is not possible for around 40 km.

literature

• Hans Dieter Andreas among others: Express traffic in Germany . The high-quality long-distance passenger transport and the development of high-speed transport. In: BahnProfil . Issue 8 (September – October). Berlin September 1998.
• Wolfgang Klee: 25 years of IC traffic . Development of IC traffic in Germany. In: Eisenbahn-Journal . Special edition I / 1996. Hermann-Merker-Verlag, Fürstenfeldbruck 1996, DNB  948351764 .
• Bernd von Mitzlaff, Günther Dietz, Peter Jauch: 60 years of express transport in Germany . From the flying hamburger to the ICE. In: Eisenbahn-Journal . Special edition I / 1994. Hermann-Merker-Verlag, Fürstenfeldbruck 1994, DNB  941268918 .
• Hans-Wolfgang Scharf, Friedhelm Ernst: From the long-distance express train to the intercity . History of express rail traffic. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1983, ISBN 3-88255-751-6 .

Web links

Commons : Intercity in Germany  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• EC / IC line network 2020 of Deutsche Bahn AG (PDF; 667 KiB)
• DB Fernverkehr AG vehicle lexicon - IC car sketches from page 142, Intercity 2 from page 159 (PDF; 22 MB)
• Sketches of Deutsche Bahn AG cars (partly out of date)
• Seating plans for the Intercity 2 on bahn.tonra.de
• Numerical overview and wagon sequence of all IC trains in Germany on fernbahn.de

Individual evidence

1. ^ The further plans of the new railway. In: Bahn-Special , Die Neue Bahn , No. 1, Gera-Nova-Verlag, Munich 1991, p. 78 f.
2. ↑ Deutsche Bundesbahn: Kursbuch summer 1971, part of long-distance connections (yellow), inside back cover
3. ↑ ^{a b} Rolf Rückel: InterCity. Two-hour intervals on the rails. In: Deutsche Bundesbahn (Ed.): DB Report 72 , Hestra-Verlag, Darmstadt 1972, ISBN 3-7771-0119-2 , pp. 197-200.
4. ^ Rüdiger Scotland, Heribert Küsters, Wolfgang Fritz: Operations management tasks of the central transport management. In: Die Bundesbahn , year 45 (1971), issue 19/20, ISSN  0007-5876 , pp. 927-932.
5. ^ Walter Mittmann, Fritz Pätzold, Dieter Reuter, Hermann Richter, Klaus-Dieter Wittenberg: The Third Ordinance to Change the Railway Construction and Operating Regulations (EBO) . In: The Federal Railroad . No. 7-8 , 1991, ISSN  0007-5876 , pp. 759-770 .
6. ^ Rüdiger Block: On New Paths. The new lines of the Deutsche Bundesbahn. In: Eisenbahn-Kurier Special: High-Speed ​​Traffic , No. 21, 1991, without ISSN, pp. 30–35.
7. ↑ Hans-Wolfgang Scharf, Friedhelm Ernst: From the long-distance express train to the Intercity , EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1983, pages 266-273
8. ↑ Intercity. History-concept-vehicles (= Bahn Extra, 04/08). Geramond-Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-89724-202-9 .
9. ^ DB balance sheet 2000. In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 7/2001, ISSN  1421-2811 , pp. 330-332.
10. ↑ Martin Will: Comprehensive modernization of 1198 IC / EC cars of the DB AG. In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 5/2002, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 254 f.
11. ↑ Deutsche Bahn's IC fleet is brought up to ICE level. On: bahnaktuell.de , July 23, 2012.
12. ↑ Pro Bahn LV Baden-Württemberg: On the IC line Karlsruhe – Stuttgart – Nuremberg the BordBistros will be canceled. Retrieved July 11, 2012 . 
13. ↑ ^{a b} New transport concept for the Gäubahn , Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Baden-Württemberg , February 6, 2014.
14. ↑ ^{a b c} More rail for metropolises and regions - the largest customer offensive in the history of DB long-distance transport ( memento from March 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), press release from Deutsche Bahn AG, March 18, 2015.
15. ↑ Hans-Wolfgang Scharf, Friedhelm Ernst: From the long-distance express train to the intercity. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1983, p. 505.
16. ↑ see section Further use of train sets in the Metropolitan article
17. ↑ ^{a b} Starting signal for the modernization of the intercity cars. (No longer available online.) DB Mobility Logistics, April 24, 2012, formerly in the original ; Retrieved September 5, 2012 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
18. ↑ Claudia Urbasek: Intercity cars experience the second spring. NZ Nürnberger Zeitung, April 28, 2012, accessed on May 5, 2012 . 
19. ^ Wagon renovation: Deutsche Bahn presents modernized intercity trains. Spiegel Online, October 4, 2012, accessed August 28, 2016 . 
20. ↑ Bahn is modernizing intercity trains. (No longer available online.) NDR , April 24, 2012, archived from the original on April 28, 2012 ; Retrieved May 5, 2012 . 
21. ^ Peter Kirnich: Train journey with network connection . In: Frankfurter Rundschau . June 5, 2013, p. 16 ( online ).
22. ^ DB News . In: mobile . No. 4 , April 2015, ISSN  0949-586X , ZDB -ID 1221702-5 , p. 64 .
23. ↑ WLAN is coming in the Intercity
24. ^ Deutsche Bahn orders new double-decker trains as IC ( Memento from January 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ); Retrieved January 12, 2011.
25. ↑ Deutsche Bahn orders 27 new long-distance trains , deutschebahn.com; Retrieved February 19, 2011.
26. ↑ The new Intercity and the solution to the hot drinks dilemma , inside.bahn.de, December 10, 2015; Retrieved December 12, 2015.
27. ↑ Technical deficiencies in double-decker ICs · Passenger Association criticizes railways ; accessed on January 7, 2016.
28. ^ Deutsche Bahn: Stadler is converting KISS trains acquired from WESTbahn. lok-report.de, October 15, 2019.
29. ↑ ^{a b} More trains: DB expands its intercity fleet at short notice by 17 new double-decker trains | Deutsche Bahn AG. Retrieved July 22, 2019 . 
30. ↑ The WESTbahn does not give up the unequal fight! (PDF) Westbahn (press release), accessed on July 22, 2019 (Austrian German). 
31. ^ Baltic Sea, Oberstdorf, Austria: New cars for Intercity and Eurocity . In: turntable . November 2015, ISSN  0934-2230 , p. 24 .
32. ↑ Deliveries - 79173-2017: Germany-Frankfurt am Main: Railway Passenger Cars , 2017 / S 043-079173 , ted.europa.eu , March 2, 2017
33. ↑ The new long-distance train "ECx" , DB Fernverkehr, accessed on March 13, 2019
34. ↑ Deutsche Bahn orders 23 new long-distance trains from the Spanish manufacturer Talgo , press release DB Long-Distance, February 5, 2019, accessed on February 5, 2019
35. ↑ Press release from Talgo, SA (PDF), February 5, 2019, accessed on February 5, 2019
36. ↑ Deutsche Bahn to order 23 Talgo passenger trains , railcolornews.com, February 5, 2019, accessed on February 5, 2019
37. ↑ In the Deutsche Bahn presentation videos ( Memento of the original from August 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. so shown sightings of the locomotives 
38. ↑ ^{a b} The further plans of the new railway. In: Bahn-Special , Die Neue Bahn , No. 1, Gera-Nova-Verlag, Munich 1991, p. 78 f.
39. ^ Peter Koch: New and upgraded lines of the DB. In: Deine Bahn , issue 7/1982, pp. 385–388.
40. ↑ ^{a b c} Deutsche Bundesbahn, main administration (ed.): The new railway. About us. Brochure, 86 A4 pages, Frankfurt am Main, May 1985, pp. 42-45.
41. ↑ Ursula Bartelsheim: Advertising on the Deutsche Bundesbahn 1949-1993. In: DB Museum (Ed.): Go easy Go Bahn , Nuremberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-9807652-9-9 , pp. 150–189.
42. ↑ ^{a b c} The 30-minute guarantee on the ICE continues to apply. In: Die Bahn informs , No. 4/1991, September 1991, pp. 8-10, ZDB -ID 2003143-9 .
43. ↑ ^{a b} Gunther Ellwanger: New lines and express services of the German Federal Railroad. Chronology. In: Knut Reimers, Wilhelm Linkerhägner (Ed.): Paths to the future. New construction and expansion lines of the DB , Hestra-Verlag, Darmstadt 1987, ISBN 3-7771-0200-8 , pp. 245-250.
44. ^ Karl-Heinz Garre: InterRegio - a new range of services offered by the Deutsche Bundesbahn in long -distance passenger rail transport. In: Die Bundesbahn , 9/1988, pp. 775–780.
45. ↑ Annual review 1988. In: Die Bundesbahn , Jg. 65, No. 1/1989, ISSN  0007-5876 , p. 31.
46. ↑ Annual review 1991 of the Deutsche Bundesbahn. In: Die Bundesbahn , vol. 68, issue 1, January 1992, ISSN  0007-5876 , p. 43.
47. ↑ Annual review 1992: Passenger traffic. In: Die Deutsche Bahn , No. 1/1993, pp. 32–40.
48. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Timetable preview winter 2006 ( Memento from January 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
49. ↑ Timetable preview summer 2006 ( Memento of November 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
50. ↑ Route network map accessed 11/2008
51. ↑ Timetable preview summer 2006 ( Memento of November 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
52. ↑ ^{a b} More rail for metropolises and regions. (PDF) The largest customer offensive in the history of DB long-distance transport. (No longer available online.) Deutsche Bahn AG, March 18, 2015, archived from the original on April 4, 2015 ; Retrieved May 3, 2015 .  
53. ↑ The new long-distance transport concept of the DB ( Memento of the original of October 31, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
54. ↑ New IC line of Deutsche Bahn on the Rostock - Berlin - Dresden route from 2019. (PDF) Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Parliament , August 18, 2016, accessed on August 27, 2016 .  
55. ^ IC area network in Baden-Württemberg. (PDF) Deutsche Bahn AG, July 15, 2015, accessed on February 5, 2016 .  
56. ↑ Planning of the DB long-distance traffic in the corridor Frankfurt - Siegen - Dortmund / Unna - Münster. (PDF) Zweckverband Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe , October 9, 2015, accessed on February 5, 2016 .  
57. ^ Bahn wants IC connection for South Westphalia from 2021. In: wdr.de. Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln, News program area, February 13, 2020, accessed on February 19, 2020 . 
58. ↑ Intercity comes later. In: Mittelhessen.de. VRM Wetzlar GmbH, February 12, 2020, accessed on February 13, 2020 (article with payment barrier): "The start of Intercity line 34 through the Lahn-Dill district is delayed by another year." 
59. ↑ Small request from the Abg. Grüger (SPD) dated November 17, 2017 regarding the planned Intercity line 34 from Frankfurt to Münster and the answer from the Minister for Economic Affairs, Energy, Transport and Regional Development. Printed matter 19/5428. Hessian State Parliament, January 4, 2018, accessed on January 22, 2018 .  
60. ^ The Rhine Palatinate of January 21, 2016: The new ICE 4 will run on the Mannheim line from the end of 2017
61. ↑ No integration of the Murrbahn into the DB long-distance service. Ministry of Transport Baden-Württemberg , June 21, 2016, accessed on June 24, 2016 .  
62. ↑ New: IC connections between Konstanz and Stuttgart free of charge from the end of 2017. (No longer available online.) Deutsche Bahn AG, January 13, 2016, archived from the original on February 22, 2016 ; accessed on February 22, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   
63. ↑ https://www.frankenpost.de/region/oberfranken/laenderspiegel/Bessere-Zugverbindungen-ueber-Hof;art2388,7342403
64. ↑ https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/bahn-informiert-ueber-electrification-der-strecke-hof-regensburg,S01QXzk
65. ↑ Hans-Wolfgang Scharf, Friedhelm Ernst: From the long-distance express train to the intercity . History of express rail traffic. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1983, ISBN 3-88255-751-6 , p. 476/477 .
66. ↑ Hans-Wolfgang Scharf, Friedhelm Ernst: From the long-distance express train to the intercity . History of express rail traffic. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1983, ISBN 3-88255-751-6 , p. 390-392 .
67. ↑ How punctual are the trains really? In: Stiftung Warentest (Ed.): Test . No.  2 , February 2008, ISSN  0040-3946 , p. 78–82 ( test.de [accessed on February 6, 2018] subject to a charge).
68. ↑ Deutsche Bahn punctuality at a high level. (No longer available online.) Deutsche Bahn AG, January 24, 2008, formerly in the original ; accessed on February 6, 2018 (press release).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )