Metropolitan

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Metropolitan (disambiguation) .

Passage of the Metropolitan in Dülmen station , March 2002

One of the two sets of the former Metropolitan in January 2008 as InterCity on the high-speed line Hanover-Berlin near Gardelegen

The Metropolitan Express Train , often just Metropolitan [ ˌmɛtɹəˈpɒlɪtn̩ ] or as the MET acronym , was a German type of train . It existed from August 1, 1999 to December 11, 2004 and only operated on the Cologne - Hamburg route . Metropolitan is also the name for the railway company Metropolitan Express Train GmbH , which also no longer exists and which exclusively operated the train of the same name. The company was founded on December 17, 1996 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the then DB Reise & Touristik AG (name since 2003: DB Fernverkehr AG ), which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn AG .

The business field of Metropolitan Express Train GmbH extended to the offer of high quality direct traffic in the German long-distance passenger rail traffic , especially in business travel. After City Night Line CNL AG , Westrail International (since May 1999: Thalys International ) and Cisalpino AG, the legally independent company was the fourth company to operate alongside DB Reise & Touristik AG on the German long-distance passenger rail transport after the railway reform introduced in 1994. Market acted. The company's headquarters were in Bad Homburg ; From 1996 to 2000, Stefan Eishold was the sole managing director responsible for the conception and start-up phase of the Metropolitan.

After the Metropolitan train type had been discontinued in December 2004 due to low capacity utilization, the company was dissolved retrospectively as of January 1st by merging with the parent company DB Fernverkehr AG . The two luxuriously equipped wagon trains, built especially for the MET train type in 1998/1999 , have been in use as regular ICE and IC trains for DB Fernverkehr AG since December 2004 .

Naming

The brand name "Metropolitan" comes from the English language . There it means "metropolitan, capital city" and ultimately goes back to the Greek word μητρόπολις, mitrópolis, the mother city. The name refers to the two destinations of the first and only MET connection - the metropolis of Hamburg as the second largest city in Germany and the urban agglomeration at the other end of the route, often also known as the “Metropolitan Region Rhine-Ruhr” . In the last year of operation of the Metropolitan, the name repeatedly led to confusion, especially in the Hamburg area, with the metronom railway company , whose regional trains have been serving the routes Hamburg-Bremen and Hamburg-Uelzen since December 2003 under the train category metronom .

Development and commissioning of the two MET train sets

Köln Hbf: 101 130-3 - one of the two silver-gray metropolitan regular locomotives. The MET front logo from the early days has already been replaced by a conventional DB logo (which clearly indicates the affiliation to the parent company), ...

... on the other hand, there was still an orange MET logo on the side

DAVIS display in the Metropolitan control car as a driver's cab brake image

Locomotives

The two sets are pulled or pushed schedule of special locomotives of the 101 series . This series is approved for a planned top speed of 220 km / h.

Especially for the Metropolitan, four locomotives of this series were equipped with additional equipment (multiple unit locomotive). They have in addition a special train bus ( WTB-MET ) via an onboard computer per cab (DAVIS = Since th vis ualisierungsgerät), which helps the driver (as well as the driving trailer cab off) to query the train diagnostic data and switching states (including interference) of the carriage train and Can issue commands and switching orders to all subsystems of the car. Both systems are a further development of the diagnostic equipment used on the ICE 1.

The appropriately equipped locomotives were brand new at the time; they were branched off from the 101 series, which was already in production, for use in front of the two Metropolitan trains. The multiple unit locomotive equipment was already installed at the factory, but the use of the MET locomotives on the MET trains was delayed due to the fact that the multiple units were several months late. The following four class 101 (multiple unit) locomotives received the Metropolitan additional equipment mentioned above:

Locomotive	use	Painting	Decrease
101 124-6	Reserve locomotive	traffic red	December 1, 1998
101 126-1	Reserve locomotive	traffic red	December 17, 1998
101 130-3	Regular locomotive Tz930	MET colors (summer 1999 to January 2005)	February 18, 1999
101 131-1	Regular locomotive Tz931	MET colors (summer 1999 to January 2005)	March 10, 1999

In principle, however, other locomotive series (with ZWS / ZDS ) can also be used in front of the two sets with restrictions , so in some cases the 103 and 120 series have also been used. In this case, however, the locomotive does not control the wagon subsystems (such as air conditioning, brake test, control door control, etc.) possible. The same applies in the event that one of the normal series 101 locomotives is used in front of one of the two trains (which has also happened outside of the plan, but is only permitted in exceptional cases).

dare

After initial considerations of converting the Intercity wagons used for the Metropolitan accordingly, the Metropolitan Express Train GmbH ordered two brand-new train sets from FTD Fahrzeugtechnik Dessau in November 1997 especially for the new type of train . The interior was made by Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau . In addition, there was an option for two more trains, which could have been given a different interior. From a technical point of view, the Metropolitan is a conventional push-pull train set, which, similar to a classic Intercity, consists of a locomotive + car + control car.

The cars were presented on April 16, 1999 at Fahrzeugtechnik Dessau.

The two identical sets each consist of seven 26.4 m long pressure-proof passenger coaches. The total length of the train including a locomotive of the planned DB class 101 is 204 meters. The total of 14 cars are a development by Fahrzeugtechnik Dessau. The car body itself was ordered and built on the basis of the ICE-2 intermediate car . The head shape of the two control cars, however, corresponds exactly to the InterCity control car Bpmdzf, which was created almost at the same time as a result of the conversion .

Before starting vehicle production, the board of directors of Deutsche Bahn considered withdrawing two trains from ongoing ICE-2 production and equipping them with special interior fittings for the Metropolitan. Various intermediate cars were prepared for the conversion and painted on a trial basis in Metropolitan colors. Due to time pressure and high costs for the necessary production changes, this plan was dropped. The planned and already prepared retrofitting of about ten-year-old Halberstadt center-entry cars was canceled again.

The Metropolitan coaches are wider and heavier than conventional passenger coaches, with a body width across side walls of 2,824 mm and an unladen weight between 55 and 59 tons. When fully occupied, they weigh between 59 and 63 tonnes, depending on the number of seats and interior use.

The intermediate carriages of the Metropolitan are connected to one another via special half-shell central buffer couplings and ICE-identical Hübner bellows junctions . Apart from the Metropolitan, only a few passenger trains (e.g. the Austrian Railjet ) use this type of coupling . Only the so-called "end car" (car 1, this is lined up next to the locomotive) and the control car (car 7) have conventional pulling and hydraulic pushing devices ( buffers ) on one side each . At the end of the wagon facing the locomotive, wagon 1 also has a pressure-protected conventional rubber bead transition, which enables coupling with conventional passenger wagons .

The maximum permissible speed of the MET train formation in scheduled passenger operation is 220 km / h (acceptance speed: 242 km / h; 220 km / h plus 10% safety buffer). This makes the Metropolitan wagons the fastest conventional passenger coaches in Germany; all passenger coaches built before and after are only approved for a maximum of 200 km / h. In Germany, speeds over 220 km / h have only been achieved by ICE multiple units in scheduled passenger service. Until December 2009, the two Metropolitan train sets were used as planned, however, only up to a maximum of 200 km / h. It was only when it was deployed as an 11-part ICE that the car set reached 220 km / h on schedule.

The Metropolitan was presented at the 1999 International Tourism Exchange in Berlin. The first train was delivered on June 14, 1999, the second followed on July 12, 1999. Both units, including locomotives, were located in the Hamburg-Eidelstedt depot, which is responsible for the maintenance of ICE trains .

Operational peculiarities

Operational restrictions

The two Metropolitan trains always operated as ICE-A until 2010 , henceforth referred to as IC-A , regardless of whether they are used as the MET , ICE or IC train type . This operational category means that they cannot be freely used in the entire DB AG network, but only on routes that are also approved for ICE trains of the ICE 1 and ICE 2 series . The wagons are not compatible with other electricity systems abroad. They are therefore not approved for foreign route networks. H. they are not "multi-system capable".

Treatment as a fixed unit

Due to their special central buffer couplings, the intermediate cars of the two trains can only be separated or reassembled during workshop visits in the respective home depot . This leads to further restrictions with regard to the flexible disposition of the two sets.

Because the Metropolitan sets are also firmly coupled, comparable to ICE trains, and are not separated during operation, they also have multiple unit numbers within the company. As a seven-part unit, the trains have the designations "Triebzug 930" (train with the main locomotive 101 130-3) and "Triebzug 931" (train with the main locomotive 101 131-1). With the conversion to an eleven and a three-part set, they were given the names "Triebzug 924" (train with three cars) and "Triebzug 926" (train with eleven cars), but these were not written on the car. This numbering was based on the numbering scheme common to ICE units.

However, these designations should not be confused with the former MET train numbers. In the early years, two of the total of eight train services also had these numbers (MET 930 and MET 931, which were later changed to MET 1030 and MET 1031). The principle of fixed units corresponds to the concept of passenger car maintenance in block trains (RIGA), which was later also used in other trains in the DB-AG group.

Operational clearance procedure

The handling of the Metropolitan trains was not carried out by one of the train attendants, as was the case with conventional trains operated by DB Fernverkehr AG , but by the driver on board the driver's cab, who was also the train driver . The employees on board the train, under the direction of the so-called operation supervisor, were solely responsible for looking after the passengers and catering .

One employee was responsible for each car, so there was a maximum of 57 passengers per train attendant.

Since the end of the Metropolitan train type, they - like all other long-distance trains operated by DB AG - have been handled by the train driver, who gives the train driver the departure order.

Technical clearance procedure

The regular handling procedure is referred to as side-selective door control for long-distance traffic (SSTF) . As a fall-back level, only three years after the Metropolitan went into operation, the two sets were expanded for the timetable change in December 2002 by adapting the software for the classic TB0 check-in procedure (= door blocking from 0 km / h).

As a result of this adaptation, the two sets can also be operated with all locomotives of the class 120 , for a short time also with the locomotives 101 140 to 144. With all other series locomotives of the class 101, however, the two trains must be operated according to an emergency program, since in this If the handling procedure TB0 is not permitted.

Corporate Design

Metropolitan logo

For its new subsidiary, DB AG chose a corporate design that was completely different from the rest of the parent company's branding. The colors of the Metropolitan Express Train GmbH were silver gray, orange and black. In contrast to the other customs of the DB AG , the two Metropolitan train units were also designed in this special design. This also included the two main locomotives 101 130-3 and 101 131-1, which were initially painted traffic red for a few months after delivery (used in IC traffic) and were repainted specifically for their new purpose in summer 1999.

The two push- pull train sets were uniformly silver-colored, complemented by large oval, orange-colored Metropolitan emblems on the sides and on the front of the train (locomotive and control car) as well as the continuous black window bands typical of ICE. With this eye-catching paintwork, the two Metropolitan trains could be clearly distinguished from the conventional trains of the parent company and could be seen from a long way off. At the start of operations, there was nothing on the outside of the Metropolitan trains to remind them that the train belonged to the parent company DB AG . It was not until the second half of 2000 that the Metropolitan logos on the front of the control cars and on both fronts of the two regular locomotives were replaced by conventional DB logos.

In addition, all information and advertising brochures , the uniforms of the train crew (with the exception of the driver) and the Metropolitan website under the domain www.met.de have been uniformly designed in the colors of silver gray, orange and black.

Start of operations and planned deployment on the Cologne – Hamburg route

The start of operations was preceded by studies of ten domestic German routes in which the new train could compete with air traffic. The Cologne-Hamburg relation achieved the highest values, closely followed by Frankfurt-Munich.

The new metropolitan connection was originally scheduled to start operating on Sunday, June 13, 1999. However, due to the late delivery of the wagon trains and delays in staff training, the Metropolitan was not able to start operations as planned until August 1, 1999. In order to gain operational experience, a trial run was carried out on the future Hamburg – Cologne route as early as July 1, 1999 with the set delivered first. From August 1, 1999 until the timetable change on December 11, 2004, the Metropolitan commuted daily between Cologne Central Station and Hamburg Central Station . Other stopovers were Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof and Essen Hauptbahnhof .

The number of tickets sold for the trains requiring reservation was above expectations in the first few weeks of operation; individual trains were sold out. At the end of 1999 the capacity utilization of the midday trains was 20 percent, well below the break-even point of 53 percent. As countermeasures, an expansion of the range of services on the Hamburg – Berlin route and a cancellation of the reservation requirement (while retaining a MET surcharge) were considered.

Although the Metropolitan couldn't reach its top speed of 220 km / h anywhere on the Cologne – Hamburg route, the scheduled travel time from Cologne to Hamburg with the Metropolitan with travel times between 3:20 h and 3:30 h (depending on the train) was around 40 –50 minutes less than the travel time of the direct IC and ICE trains. This gain in travel time was achieved through the following three factors:

• Between Essen and Münster , the Metropolitan used the more direct route via Gelsenkirchen and Recklinghausen , while the IC trains took the longer route via Bochum and Dortmund (each with a stop and thus additional loss of time).
• The city of Bremen was only affected - without stopping there. In contrast to the regular IC trains, the Metropolitan used a shorter route between the Dreye and Sagehorn stations , which is mainly used by freight trains and which bypasses the Hanseatic city to the southeast.
• In contrast to the regular intercity cycle trains, the Metropolitan did not stop in Duisburg , Münster , Osnabrück , Bremen and Hamburg-Harburg .

The fact that so-called “premium timetable routes” were ordered for the Metropolitan from DB-Netz, which gave the train priority over all other trains, also had a positive effect on speed. This was particularly noticeable in the case of delays and operational disruptions. In addition, there was also an operational directive according to which the Metropolitan did not have to wait for connecting trains. Thanks to these two factors, high punctuality values ​​could usually be achieved.

With the two train sets, four pairs of trains were offered Monday to Friday, one on Saturday and two pairs of trains on Sundays . With the exception of Saturday, the two trains started almost at the same time in Cologne and Hamburg and thus met about halfway through the journey. One train was parked overnight in Hamburg and the other in Cologne. Only on Saturdays from 2:43 p.m. to 3:17 p.m. were both trains parked in Hamburg at the same time - this was used to exchange the two sets. This ensured that the train normally used from Cologne would return to its home plant in Hamburg-Eidelstedt after seven days at the latest.

Plans from 2001 to merge the Metropolitan with the ICE Sprinter from 2003 to form a new offer were not implemented.

Metropolitan timetable at that time (valid from August 1, 1999)

		Köln Hbf	Düsseldorf main station		Essen Central Station		Hamburg Central Station
Train number	Days of traffic	from	on	from	on	from	on	Travel time
MET 931	mo – fr	06:19	06:39	06:41	07:02	07:04	09:49	03:30 h
MET 933	mo – sa	11:19	11:39	11:41	12:02	12:04	14:43	03:24 h
MET 937	daily except sat	15:19	15:39	15:41	16:02	16:04	18:45	03:26 h
MET 939	daily except sat	19:19	19:39	19:41	20:02	8:04 p.m.	22:43	03:24 h

		Hamburg Central Station	Essen Central Station		Düsseldorf main station		Köln Hbf
Train number	Days of traffic	from	on	from	on	from	on	Travel time
MET 938	mo – fr	06:17	08:52	08:56	09:16	09:18	09:42	03:25 h
MET 936	mo – fr	11:18	13:52	13:56	14:16	14:18	14:42	03:24 h
MET 932	Every day	15:17	17:52	17:56	18:16	18:18	18:42	03:25 h
MET 930	daily except sat	19:22	21:54	21:56	22:16	22:18	22:42	03:20 h

• In the course of the total of five years of operation, the Metropolitan timetable only changed in the minute range, but always remained the same in terms of structure and days of traffic.
• The three-digit train numbers were later replaced by four-digit ones, the last two digits remained the same (scheme: MET 9xx became MET 10xx, the train MET 932 became, for example, the train MET 1032).
• In all official publications, the days of operation of the Metropolitan were indicated with numbers, as in aviation (e.g. 2 = Tuesday). The days of traffic in German rail traffic are usually indicated with letters (e.g. "A" = workdays except Saturdays or "B" = daily except Saturdays).
• Short-haul journeys between Cologne and Düsseldorf, Cologne and Essen and between Düsseldorf and Essen were not possible due to the tariff - the journey always had to be booked to or from Hamburg.

Comfort categories and service on board

Part of the former club area in the control car of the former Metropolitan train (car 7), this car is now 1st class. In the background the wood-clad rear wall of the driver's cab

METROPOLITAN Guide

The Metropolitan wagons were designed to be comparatively luxurious and not comparable to any other DB AG train product . In terms of comfort, they clearly stood out from the actual "flagship" of DB AG , the ICE. Features were, for example, particularly smooth running even at a cruising speed of 200 km / h, complete wooden paneling instead of the usual plastic paneling, high-quality adjustable leather seats with pillows and fold-out or permanently installed wooden tables. In addition, there was a separate socket available at each seat; in the case of the individual seats, this was installed in the foot of the front seat. The operator also repeatedly emphasized the high-quality materials used in the interior, such as: B. the wall cladding made of Swiss pear wood and the ceiling cladding made of brushed stainless steel. The self-cleaning toilets in the Metropolitan were another exclusive feature . After each use, the circular toilet seat rotated completely around its own axis and was automatically cleaned and disinfected.

Herbert Feuerstein commented on the Metropolitan online in the world on Sunday :

" Thalys is the name of the super train from Cologne via Brussels to Paris, which looks great on the outside, but is old-fashioned and musty on the inside, with seats that are far too narrow and no storage space for heavy suitcases that can be easily rolled into the shelf on every ICE without having to become a weightlifter. Then you long for the Metropolitan, the super train between Hamburg and Cologne, which had everything you could want from a train journey. It was so good that it was recently abolished. Probably in order to save annoying comparisons. "

Daily newspapers were displayed in the door areas of all cars ; passengers could take these on- board copies free of charge when boarding the train. This was advertised on the train with the slogan “If you drive 1st class, you should also read 1st class”. Soft drinks on the square and at the bar were included in the price. Espressi and cocktails as well as other alcoholic drinks were available at the bar, depending on the time of day. In first class (all cars except Traveler) the also free “business snack” was served during the journey. The food on board was of high quality and corresponded to the ICE, except that the snacks in the Metropolitan were already included in the fare. At the beginning of the journey, the Metropolitan Guide was also distributed, a small booklet with information about the offers on the train and the destination station (s).

Car categories in the original version

The Metropolitan was the only train operated by Deutsche Bahn or a DB subsidiary that was not divided into classes . Instead, there were three different car categories, all of which corresponded to 1st class:

• Two Silence cars were intended for travelers at rest; on request there was a free pillow and blanket, earplugs and an audio program via headphones, which were also distributed free of charge; Mobile phone and laptop use, however, were not desired. In order to avoid disruptions by passing passengers or personnel, these two cars were also lined up at the end of the train (cars 1 and 2).
• Three office cars were intended for working travelers. There were no provided extras, other than the power sockets on the seat and cell phone amplifiers and a cocktail & espresso bar. A number of groups of four (four seats at one table) were offered for work interviews.
• Two club cars were designed for travelers who did not want to sleep or work. Here portable DVD players and DVD films could be borrowed free of charge for the duration of the journey. The club area also had a cocktail & espresso bar. One of the club cars (serial number seven) was designed to be barrier-free . These cars also had cell phone amplifiers.

The extras offered for a category were only available in cars of this category. However, transitions between the categories were possible if the desired category was not fully booked. Sockets, reading lamps and a fax service were available at all seats. A service car offered magazines, card games and sweets, among other things. Smoking trolleys were only available in the Club and Office categories . In the Silence category, however, only non-smoking places were offered. In total, the original version of the seven-part trains had 351 reservable seats, which were distributed as follows:

Area	Seats	proportion of
Club non-smoker	45 seats	= 12.8%
Club smokers	39 places	= 11.1%
Office non-smoker	114 seats	= 32.5%
Office smoker	39 places	= 11.1%
Silence (only non-smokers)	114 seats	= 32.5%
total	351 places	= 100.0%

This division lasted until June 30, 2001. From July 1, 2001, however, the trains ran two carriages shorter, the two queued wagons 1 and 5 (which belonged to the Silence and Office categories) were upgraded to the new traveler category in the summer months of July and August 2001, when there was little traffic. 2 + 2 seating), which was then available to passengers from September 1, 2001. To compensate for this, car 3 ( office category) was converted into a purely non-smoking car (including the second bar, which was henceforth a non-smoking bar). As a result, there were no longer any smoking spaces available in the Office category - from now on they were only offered in the Club category. Furthermore, the only remaining 2nd  Silence car was now lined up in the middle of the train as car 5 (between the other two categories), which resulted in increased through traffic and thus actually contradicted the original concept of the Silence category.

• 

  4-seater seat combination with table in car 6

• 

  2-seater seat combination with table in car 6

• 

  Fold-out plywood tables and bucket seats

• 

  generous space

• 

  Detail ceiling design made of stainless steel mesh

• 

  Leather seats with wooden shell panels in car 7

• 

  Magazine rack made of stainless steel

Introduction of the Traveler category on September 1, 2001

In the late summer of 2001, MET GmbH launched a large-scale offensive to increase the capacity utilization of the metropolitan trains, which, from the operator's point of view, was still very poor even two years after the start of operations . The most important change in this offensive (in addition to the introduction of discounted return tickets) was the introduction of a fourth comfort area, the so-called traveler category. Compared to the previously offered Club , Office and Silence categories , it was a little less comfortable, the new Traveler cars theoretically represented the second class in the Metropolitan and thus divided the train into the two-class scheme familiar from conventional trains.

Traveler car - interior view of the seating arrangement

In the course of the establishment of this fourth category, the two cars 1 and 5 (old train sequence), from now on as cars 1 and 2, were rearranged in both trains. 145 such seats were created per train. Four seats (2 + 2 seating) instead of the previous three seats (2 + 1 seating) were offered in each row of seats. Thereby narrower seats were installed, this is a seat type similar to that used in conventional IC open-plan coaches (type Bpmz) of the DB. The previously installed seats of the original equipment (a total of 228 seats were superfluous) were in part officially sold by DB AG on eBay . Thanks to the tighter seating in the two cars in the new Traveler category, the total capacity of the two MET trains was also increased by 8.8% (from 351 to 382 seats). In return, capacities in the two other areas of Silence (-50.0%) and Office (-37.3%) were reduced accordingly, but the Club category remained unchanged. The latest daily newspapers and drinks were also integrated as an inclusive service in the two traveler cars, but access to the bar and other areas was not possible. In return, however, the fare in the Traveler area was set significantly lower than in the other categories (also as a relation-independent area price).

Tariff system

Tickets at the flexible normal tariff

When the new train connection opened, the fare for a one-way trip in the Metropolitan was DM 180 for the entire Cologne – Hamburg route ( flexible ticket without discount, the tariff did not differentiate between the initially exclusively offered areas of club , office and silence ). The fares on the shorter routes were correspondingly lower (Düsseldorf – Hamburg at 170 DM and Essen – Hamburg at 160 DM). The Metropolitan fares were thus more expensive than comparable ICE tickets in second class, but cheaper than IC tickets for first class. Although the DB BahnCard was also recognized in the Metropolitan, its owners were only granted a 25% discount when using MET trains instead of the 50% discount they are used to at DB (when the Metropolitan was introduced, the DB AG only the so-called "old BahnCard" with 50% discount). Network card holders paid 30 DM.

The tickets at the normal tariff were nominally always issued for a specific MET connection, but could be rebooked to another connection at any time free of charge. The Metropolitan trains were generally subject to reservation. H. A seat reservation via the special Metropolitan call center, in a DB travel center or online via the company's own website was essential. The ticket and reservation were combined to form a kind of boarding pass for the trains requiring reservation, the reservation fee was already included in the fare. This so-called “global price” also included a current daily newspaper, non-alcoholic drinks and the so-called business snack in addition to the reservation . Basically tickets were at the normal price until booked shortly before departure, as well as a short-term was rebooking reservations possible. It was not absolutely necessary to carry an actual ticket (ie in the form of a "piece of paper"), the service staff was able to trace the bookings via the reservation lists they carried with them. The identification of passengers without a ticket was based on the identity card. In addition to the tickets that were sent by post when ordering by telephone, each passenger was sent an invoice with a personal travel plan. In the course of the Metropolitan’s five-year operation, the fares were increased a total of four times; only the changeover to the euro resulted in a minimal fare reduction due to rounding:

Flexible ticket (one way each)	Club , office , silence		Traveler
	without BahnCard	with BahnCard	without BahnCard	with BahnCard
from August 1, 1999 (start-up MET )	180/170/160 DM	135/128/120 DM	%	%
from autumn 2000	198/187/176 DM	148/140/132 DM	%	%
from August 27, 2001 (introduction of area prices)	206 DM	153 DM	%	%
from September 1, 2001 (introduction of Traveler )	206 DM	153 DM	138 DM	103 DM
from January 1, 2002 (euro changeover)	€ 105 (DM 205.36)	€ 78 (DM 152.56)	€ 70 (DM 136.91)	52 € (101.70 DM)
from May 27, 2002	116 €	€ 87	74 €	55 €
from April 1, 2004 (until hiring in December 2004)	119 €	89 €	€ 79	59 €

Footnotes :

1. ↑ For children aged 6 to 11 years (each completed year of life) half the price applies.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Highest price for the Cologne – Hamburg route, middle price for Düsseldorf – Hamburg and cheapest price for Essen – Hamburg.
3. ↑ Since then, only one fare for all three routes offered (regardless of the actual distance traveled).
4. ↑ ^{a b} From September 30, 2002, only one BahnCardFirst was recognized as a reason for a discount in the Club, Office and Silence areas. With normal 2nd class BahnCards, a discount could only be obtained from this point on in the Traveler category.
5. ↑ ^{a b} In the Metropolitan, no distinction was made between the various BahnCard variants of DB AG . The BahnCard discount was always 25% during the entire service life of the train type.

getMET - the first special offer in the Metropolitan

Originally no special offers or special tariffs were planned for the Metropolitan, it was initially hoped to be able to use the trains sufficiently at the regular normal price. After the bad experiences during the first year of operation, however, the Metropolitan management changed their position and from then on also marketed the Metropolitan with various special offers in order to make it known primarily to a larger group of customers - regardless of the business travelers. The so-called getMET tariff started in the second half of 2000 . This offer was made parallel to the first price increase for flexible tickets . In the period from September 1, 2000 to December 31, 2000, all passengers could use the Metropolitan for 111 DM. With the getMET tariff, a fixed price was set for all three routes offered for the first time; this principle, which was expanded further in later years, was also referred to as the area price in the internal parlance of the Metropolitan Express Train GmbH :

relation	Flexible ticket	getMET special tariff	Savings
Cologne – Hamburg	198.00 DM	111.00 DM	43.9%
Düsseldorf – Hamburg	187.00 DM	111.00 DM	40.6%
Essen – Hamburg	176.00 DM	111.00 DM	36.9%

However, no further discounts were granted. This also applied to owners of major customer subscriptions or users of the major customer tariff. In addition, no special getMET price was offered for children , regular children's tickets (with 50% discount) were cheaper in all cases. The getMET offer was not valid in all trains, but only in the following ones (these are exclusively trains that were usually less busy, e.g. on weekdays the more frequented train pairs in the mornings and afternoons were from the special offer locked out):

• Monday to Friday: 1030, 1033, 1036 and 1039
• Saturdays: 1032 and 1033 (= all trains that run on Saturdays)
• Sundays: 1030, 1033, 1036 and 1039 (= all trains that run on Sundays)

Footnotes :

1. ↑ ^{a b} In the two trains 1030 and 1039, the number of seats made available at the getMET tariff was also subject to a quota (while in the other trains all seats could theoretically be booked at the special tariff), the Metropolitan Express Train GmbH experimented with this for the first time contingent tickets (which later played a much larger role in the MET tariff system).

Rebooking, reactivation and cancellation of getMET tickets was not possible, and the special price was not granted retrospectively (i.e. not for spontaneous journeys and the associated payment on board). If the trip was carried out on a different MET train on the same day as when the train was booked, the difference to the respective MET normal price (flexible tickets) had to be paid later, on a day other than the booked travel day the getMET ticket was completely invalid.

Originally it was planned to offer the getMET tariff only from September 1, 2000 to October 30, 2000, but in the course of the promotion the offer period was extended in two steps, initially to November 30, 2000, and later to December 31, 2000 .

Lufthansa bonus miles for MET journeys

As a further parallel to aviation (in addition to the service concept on board), passengers of the Metropolitan were able to acquire bonus miles for the frequent flyer program Miles & More of the German airline Lufthansa from March 1, 2001 . This was initially a model test, which was later established permanently until further notice. For a one-way trip in the Metropolitan, customers who took part in this program (i.e. if they had the relevant Miles & More card) were credited with 500 miles. In return, Lufthansa bonus miles could also be redeemed for a train journey in 1st or 2nd class from this point on.

At the beginning of April 2003 it became known that four MET train attendants had illegally credited themselves bonus miles on a large scale. To do this, they used the points of passengers who spontaneously paid for their tickets on board the train, but who did not have a Lufthansa Miles & More card. At the beginning of October 2003, however, Lufthansa and Deutsche Bahn announced that they would end this cooperation on December 31, 2003 due to insufficient utilization. Customers taking part in the program were able to redeem the miles they had accumulated on both trains after this deadline.

Introduction of the area prices on September 27, 2001

Up until August 26, 2001, there were three different prices for every journey in the Metropolitan: the highest was for the Cologne – Hamburg route, the middle for Düsseldorf – Hamburg and the cheapest for Essen – Hamburg. However, on August 27, 2001, this differentiation according to route was abolished, from this point in time a uniform flat-rate price, the so-called area price, applied to all three possible routes (this principle was applied for the first time in the previous year with the special getMET tariff ). At the time, this change in tariff resulted in a disproportionately strong price increase for passengers to and from Essen (+ 17.0%) and Düsseldorf (+ 10.2%), but the base price for the entire Cologne – Hamburg route also increased at that time (+ 4 , 0%).

Introduction of reduced return tickets on August 27, 2001

At the same time as the flat-rate prices ( area prices) that are independent of the relationship , reduced return journeys were also introduced; these were named

• Return Special (with around 20% discount) and
• Weekend Special (with around 30% discount, earliest return journey on the Sunday after departure, i.e. between the outward journey and the return journey there always had to be a night from Saturday to Sunday)

marketed. The two offers were specific to a train and were subject to a quota; in addition, both offers had to be booked at least two (Return Special) or five days (Weekend Special) prior to departure. Like all other tariffs from this point in time, they had already been designed as area prices from the start , i.e. H. The Return Special and the Weekend Special also had a uniform price for all three possible metropolitan relations:

Return Special (round trip)	Club , office , silence		Traveler
	without BahnCard	with BahnCard	without BahnCard	with BahnCard
from August 27, 2001 (introduction of Return Special )	330 DM	247 DM	X	X
from September 1, 2001 (introduction of Traveler )	330 DM	247 DM	220 DM	165 DM
from January 1, 2002 (euro changeover)	168 € (328.58 DM)	126 € (246.44 DM)	112 € (219.05 DM)	84 € (164.29 DM)
from May 27, 2002	?	?	?	?
from April 1, 2004 (until hiring in December 2004)	?	?	?	?

Weekend Special (round trip)	Club , office , silence		Traveler
	without BahnCard	with BahnCard	without BahnCard	with BahnCard
from August 27, 2001 (introduction of Return Special )	289 DM	216 DM	X	X
from September 1, 2001 (introduction of Traveler )	289 DM	216 DM	192 DM	145 DM
from January 1, 2002 (euro changeover)	147 € (287.51 DM)	110 € (215.14 DM)	98 € (191.67 DM)	74 € (144.73 DM)
from May 27, 2002	?	?	?	?
from April 1, 2004 (until hiring in December 2004)	?	?	?	?

Footnotes :

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} As of September 30, 2002, only one BahnCardFirst was recognized as a reason for a discount in the Club, Office and Silence areas. With normal 2nd class BahnCards, a discount could only be obtained from this point on in the Traveler category.

Introduction of the trial prices on May 1st, 2003

In order to further increase the uneconomical utilization of the MET even after the introduction of the Traveler category, Metropolitan Express Train GmbH introduced so-called “trial prices” in four different price levels on May 1, 2003 as part of a price offensive. If the contingent of trial prices in the cheapest category was already sold out, there were further allotments at three higher tariffs, but even the highest trial price level was still significantly cheaper than the flexible MET standard tariff. The trial prices could not be rebooked on other MET trains, the cancellation of such a ticket cost 20 euros (at certain price levels it was cheaper to let the ticket expire completely). The trial prices valid from May 1, 2003 were not changed until the Metropolitan was discontinued on December 11, 2004:

	Club , office , silence		Traveler
	without BahnCard	with BahnCard	without BahnCard	with BahnCard
step 1	29.90 €	€ 22.40	19.90 €	€ 14.90
Level 2	€ 49.90	€ 37.40	€ 39.90	29.90 €
level 3	€ 69.90	€ 52.40	€ 49.90	€ 37.40
Level 4	€ 89.90	€ 67.40	€ 59.90	€ 44.90

Footnotes :

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} In the Club , Office and Silence areas , only one BahnCardFirst (= BahnCard for 1st class) was recognized as a reason for a discount. With normal 2nd class BahnCards , on the other hand, a reduction could only be achieved in the Traveler category (this regulation was introduced on September 30, 2002, i.e. before the introduction of the trial prices ).

With these limited special tariffs an attempt was made to react to the increasing competition of the low-cost airlines , for the day of the introduction of the new trial prices even 1000 tickets were made available completely free of charge as part of a promotion (they were only valid on May 1, 2003 and were both online as well as bookable at the regular Deutsche Bahn counters). The trial prices were initially introduced on a trial basis for only two months (May and June 2003), but this test phase was later extended by a further two and a half months (July 1, 2003 to September 14, 2003). On September 1, 2003, Metropolitan Express Train GmbH finally announced that the trial prices would also be offered after September 14, 2003 and that they would also be permanently integrated into the Metropolitan tariff system .

From April 1, 2004 (on this date, the prices of the flexible normal-price tickets were increased), the purchase of a trial price was associated with an even greater percentage saving, because the price of the trial prices remained unchanged until the Metropolitan was discontinued on December 11, 2004 .

Interfaces to the DB tariff system

The MET tickets were fundamentally not compatible with the regular tariff system of DB AG . H. normal DB tickets could not be used in the Metropolitan, in return, Metropolitan tickets were not valid on the trains of the parent company DB AG . Passengers who wanted to use other trains before and after the Metropolitan had to buy up to three different tickets for their entire route. Exceptions to this basic rule were only made in the case of major operational disruptions (e.g. train cancellations); in such cases, tickets were, as an exception and as a goodwill, mutually recognized.

However, there was an exception for owners of a NetzCard (personal or transferable) or a BahnCard 100 (which replaced the NetzCard from August 1, 2003 but was only offered in a non-transferable version), they could use the Metropolitan - but only against Payment of an additional surcharge - can also be used with your network-wide DB ticket. This surcharge was justified with the additional services on board ( business snack , drinks, daily newspapers). With this surcharge, no distinction was made between the actual route from the start, it was always the same for all three possible relations:

Surcharges upon presentation of a NetzCard / BahnCard 100	Club , office , silence	Traveler
from August 1, 1999 (start-up MET )	30 DM	X
from September 1, 2001 (introduction of Traveler )	30 DM	20 DM
from January 1, 2002 (euro changeover)	15 € (29.34 DM)	€ 10 (DM 19.56)

Footnotes :

1. ↑ As of September 30, 2002, 2nd class NetzCards were only recognized in the Traveler category, with the BahnCard 100 , which was introduced later , this rule applied from the start.

Holders of major customer subscriptions or users of the major customer tariff were also entitled to discounted Metropolitan tickets, and Metropolitan passengers in the Office , Silence and Club car categories in the main train stations in Cologne and Hamburg also had free access to the DB Lounge , which is normally only for passengers in the first class and, since December 15, 2002, has also been available to passengers with frequent driver status as part of the frequent driver program bahn.comfort .

Awards and satisfaction

The Metropolitan received three awards for its design and company service:

• In January 2000 the Metropolitan received the Business Traveler Special Award 1999 for Service Excellence from the business travel magazine “Business Traveler” for its innovative concept and excellent service.
• In June 2000 the Metropolitan received the iF Product Design Award 2000 for outstanding design in combination with excellent environmental compatibility.
• On June 25, 2001, the Design Center North Rhine-Westphalia presented the red dot design award : product design - best of the best in Essen to the architect Meinhard von Gerkan for the design of the Metropolitan interior.

When surveyed, nine out of ten passengers said they were satisfied with the Metropolitan. In addition, 97% would ride again or recommend the Metropolitan to others.

criticism

Price and comfort system

• The incompatibility of the Metropolitan with the regular price and tariff system of the parent company DB AG was repeatedly criticized . Regular DB customers who were owners of the so-called "old" BahnCard and also owners of the BahnCard 50 introduced on August 1, 2003 (which arose from the "old" BahnCard and also offered a 50% discount) were particularly hard hit by this lack of compatibility ). In contrast to the usual discount, they only received a 25% discount at the Metropolitan. These regular customers repeatedly argued that Metropolitan Express Train GmbH was actually a wholly-owned subsidiary of DB AG .
• Passengers who wanted to use other trains before and after the Metropolitan had to buy up to three different tickets for their entire route due to the incompatibility of the tariff systems between the parent company and the subsidiary. As a result, the price degression usually granted on longer routes was lost. This had a particularly negative impact from December 2002, as DB introduced a particularly pronounced degression in prices at that time.
• The incompatibility of the tariff systems also had a negative impact on passengers who could not reach one of the comparatively infrequent metropolitan trains in time and instead wanted to take another train: They had to get their MET ticket first - despite the generally higher fare cancel and then book a regular ICE or IC ticket separately, as Metropolitan tickets were not valid in the standard DB AG products . Many of the passengers affected found this procedure to be extremely bureaucratic and inflexible.
• Many potential Metropolitan passengers could not do anything with the different names of the initially three, later even four different comfort areas because they were used to the internationally common two-class scheme. A large part of this group of people could not, or only with great difficulty, estimate which service could be expected for which fare. This factor played a major role on the only metropolitan route from Hamburg to Cologne because the parent company DB Fernverkehr AG (with the standard product InterCity ) and the subsidiary Metropolitan competed directly with one another on this route .
• With the introduction of the Metropolitan trial prices on May 1, 2003 at the latest, the Metropolitan price system itself came under fire because many viewers found it confusing. Since then, there have been five different fares for a single journey in each of the two price categories; for a return journey, this variety of fares has increased to up to 27 possible fares in each of the two price categories. In addition, the particularly low trial prices were also criticized as pure lure offers, which in reality were very difficult or impossible to obtain.
• Parallel to the introduction of the low- cost traveler category and the various special tariffs, however, the flexible normal prices were disproportionately increased in the five years of operation in the course of four different price increases (compared to inflation or the price increases at the parent company). For example, a trip over the entire Cologne-Hamburg route between the introduction of the Metropolitan on August 1, 1999 and April 1, 2004 (last price increase before the train was discontinued on December 11, 2004) increased by 29.3% (from 180 DM to 119 euros). The price increases on the shorter routes Düsseldorf – Hamburg (36.9% - from 170 DM to 119 euros) and Essen – Hamburg (45.5% - from 160 DM to 119 euros) were even greater, mainly due to the introduction the relation- independent area prices as of September 27, 2001 (which no longer took account of the actual distance traveled).

Other criticism

• The excessive use of Anglicisms on the Metropolitan Express Train was also frequently criticized ; in addition to the proper product name itself, this criticism also applied to a large part of all other terms used in connection with the MET: Office , Silence , Traveler , Operation Supervisor , Return Special , Weekend Special , Business Snack , Metropolitan Guide , getMET tariff and area prices. Older passengers who were less linguistic in particular often had difficulties classifying these terms, even if this group of the population did not belong to the primary target group of MET GmbH .
• Some of the passengers also found the leather seats, which are predominantly used in the two train sets, to be unusually slippery (this did not apply to the former traveler category [most recently 2nd class] in cars 1 and 2 - these two cars had fabric-covered seats since summer 2001 ).

The Metropolitan as a test field for innovations from DB AG

The parent company DB Fernverkehr used the Metropolitan again and again to test innovations, especially tariff innovations, initially within the framework of a small and manageable customer base, before these were then extended (in a modified form) to all DB Fernverkehr trains.

Tariff innovations in the MET

• At the start of operations on August 1, 1999, the Metropolitan already had the option - for the first time in Germany - to book train journeys online (with DB AG only seat reservations could previously be booked, but not the tickets themselves via the Internet) the company's own website www.met.de . On October 25, 1999, the online booking option was finally introduced at the parent company DB AG , but initially only as part of the Surf & Rail special offer, which has now been discontinued . However, a different authentication procedure was used for both the MET tickets booked online and the Surf & Rail tickets than is customary for today's online tickets. In the beginning, an identity card or passport was sufficient as legitimation, the train attendants carried lists with them, on which all bookings for the respective train were recorded ( Surf & Rail was only offered for long-distance trains and was tied to the use of a specific train, just like the MET tickets due to the reservation requirement, it was only possible to book a specific train).
• Despite 100% affiliation with the DB Group, BahnCard owners in the Metropolitan were only granted a 25% discount from the very beginning ( i.e. when operations started on August 1, 1999) (instead of the usual 50% discount in the regular DB AG tariff system ). In December 2002, DB temporarily transferred this lower discount level to its entire price system (in return for cheaper purchase prices for the so-called “new BahnCard” introduced at the time). However, from August 1, 2003 (as a result of massive passenger protests), two different discount levels were offered, in addition to the BahnCard discount level of only 25% , which was tested in the Metropolitan (with the "new BahnCard" introduced in mid-December 2002, which later became permanent as BahnCard 25) was established) and the well-known discount level of 50% (with the reintroduced classic BahnCard , which has been marketed under the new name BahnCard 50 since August 1, 2003 ). Regardless of this, only the lower discount level of 25% continued to apply in the Metropolitan until it was discontinued on December 11, 2004 (regardless of which BahnCard variant it was).
• From March 1, 2001, Metropolitan passengers (as well as 1st class passengers in the ICE Sprinter ) could for the first time also acquire bonus miles for train journeys for the frequent flyer program Miles & More of the German airline Lufthansa . This model test was ended again on December 31, 2003, but the experience that DB AG was able to gain through this cooperation was later incorporated into the development of two of its own customer loyalty programs. The main result of this partnership between Lufthansa and DB AG is the bahn.comfort frequent driver program introduced on December 15, 2002 (which corresponds to the concept of Miles & More status miles ) as well as the rewards program launched on September 1, 2005 bahn.bonus (which corresponds to the concept of Miles & More award miles ).
• The special offers introduced at the Metropolitan on August 27, 2001, Return Special (20% discount, limited train, only for outward and return journeys, 2 days in advance) and Weekend Special (30% discount, limited train, only for outward and return journeys, weekend binding, 5th Days in advance) served as a model for the special offers Plan & Spar 25 (25% discount, train connection, only for outward and return journeys, 3 days advance booking) and Plan & Spar 40 (40% discount ) introduced nationwide in December 2002 (together with the new BahnCard regulation) , Train connection, only for outward and return journeys, weekend connection, 7 days in advance). In addition, a BahnCard discount of 25% was granted on the Return Special and Weekend Special offers. This possibility of combining various discounts, which was first practiced in the Metropolitan , was an essential feature of the new DB price system introduced in December 2002.
• Since September 30, 2002, only one BahnCard First has been recognized as a reason for a discount in the MET areas Club , Office and Silence . With normal 2nd class BahnCards, a discount could only be obtained from this point on in the Traveler category . This change was carried over to the entire DB tariff system a little later, passengers with a normal 2nd class BahnCard no longer received any discounts on 1st class journeys (before this was at least partially possible, the passengers concerned only had to pay the Pay the difference between the two car classes in full, but the discount on the 2nd class ticket was retained).
• The trial prices introduced in the Metropolitan on May 1, 2003 (allotment, specific train connections, one-way trip) served as a model for the nationwide special summer tariffs (July 1 to August 31, 2004), November-summer (November 1 ), which were initially only temporarily offered to December 11, 2004), autumn special (November 4 to December 9, 2005), winter special (February 1 to March 2, 2006), summer special (July 15 to August 31, 2006) and spring -Special (April 4 to May 15, 2007). As of June 13, 2007, these offers were firmly integrated into the DB tariff system (like the trial prices at the Metropolitan ), this tariff has since been marketed under the name Permanent Special (from 29 euros, further price levels up to a maximum of 69 euros).

Other innovations in the MET

Metropolitan design mug

• The “at-the-seat service” typical of the Metropolitan areas of Club , Office and Silence, with meals provided by train attendants, was later offered on all DB Fernverkehr trains (also only in 1st class). In contrast to the Metropolitan, however, only on request and only against separate payment, while with the Metropolitan a small meal was already included in the fare.
• Since the conversion of car 3 ( office category) into a purely non-smoking car on September 1, 2001 (simultaneously with the introduction of the traveler category), a non-smoking bar has also been offered in the Metropolitan . On October 1, 2006, a smoking ban was finally introduced in all board bistros of DB AG , which was then extended to all wagons.

Other Information

The Metropolitan Express Train GmbH operated its own call center , which was reached daily 6:00 to 22:00 (charges initially 0.24 DM per minute, from 1 January 2002 then € 0.12 per minute). Among other things, tickets for the Metropolitan could also be booked there directly, and these were then sent by post. Regardless of this, it was also possible to book tickets on the Internet at www.met.de and via the normal sales channels of the parent company DB AG (ticket offices , travel centers, travel agencies).

In the meantime, the expansion of the metropolitan operations to other routes was planned, including Frankfurt / Main – Munich and Frankfurt / Main – Berlin. However, following the negative experience with insufficient capacity utilization on the Cologne – Hamburg pilot line, DB rejected these projects again.

In the period from December 24, 2003 to January 4, 2004, the Metropolitan did not operate at all due to regular maintenance work. The company was completely shut down because there were no replacement sets. On December 23, 2003, the Metropolitan was only operating to a limited extent for the same reason.

In the event of a complete failure of one of the two Metropolitan train sets, it was usually replaced by an ICE 2 half-train. Overall, however, the two trains achieved a high level of reliability; there is no known case of both trains failing completely at the same time.

The PR agency Trimedia Communications Deutschland GmbH , based in Frankfurt (Main), was responsible for the public appearance of Metropolitan Express Train GmbH (including for press contacts ) as well as for the Metropolitan advertising campaigns .

As a further special feature, in contrast to conventional trains, no payloads (only hand luggage), no bicycles (including fully packed bicycles or folding bicycles) and no animals (except guide dogs, which were transported free of charge) were allowed in the Metropolitan .

Initially, the managing director of Metropolitan Express Train GmbH was Stefan Karl Eishold. The management was continued by Christian Brambring.

As part of a special co-operation between the Metropolitan Express train GmbH and the car rental company Europcar in the carriage 5 (could Office area) at a Self Service Terminal car rental company Europcar already out of the train for the desired Metropolitan be ordered -Zielbahnhof. In addition, the company offered Europcar the Metropolitan -Kunden under this cooperation exclusive valet parking to. With this service, Europcar employees took the Metropolitan passengers' own car and parked it at the respective departure station while the passenger was able to get on the train without looking for a parking space ( Europcar charged a fee of 29 DM for the first day for this service the normal parking garage fees were due for all subsequent days).

There is still no series-produced model of the complete Metropolitan train, only one of the two silver Metropolitan locomotives (the 101 130-1) was reproduced by the Austrian model railway company Roco on a scale of 1:87 (H0 scale). In addition, the model railway company Heris was planning to realize a metropolitan car train on a scale of 1:87 on a reference ticket (only as many models would have been produced as there would have been customers), but this project was not realized. Announced for the first quarter of 2011, the Dutch model railway manufacturer LS Models was to produce the complete sets in all three variants (silver with Metropolitan logo, silver with DB logo, IC / ICE color light gray, traffic red) in H0 gauge, in each case as a DC and AC model with or without digital sound.

MET GmbH business data

Fiscal year	Equity in € m	Sales in € million	Change in sales compared to previous year in%	Employees on December 31
1999	4.3	5.6	not applicable	11
2000	4.3	16.0	184.2	11
2001	4.3	18.8	17.7	12
2002	4.4	20.6	9.8	11
2003	4.4	16.1	−22.1	12
2004	k. A.	k. A.	k. A.	k. A.

Footnotes :

1. ↑ In this table only the employees of the head office in Bad Homburg (administration, call center) are recorded, but not the support staff on board the train or the train drivers (in the case of the Metropolitan also train drivers).
2. ↑ DB did not disclose any business data for the last year of operation of its subsidiary (2004 annual report, published in spring 2005), at the time when the balance sheet was drawn up, MET GmbH had already been wound up.

The decline and end of Metropolitan Express Train GmbH

Insufficient utilization and losses

The Metropolitan in the old, silver-gray color scheme on August 9, 2004 in Buchholz (Nordheide), coming from the freight line from Maschen

The Metropolitan was very poorly utilized in all five years of operation from the perspective of the operator, the utilization was always far below the average utilization of the regular long-distance trains of the parent company DB AG . Around two months after starting operations, the metropolitan connections achieved occupancy rates of between 50 and 60 percent on Monday morning and Friday afternoon, but in the overall weekly analysis, the trains only achieved a comparatively low average occupancy rate of around 30 percent. In the course of the first two years of operation, the total occupancy rose to an average of 35 to 40 percent (as of summer 2001), but it was still well below the economic limit (only on trade fair days was it possible to achieve a satisfactory occupancy rate). There was a setback in passenger numbers in the first quarter of 2003, when the Metropolitan lost “every fourth passenger” according to DB AG (DB blamed the competing low-cost airlines for this development). As a rule, Deutsche Bahn AG did not publish any exact information about the amount of the loss of its subsidiary, but it became public that the luxury train could not be operated economically in any of the five financial years. Only for the year 2003 is it known that the Metropolitan made a loss of 3.8 million euros with a total turnover of 16.1 million euros.

The Metropolitan train type is discontinued

At the balance sheet press conference on August 16, 2004, Deutsche Bahn confirmed a media report that the Metropolitan concept should be discontinued. A specific date had not yet been set at this point in time.

The reasons for the discontinuation of the offer are considered to be the low capacity utilization and lack of profitability . According to a media report, Metropolitan Express Train GmbH made a loss of 3.8 million euros in 2003 with a turnover of 21.3 million euros. The average occupancy was only around 35 percent instead of the planned 50.

However, the train continued to operate until the next regular timetable change. The last day of operation of the train, as a train type and under the leadership of the operating company Metropolitan , was Saturday, December 11, 2004. As with the earlier attempt to revive the TEE Rheingold (as a pure first-class train) (until 1987), the DB failed again with an exclusive access offer. The numerous promotional campaigns in 2001 (introduction of the low-cost traveler category, introduction of low-cost return tickets) and 2003 (introduction of particularly low trial prices) could not stop the decline of the Metropolitan train. In particular, the low-cost airlines, which were also booming during this period, ruined all efforts to increase capacity utilization.

The clocked connections of the Metropolitan were replaced in the early morning hours by an ICE Sprinter from Hamburg to Cologne (and vice versa). The ICE Sprinters are similarly expensive in first class with a normal price of 122 euros (as of December 2004) and, with a journey time of 3:30 hours, similarly fast as the Metropolitan. Other parallels: the ICE Sprinter also requires a reservation, and the ICE Sprinter also includes a snack in the fare. The other three metropolitan connections (morning, afternoon, evening) were not explicitly replaced, however; passengers on these three pairs of trains had to switch back to the regular long-distance services offered by DB AG .

Continued use of the train sets

After initial considerations, the two trains should be “preserved” and parked. However, the parent company (DB-Fernverkehr) made a different decision at very short notice. In order to be able to continue to use the relatively young trains in long-distance traffic, they were adapted to the other long-distance trains of the DB a few days before the Metropolitan was discontinued. You received z. B. regular class names, red DB logos (instead of the MET logos), insert labels for reservation slips and brackets for plastic train route labels (in the door windows).

However, nothing has been changed in the high-quality interior of the two trains, which still shows today that it is a special train. The former traveler area (cars 1 and 2) has since extended exclusively to the second class, the former Silence, Office and Club cars were then divided between the two car classes (2nd class = cars 3, 4 and 5; 1st class = cars 6 and 7). The bar in car 3 was closed, the remaining bar in car 6 (1st class) has since been referred to as the "BordBistro" and is accessible to passengers of both car classes. There are no structural differences in comfort between coaches 3, 4 and 5 (2nd class) and coaches 6 and 7 (1st class); the two areas are only identified by the additional service in 1st class and the small numbers on the intermediate doors recognizable, but not by the interior design.

In use from December 12, 2004 to June 11, 2005

The day after the Metropolitan was shut down, the two trains were used as an ICE. The use of locomotive-hauled trains in ICE traffic was a novelty (previously in Germany only multiple units or multiple units were used as ICE). The two sets were quickly relocated from the Hamburg-Eidelstedt depot to the Berlin-Rummelsburg depot (from now on Hamburg was no longer served as planned by the two sets, further stationing in Hamburg-Eidelstedt would have involved numerous empty runs). The following train services were operated by DB Fernverkehr with the two trains from December 12, 2004 :

Train direction sign of the ICE 1746 to Cologne

Train direction sign of the ICE 1747 to Berlin

number	from	Departure	to	Arrivals	Day
ICE 1745	Düsseldorf main station	13:37	Berlin Zoological Garden	19:20	mo – so
ICE 1746	Berlin Zoological Garden	16:37	Köln Hbf	22:46	mo – fr, so
ICE 1747	Köln Hbf	05:11	Berlin Zoological Garden	11:16	mo – fr, so
ICE 1748	Berlin Zoological Garden	06:41	Düsseldorf main station	12:32	mo – so

The two sets were repainted at the beginning of 2005 for the new inserts.

Despite their use as an ICE, the two train sets initially still never drove anywhere faster than 200 km / h, because none of the route sections traveled by the four ICE trains in question has been developed or approved for speeds over 200 km / h.

Repainting in January 2005

Köln Hbf : a MET train set in use as InterCity, the front of the control car is reminiscent of the regular IC control car

Side view of two MET wagons, due to the special design of the doors, they can be easily distinguished from a regular IC or ICE from this perspective.

Between January 3 and 29, 2005, the two car sets were repainted one after the other in the Neumünster repair shop in the regular color scheme of the IC and ICE train types (first multiple unit 930 until January 15, then multiple unit 931 from January 16), i.e. . H. On January 15, 2005, a train in the former Metropolitan corporate design was in operation for the last time, on January 16, 2005 the first scheduled operation of a repainted Metropolitan train took place. Like all other DB Fernverkehr trains, the two sets have been presented in the basic color light gray since January 2005, which is supplemented by a surrounding red decorative stripe (in the form of a waist band). During the repainting campaign (from January 3 to 29, 2005) the trains ICE 1745 and ICE 1748 were replaced by conventional ICEs, initially by an ICE 1 (from January 3 to 22, 2005), then by an ICE 2 ( from 22nd to 29th January 2005). The other two trains (ICE 1746 and ICE 1747), on the other hand, also ran with one of the two MET trains during the repainting phase. The two main locomotives 101 130-3 and 101 131-1 were also given the traffic red color scheme of the other 101s, but they were repainted in the Dessau repair shop .

Since this repainting, the two wagon trains hardly differ at first glance from a normal IC or ICE, which is why they are no longer recognizable from the outside as special trains for laypeople. Since then, the cars have had the continuous black window band that is typical of the ICE, but differ from the ICE appearance through the square windows of the entrance doors (with the typical thick black frames). Differentiating features to the InterCity are the missing gray areas on the roofs and around the front window of the control car, whereas the class 101 locomotives, which are now painted traffic red again, are very reminiscent of locomotives with conventional InterCity sets.

In the course of the repainting, the self-cleaning toilets (with a rotating toilet seat) were replaced by standard models.

In use from June 12, 2005 to December 10, 2005

After only six months, when the timetable was changed on June 12, 2005, the trains operated with the Metropolitan trains were downgraded to normal InterCitys , and the train services and their routes also changed in some cases:

Train destination sign of IC 1744 in June 2005

number	from	Departure	to	Arrivals	Day
IC 1744	Leipzig Central Station	10:38	Dortmund Central Station	15:29	mo – fr, so
IC 1745	Düsseldorf main station	13:37	Leipzig Central Station	19:18	mo – fr, so
IC 1745	Düsseldorf main station	13:37	Magdeburg		sa
IC 1748	Dresden Central Station	05:08	Düsseldorf main station	12:32	mo – fr
IC 1748	Leipzig		Düsseldorf main station	12:32	sa
IC 1748	Magdeburg		Düsseldorf main station	12:32	so
IC 1749	Dortmund Central Station	16:28	Dresden	22:55	mo – do, so
IC 1749	Leipzig		Dresden	22:55	fr

The problem in this timetable period was the fact that the two train sets did not reach their home depot in Berlin-Rummelsburg with either of the two pairs of trains. The result was extensive and uneconomical empty trips, which were carried out as so-called "empty travel trains" (Lr) (in this way it was ensured that each of the two sets still reached its home depot after two days at the latest):

number	from	Departure	to	Arrivals	Day
Lr 75748	Berlin-Rummelsburg	06:01	Magdeburg Central Station	07:57	Sunday
Lr 75823	Magdeburg Central Station	18:01	Berlin-Rummelsburg	19:31	Saturdays
Lr 75744	Berlin-Rummelsburg	07:57	Leipzig Central Station	10:28	mo – fr, so
Lr 75821	Leipzig Central Station	19:38	Berlin-Rummelsburg	21:44	mo – fr, so

In use from December 11, 2005 to May 27, 2006

From mid-December 2005, the operational concept changed completely: the two sets were now used again as ICE, but they were only used for weekend repeater trains (both sets were parked from Monday morning to Friday afternoon). The two trains now came to Kassel and Frankfurt am Main on schedule for the first time , and (as in earlier Metropolitan times) again to Hamburg and Cologne. In the 2006 annual timetable, the following services were operated on the former Metropolitan trains:

Metropolitan car in March 2006 in Düsseldorf

number	from	Departure	to	Arrivals	Day
ICE 1842	Berlin Ostbahnhof	14:10	Köln Hbf	19:14	friday
ICE 1943	Köln Hbf	16:38	Berlin Zoo	21:52	Sunday
ICE 1891	Hanover Central Station	15:10	Frankfurt (M) Hbf	17:50	friday
ICE 1892	Frankfurt (M) Hbf	18:22	Berlin Ostbahnhof	23:06	friday
ICE 1891	Berlin Ostbahnhof	12:52	Frankfurt (M) Hbf	17:50	Sunday
ICE 1872	Frankfurt (M) Hbf	18:22	Hamburg-Altona	23:06	Sunday
ICE 1991	Hamburg Altona	07:42	Berlin Zoo	10:12	on Monday

The associated locomotives of the class 101 were planned in larger rotations - in the times when the two car sets were not in use, they pulled other trains.

In use from May 28, 2006 to December 9, 2006

When the new Berlin Central Station went into operation at the end of May 2006, the timetables for the two Metropolitan trains also changed. It was still only driven on weekends. Trains were turned off Tuesdays through Thursdays and Saturdays. However, the mileage decreased slightly compared to the previous timetable period. The trains ran as Intercity; An exception, however, was 1992, which was used as an Intercity Express.

Train destination sign of the ICE 1992, which only ran on Mondays

number	from	Departure	to	Arrivals	Day
IC 1842	Berlin		Köln Hbf	19:14	friday
IC 1943	Köln Hbf	16:38	Berlin		Sunday
IC 1891	Hanover Central Station	15:10	Frankfurt / Main Hbf	17:50	friday
IC 1892	Frankfurt / Main Hbf	18:22	Berlin		friday
IC 1891	Berlin		Frankfurt / Main Hbf	17:50	Sunday
IC 1892	Frankfurt / Main Hbf	18:22	Berlin		Sunday
ICE 1992	Berlin Südkreuz	06:52	Hamburg-Altona	09:04	on Monday

Use from December 10, 2006 to December 11, 2009

Train destination sign of the IC 1818 "Loreley", which was wrongly depicted as an ICE train

When the timetable changed in December 2006, there was no further change in the type of train at short notice. However, this decision was made at relatively short notice, because in February 2007 the trains in question were incorrectly marked as ICE on the train route signs, and they were also displayed as ICE on the electronic departure boards of some stations. With the IC-train pair 1818/1819 (/ 1811) " Loreley " comfortable sets first came to southern Germany, after the stations were Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof , Bahnhof Wiesloch-Walldorf , Heidelberg main station , Hauptbahnhof Mannheim , Wiesbaden main station , Hauptbahnhof Mainz , Koblenz Main and Bonn Hauptbahnhof are served by them (in these stations the two train sets were not previously scheduled to be found).

For three years, the MET multiple unit car sets drove a similar circulation.

With the pair of relief trains on the IC line 16 between Frankfurt am Main and Berlin (IC 1878/1895) on Sunday, the MET multiple units were back to Frankfurt / Main as scheduled from December 9, 2007 after a one-year break.

With the new timetable on December 14, 2008, the train route for IC 1118/1119 was extended beyond Cologne to Düsseldorf and the train numbers were changed from "18xx" to "11xx".

Nine-day cycle

Number 2007/2008	Number 2009	Surname	from	Departure	to	Arrivals	Traffic days 2007	Traffic days 2008	Traffic days 2009
IC 1842	IC 1113		Berlin Südkreuz	14:01	Köln Hbf	19:15	friday	friday	friday
IC 1811	IC 1111	"Loreley"	Dortmund Central Station	11:52	Stuttgart Central Station	16:46	Sunday	Sunday	Sunday
IC 1896	IC 1196		Stuttgart Central Station	20:35	Wiesbaden Central Station	22:33	Sunday	Sunday	Sunday
IC 1899	IC 1199		Mannheim Central Station	05:57	Stuttgart Central Station	07:00	mo – fr	mo, tue, thu, fr	mo, tue, thu, fr
IC 1818	(IC 1118)	"Loreley"	Stuttgart Central Station	07:14	Köln Hbf	10:42	mo – do	mo, tue, thu
(IC 1818)	IC 1118	"Loreley"	Stuttgart Central Station	07:14	Düsseldorf main station	11:06			mo, tue, thu
IC 1819	(IC 1119)	"Loreley"	Köln Hbf	15:18	Stuttgart Central Station	18:46	mo – do	mo, mi, do
(IC 1819)	IC 1119	"Loreley"	Düsseldorf main station	14:51	Stuttgart Central Station	18:46			mo, mi, do
IC 1898	IC 1198		Stuttgart Central Station	19:03	Mannheim Central Station	20:05	mo – do	mo, mi, do	mo, mi, do
IC 1818 (IC 1814)	(IC 1112)	"Loreley"	Stuttgart Central Station	07:14	Berlin Ostbf	15:56	friday
IC 1814 (IC 1818)	IC 1112	"Loreley"	Stuttgart Central Station	07:14	Berlin Südkreuz	16:04		friday	friday
IC 1840			Berlin Ostbf	16:59	Köln Hbf	22:17	friday
IC 1841			Köln Hbf	16:35	Berlin Südkreuz	22:10	Sunday
IC 1895	IC 1193		Berlin Südkreuz	13:01	Frankfurt (M) Hbf	17:44		Sunday	Sunday
IC 1878	IC 1178		Frankfurt (M) Hbf	18:22	Berlin Südkreuz	22:59		Sunday	Sunday

Footnotes :

1. ↑ 2007 one minute earlier
2. ↑ 2007 six minutes later
3. ↑ 2007 two minutes later
4. ↑ 2009 four minutes earlier
5. ↑ 2009 a minute later
6. ↑ 2009 one minute earlier

The last seven-part Metropolitan wagon train, which ran before the conversion to an eleven-part unit, went to Berlin on November 20, 2009 as IC 1112 with 101 126.

In use from December 13, 2009 to March 19, 2011

Eleven-car train as ICE 1100 in Berlin Hbf (low)

Eleven-car train as ICE 1105 from Hamburg to Berlin Hbf (deep)

When the timetable changed on December 13, 2009, the two train units were converted into an eleven-part train. This has since operated as a sandwich between two of the special class 101 locomotives . It was used on the ICE line 28 (north) Hamburg - Berlin , which freed an ICE-1 unit. In addition, she drove here for the first time according to the schedule at her maximum speed of 220 km / h. The train was therefore only slightly slower than a regular ICE on the upgraded route, which was largely designed for 230 km / h, and runs during its travel times. The Metropolitan only stopped in Berlin Hauptbahnhof (lowlands), Berlin-Spandau (not ICE 1107), Hamburg Hauptbahnhof and Hamburg Dammtor (not ICE 1100).

For the timetable change on December 12, 2010, the circulation was retained, only ICE 1107 got an additional stop in Ludwigslust.

Train direction sign of the ICE 1100

Daily circulation

number	from	Departure	to	Arrivals	Days of traffic
ICE 1106	Berlin Südkreuz	10:08	Hamburg-Altona	12:17	mo – so
ICE 1105	Hamburg-Altona	13:52	Berlin Südkreuz	15:55	mo – so
ICE 1100	Berlin Südkreuz	16:09	Hamburg-Altona	18:11	mo – fr, so
ICE 1107	Hamburg-Altona	19:52	Berlin Südkreuz	21:52	mo – fr, so

Footnotes :

1. ↑ 2011 two minutes earlier
2. ↑ 2011 one minute earlier
3. ↑ ^{a b} 2011 a minute later
4. ↑ 2011 twelve minutes earlier

Use from March 20, 2011 to March 12/19 June 2011

Train composition plan from your travel plan

From March 15 to 16, 2011, following a short-term decision by DB Fernverkehr, the eleven-car unit was dissolved and the two seven-part units were formed again. Starting on Sunday March 20, 2011, the circuit was supplemented by a pair of ICE trains from Berlin via Halle (Saale) and Nuremberg to Munich and back. This was the first time the metropolitan train traveled to Bavaria , temporarily replacing another ICE-1 unit.

Train direction sign of the ICE 915 to Munich

Train direction sign of the ICE 914 to Berlin

two daily circulation (internal 14-day circulation)

number	from	Departure	to	Arrivals	Days of traffic
ICE 1106	Berlin Südkreuz	10:08	Hamburg-Altona	12:15	mo – so
ICE 1105	Hamburg-Altona	13:52	Berlin Südkreuz	15:54	mo – so
ICE 1100	Berlin Südkreuz	16:09	Hamburg-Altona	18:12	mo – fr, so
ICE 1107	Hamburg-Altona	19:40	Berlin Südkreuz	21:53	mo – fr, so
ICE 915	Berlin Gesundbrunnen	06:31	Munich central station	13:13	mo – so
ICE 914	Munich central station	15:16	Berlin Gesundbrunnen	21:28	mo – so

Footnotes :

1. ↑ From June 13, 2011 14:40 (via Augsburg instead of Ingolstadt)

In use from June 20, 2011 to December 10, 2011

ICE 915 to Munich in Ludwigsstadt in Upper Franconia

ICE 914 to Berlin in Munich main station main hall

From June 20, 2011, there was another change in the use of the trains within a timetable period. Since the seat capacity of the circuit between Hamburg and Berlin was now four cars smaller, the car train was used in other time slots. This enabled the metropolitan train to travel directly between Leipzig and Hamburg. The ICE 914 ran from June 13, 2011 like the ICE 915 via Augsburg Hbf and no longer ran on Saturdays for a maintenance break.

number	from	Departure	to	Arrivals	Days of traffic
ICE 915	Berlin Gesundbrunnen	06:31	Munich central station	13:14	mo – fr, so
ICE 914	Munich central station	14:40	Berlin Gesundbrunnen	21:28	mo – fr, so
ICE 1101	Berlin Gesundbrunnen	06:43	Leipzig Central Station	08:05	mo – so
ICE 1196	Leipzig Central Station	09:51	Hamburg Altona	13:11	mo – so
ICE 1197	Hamburg Altona	14:54	Leipzig Central Station	18:05	mo – so
ICE 1194	Leipzig Central Station	19:45	Berlin Central Station	21:04	mo – do
ICE 1194	Leipzig Central Station	19:51	Berlin Central Station	21:04	fr – so

Vehicle use from December 11, 2011 to December 8, 2012

As of the timetable change on December 11, 2011, the operating concept was essentially retained. The Munich circulation also received the 11xx train numbers and ran in a north-south direction via Ingolstadt Hbf . The Hamburg circulation kept the previous train numbers. The travel times only changed by a minute:

Train number	from	Departure	to	Arrivals	Days of traffic	over
ICE 1105	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	06:33	Munich central station	12:47	so – fr	Halle (Saale) Hbf , Ingolstadt Hbf
ICE 1104	Munich central station	14:49	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	21:28	so – fr	Augsburg Hbf , Halle (Saale) Hbf
ICE 1101	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	06:44	Leipzig Central Station	08:05	mo – so
ICE 1196	Leipzig Central Station	09:51	Hamburg-Altona	13:16	mo – so	Berlin Central Station
ICE 1107	Hamburg-Altona	14:52	Leipzig Central Station	18:06	mo – so	Berlin Central Station
ICE 1194	Leipzig Central Station	19:51	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	21:13	mo – so

The timetable was changed on September 30, 2012. The trains of the Hamburger Umlauf (ICE 1101, 1196, 1107 and 1194) have been running on schedule with ICE-T sets since then. Since that date, the necessary technical overhauls have been carried out on the trains one after the other. Thus, only one set was available and was used every day except Saturdays as a Munich circulation. Hamburg had thus lost its metropolitan suits for the second time in its timetable history.

Vehicle use from December 9, 2012 to December 13, 2014

With the timetable change on December 9, 2012, the modified operating concept from September 30, 2012 was essentially retained until January 13, 2013. From January 14, 2013, both routes ran via Munich, ICE line 28 (ICE 100x: ICE 1005, 1004 except on Saturdays; ICE 1003, 1008 mo – sa and ICE 1009, 1000 on Sundays). The travel times of the existing line only changed by minutes.

Train number	from	Departure 2013; 2014	to	Arrival 2013; 2014	Days of traffic	over
ICE 1005	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	06:20; 06:30	Munich central station	12:47; 13:11	so – fr	Halle (Saale) Hbf , Ingolstadt Hbf
ICE 1004	Munich central station	14:49	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	21:31; 21:27	so – fr	Augsburg Hbf , Halle (Saale) Hbf
ICE 1003	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	04:20; 04:30	Munich central station	10:45	mo – sa	Halle (Saale) Hbf, Ingolstadt Hbf
ICE 1008	Munich central station	13:19	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	20:13	mo – sa	Augsburg Hbf, Leipzig Hbf
ICE 1009	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	09:43; 09:45	Munich central station	16:40; 16:41	Sunday	Leipzig Hbf, Augsburg Hbf
ICE 1000	Munich central station	17:42; 17:39	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	00:33; 00:37	Sunday	Augsburg Hbf, Leipzig Hbf

Footnotes :

1. ↑ ^{a b} 2013 timetable, from December 9, 2012 to December 15, 2013
2. ↑ ^{a b} timetable year 2014, from December 16, 2013 to December 12, 2014

Vehicle use from December 14, 2014 to December 12, 2015

Train number	from	Departure	to	Arrivals	Days of traffic	over
ICE 1001	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	05:41	Munich central station	12:41	mo – sa	Leipzig Hbf , Augsburg Hbf
ICE 1008	Munich central station	13:17	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	20:14	mo – sa	Augsburg Hbf, Leipzig Hbf
ICE 1005	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	06:30	Munich central station	12:47	so – fr	Halle (Saale) Hbf , Nürnberg Hbf
ICE 1004	Munich central station	15:16	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	21:27	so – fr	Nürnberg Hbf, Halle (Saale) Hbf
ICE 1009	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	09:45	Munich central station	16:41	Sunday	Leipzig Hbf, Augsburg Hbf
ICE 1000	Munich central station	17:39	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	00:38	Sunday	Augsburg Hbf, Leipzig Hbf

On June 2, 2015, a metropolitan unit leaves Leipzig Hbf as ICE 1001 Bln-Gesundbrunnen - Munich Hbf

Footnotes :

1. ↑ different route from March 30 to August 21, 2015 via NIM , earlier arrival in Munich at 12:04 p.m.
2. ↑ Different route from March 30 to August 21, 2015 via NIM, later departure in Munich at 1.53 p.m.
3. ↑ Different route from March 30 to August 21, 2015 via NIM, earlier arrival in Munich at 4:04 p.m.

Changes to train positions were only made with the ICE 1001, which swaps with the previous ICE 1605. According to this timetable, both train sets arrived at Munich Central Station Monday to Friday with a time difference of only 6 minutes.

Vehicle use from December 13, 2015 to December 10, 2016

Notification of schedule changes for failing ICE-MET in Berlin

The timetable year was marked by the 34-week line closure between Lichtenfels and Bamberg due to the connection of the new VDE 8.3 line in the Ebensfeld to Hallstadt section. During this time, the Metropolitan could not go to Munich, because ETCS equipment is absolutely necessary on the fixed diversion route, which at that time only had the ICE-T. For this period, assignments between Leipzig and Hamburg were planned accordingly. Due to the failure of a train for several weeks, due to defects in several bogies, and the upcoming necessary revision of both trains, which were planned one after the other, the timetable was changed at short notice from April 4, so that until September only one train was running and a. the ICE 1035, 1036 and 1136 were replaced by normal IC trains.

In the 2016 timetable year, the trains also ran from Berlin to Frankfurt (Main). The trains last got there on schedule in 2009 with IC 1193/1178.

December 13, 2015 to December 10, 2016

Train number	from	Departure	to	Arrivals	Days of traffic	over
ICE 1000	Munich central station	17:39	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	00:38	fr + so	Augsburg Hbf , Leipzig Hbf
ICE 1001	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	04:16	Munich central station	10:38	Saturdays	Leipzig Hbf, Ingolstadt Hbf
ICE 1002	Munich central station	16:41	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	23:42	mo – do	Augsburg Hbf, Leipzig Hbf
ICE 1003	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	05:17	Munich central station	12:04	mo – fr	Leipzig Hbf, Augsburg Hbf
ICE 1005	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	07:17	Munich central station	14:16	so – fr	Leipzig Hbf, Augsburg Hbf
ICE 1006	Munich central station	14:19	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	20:40	mo – thu, sat	Ingolstadt Hbf, Leipzig Hbf
ICE 1086	Munich central station	13:50	Berlin Südkreuz	20:16	friday	Würzburg central station , Göttingen
ICE 1031	Hamburg-Altona	20:20	Berlin-Südkreuz	22:35	so – fr	Berlin Central Station
ICE 1033	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	09:18	Leipzig Central Station	10:43	Saturdays	Lutherstadt Wittenberg
ICE 1034	Berlin-Südkreuz	12:29	Hamburg-Altona	14:39	so – fr	Berlin Central Station
ICE 1035	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	15:18	Leipzig Central Station	16:43	Saturdays	Lutherstadt Wittenberg
ICE 1036	Leipzig Central Station	13:15	Berlin-Gesundbrunnen	14:40	Saturdays	Lutherstadt Wittenberg
ICE 1038	Berlin-Südkreuz	05:24	Hamburg-Altona	07:39	mo – sa	Berlin Central Station
ICE 1039	Hamburg-Altona	09:20	Berlin-Südkreuz	11:31	so – fr	Berlin Central Station
ICE 1136	Leipzig Central Station	17:15	Berlin Central Station	18:30	Saturdays	Lutherstadt Wittenberg
ICE 1075	Berlin Südkreuz	12:54 pm	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf	17:40	(fr), so	Stendal , Hannover Hbf
ICE 1076	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf	18:22	Berlin Ostbahnhof	23:09	(fr), so	Hildesheim Hbf , Braunschweig Hbf

Special operating day regulations on public holidays are not shown

Footnotes :

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Zug will not operate during the line construction works from January 12 to September 2, 2016
2. ↑ The train will run from 9 September 2016
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Zug only runs from January 12 to September 2, 2016 (partially changed during the year up to April 4, 2016)
4. ↑ ^{a b} Zug also runs on Fridays from January 15 to July 15, 2016

Vehicle use from December 11, 2016 to December 9, 2017

In the 2017 timetable year, the Metropolitan trains ran daily from Berlin to Munich and on individual Fridays and Sundays to Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof. Due to the construction site, however, the timetable had several major gaps in the timetable lasting several weeks. Both trains were particularly affected from July 21 to September 2, 2017. During this time, due to the large Ostkreuz construction site in Berlin , the trains did not run due to the lack of a track connection to their maintenance facility and remained parked there. The trains at the Rummelsburg plant could not be serviced as a replacement either, as a major construction site there also restricted the track capacity. At the end of the timetable year in December 2017, the train circulation concept to Munich, which had been in practice since March 2011, was also discontinued with the commissioning of the VDE 8.1 high-speed route . A MET train under the identification ICE 1000 from Munich to Berlin was the last long-distance train after 131 years of long-distance traffic via / from Saalfeld (Saale) station , which was discontinued on December 10, 2017 on the VDE 8.1 route when the new timetable was changed .

Train number	from	Departure	to	Arrivals	Days of traffic	over
ICE 1005	Berlin Gesundbrunnen	07:18	Munich central station	14:16	mo – so	Leipzig Hbf, Augsburg Hbf
ICE 1000	Munich central station	17:16	Berlin Central Station	23:33	fr – so	Nürnberg Hbf, Leipzig Hbf
ICE 1002	Munich central station	16:40	Berlin Central Station	23:33	mi – so	Augsburg Hbf, Leipzig Hbf
ICE 1012	Munich central station	16:40	Berlin Central Station	00:09	mo – di	Augsburg Hbf, Leipzig Hbf
ICE 1071	Berlin Ostbahnhof	10:50	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf	15:43	fr + so	Hanover Central Station
ICE 1070	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf	16:14	Berlin Ostbahnhof	21:05	fr + so	Hanover Central Station

Special traffic day regulations on public holidays and numerous construction site closures are not shown.

Vehicle use from December 10, 2017 to December 8, 2018

In the 2018 timetable year, the metropolitan trains ran almost daily between Berlin and Frankfurt am Main airport long-distance train station and on Fridays and Sundays, except from mid-July to mid-September, between Berlin and Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof.

from December 10, 2017

Train number	from	Departure	to	Arrivals	Days of traffic	over
ICE 1040	Berlin Ostbahnhof	10:50	Düsseldorf main station	15:42	fr + so	Hannover Hbf, Dortmund Hbf
ICE 1043	Düsseldorf main station	17:10	Berlin Ostbahnhof	22:09	fr + so	Dortmund Hbf, Hannover Hbf
ICE 1193	Berlin Ostbahnhof	09:22	Frankfurt (M) airport long-distance train station	13:51	mo - so	Braunschweig Hbf, Frankfurt (M) Süd
ICE 1196	Frankfurt (M) airport long-distance train station	14:09	Berlin Ostbahnhof	18:38	mo - so	Frankfurt (M) Süd, Braunschweig Hbf

Special operating day regulations on public holidays and construction site closures are not shown.

Vehicle use from December 9, 2018

In the 2019 timetable year, the metropolitan trains run almost daily between Berlin and Frankfurt (Main) in the first half of the year and between Berlin and Hamburg on Saturdays in the second half of the year due to construction work on the high-speed line. Another pair of trains runs between Berlin and Düsseldorf on Fridays and Sundays.

Timetable year 2019 - from December 9, 2018

Train number	from	Departure	to	Arrivals	Days of traffic	over
ICE 1034	Berlin Südkreuz	9:31	Hamburg-Altona	11: 39/11: 43	from June 15, Sat.	Berlin Hbf - Berlin-Spandau - Hamburg Hbf
ICE 1035	Hamburg-Altona	16:18	Berlin Südkreuz	18:31	from June 15, Sat.	Hamburg Hbf - Berlin-Spandau - Berlin Hbf
ICE 1040	Berlin Ostbahnhof	10:50	Dusseldorf	15:42	Fri + Sun	Berlin Hbf - Hanover - Dortmund - Essen
ICE 1043	Dusseldorf	17:10	Berlin Ostbahnhof	22:14	Fri + Sun	Essen - Dortmund - Hanover - Wolfsburg - Stendal - Berlin Hbf
ICE 1193	Berlin Ostbahnhof	09:21	Frankfurt (M) Airport Fernbf	13:51	daily until June 10th	Berlin Hbf - Braunschweig - Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe - Frankfurt (M) Süd
ICE 1196	Frankfurt (M) Airport Fernbf	14:09	Berlin Ostbahnhof	18:39	daily until June 10th	Frankfurt (M) South - Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe - Braunschweig - Berlin Hbf

Special operating day regulations on / before / after public holidays and changes due to construction sites are not shown.

Vehicle use from December 15, 2019

Timetable year 2020 - from December 15, 2019

Train number	from	Departure	to	Arrivals
ICE 1040	Berlin Ostbahnhof	10:50	Düsseldorf main station	15:42
ICE 1043	Düsseldorf main station	17:10	Berlin Ostbahnhof	22:12
ICE 1131	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf	14:47	Berlin Ostbahnhof	19:11
ICE 1134	Berlin Central Station	07:53	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf	11:56
ICE 1141	Frankfurt (Main) Hbf	15:02	Berlin Central Station	19:18
ICE 1191	Berlin Ostbahnhof	09:21	Frankfurt (M) Airport Fernbf	13:51
ICE 1196	Frankfurt (M) Airport Fernbf	14:09	Berlin Ostbahnhof	18:38

Days of operation:

ICE 1040: from December 15, 2019, Friday and Sunday

ICE 1043: from December 15, 2019, Friday and Sunday

ICE 1131: from October 5, 2020, excluding Friday

ICE 1134: from October 5, 2020, daily

ICE 1141: from October 9, 2020, on Fridays

ICE 1191: from December 15, 2019 to October 4, 2020, daily

ICE 1196: from December 15, 2019 to October 4, 2020, daily

Train composition

Composition from August 1, 1999 to June 30, 2001

Car 1	Car 2	Car 3	Car 4	Car 5	Car 6	Car 7
Apmz 116.0	Apmz 116.2	Apmkz 116.6	Apmz 116.4	Apmz 116.4	Apmkz 116.6	Apmbzf 116.8
Silence	Silence	Bar and office	Office	Office	Bar and club	Club
57 seats	57 seats	39 seats	57 seats	57 seats	39 seats	45 seats
Non-smoker	Non-smoker	Smoker	Non-smoker	Non-smoker	Smoker	Non-smoker

• In the Silence area, the only one of the three areas was that no smoking areas were offered from the start.
• In the area of ​​the two bars (car 3 and 6) there are no more seats, only standing tables , smoking was allowed in both bars.
• In the direction of Hamburg, the MET trains always ran with the locomotive ahead (following car 1), in the direction of Cologne always with the control car (car 7) ahead.
• Car 7 (control car) is handicapped accessible (barrier-free).
• In car 5, there was also the self-service terminal of the rental company Europcar (from which rental cars could be pre-ordered for the exit point).

The composition ran from July 1, 2001 to August 31, 2001

		Car 3	Car 4	Car 5	Car 6	Car 7
		Apmkz 116.6	Apmz 116.4	Apmz 116.2	Apmkz 116.6	Apmbzf 116.8
		Bar and office	Office	Silence	Bar and club	Club
		39 seats	57 seats	57 seats	39 seats	45 seats
		Non-smoker	Non-smoker	Non-smoker	Smoker	Non-smoker

• In the summer of 2001, both train sets were in use shortened by two cars, at that time cars 1 and 5 were converted to the new traveler seating in the manufacturing plant in Dessau (which was then available to passengers from September 1, 2001).
• From July 1, 2001, smoking areas were only offered in the Club category ; the other areas were non-smoking from this point on (the bar in car 3 was also a non-smoking area from then on).
• During this time, the screw couplings of the locomotives were connected to the half-shell coupling of the third car with a special adapter coupling. For this purpose, the locomotives had an extra reinforced version of the draw hook so that they could push without restriction. The open crossover was closed with a metal bulkhead.

The composition ran from September 1, 2001 to December 11, 2004

Car 1	Car 2	Car 3	Car 4	Car 5	Car 6	Car 7
Apmz 116.0	Apmz 116.1	Apmkz 116.6	Apmz 116.4	Apmz 116.2	Apmkz 116.6	Apmbzf 116.8
Traveler	Traveler	Bar and office	Office	Silence	Bar and club	Club
74 seats	71 seats	39 seats	57 seats	57 seats	39 seats	45 seats
Non-smoker	Non-smoker	Non-smoker	Non-smoker	Non-smoker	Smoker	Non-smoker

• The transition between car 2 (traveler) and car 3 ( office and bar) was locked, passengers in the traveler area were therefore not allowed access to the other areas and the two bars (only the staff could pass through the corresponding connecting doors) .

Train composition from December 12, 2004 to November 24, 2009 and since March 16, 2011

Car 1	Car 2	Car 3	Car 4	Car 5	Car 6	Car 7
Apmz 116.0	Apmz 116.1	Apmkz 116.6	Apmz 116.4	Apmz 116.2	Apmkz 116.6	Apmbzf 116.8
2nd Class	2nd Class	2nd Class	2nd Class	2nd class / bahn.comfort	BordBistro / 1st class	1st class / bahn.comfort
74 seats	71 seats	39 seats	57 seats	57 seats	39 seats	45 seats
Smoker	Non-smoker	Non-smoker	Non-smoker	Non-smoker	Smoker	Non-smoker
since September 1st, 2007 nationwide non-smoker

Train set 930 on April 12, 2012 without car 3 on the way near Baiersdorf

• The transition between car 2 (former traveler area) and car 3 (former office area) was again possible without restrictions since December 12, 2004 (both cars have since belonged to the 2nd class area).
• The second (smoke-free) bar in car 3 has been closed as scheduled since December 12, 2004 (however, it has not been structurally changed and can be put back into operation at any time). The remaining bar in car 6 has since been called the BordBistro (name analogous to the classic ICE and IC trains), it was located at the end of car 5 and could therefore also be visited by 2nd class passengers without any problems they must enter the 1st class seating area in car 6). Temporarily stand of 12 December 2004 to 30 September 2006, no non-smoking BordBistro available, but since October 1, 2006 are generally all board bistros of DB AG smoking (from this point on was allowed to smoke in the carriage 6 only in the seats become).
• In contrast to regular IC trains, it is still not possible to transport bicycles on IC trains that are operated with the two Metropolitan sets (with the exception of fully packaged bicycles and folding bicycles, which have also been used in the Metropolitan since December 12, 2004. Trains count as free payload).
• Even after December 12, 2004, wagons 1 to 5 continue to have the main generic mark “A” (Apmz), the main generic mark “B” (for 2nd class wagons) would actually be correct.
• In the course of the repainting in January 2005, the self-cleaning toilet seats were converted to standard models.
• Since September 1, 2007, a nationwide uniform smoking ban has been in effect on all DB AG trains . Accordingly, cars 1 and 6 in the two Metropolitan sets have also been smoke-free since then .
• From March 7th to April 15th 2012 the train unit 930 only ran with 6 cars. The car with the serial number 3 was abandoned in order to be able to carry out major repairs on the wheelsets. The 39 seats for car 708085-95710-6 were missing on the train during this time.

Composition from November 25, 2009 to March 14, 2011

Car 1	Car 2	Car 3	Car 4	Car 5	Car 6	Car 7	Car 8	Car 9	Car 10	Car 11
Apmz 116.0	Apmz 116.1	Apmz 116.1	Apmkz 116.6	Apmkz 116.6	Apmz 116.4	Apmz 116.2	Apmz 116.2	Apmkz 116.6	Apmkz 116.6	Apmbzf 116.8
2nd Class	2nd Class	2nd Class	2nd Class	BordBistro / 2nd class	2nd Class	2nd Class	2nd Class	BordBistro / 1st class	1st Class	1st Class
74 seats	71 seats	71 seats	39 seats	39 seats	57 seats	57 seats	57 seats	39 seats	39 seats	45 seats

dare	dare	dare
Apmz 116.0	Apmz 116.4	Apmbzf 116.8
74 seats	57 seats	45 seats

• On November 24, 2009, a train configuration change was made in the Berlin-Rummelsburg depot. A three-part and an eleven-part multiple unit were formed from the two seven-part units.
• Car order numbers for the three-part "mini train unit" were not specified. During this time, this train unit remained parked in Berlin without any operational use.
• Cars 4, 5, 9 and 10 were bar cars, but the bars in cars 4 and 10, as in the seven-part unit, were closed as planned.
• From March 15 to 16, 2011, at night each time, the two units were converted back into two seven-part units. On March 15, 2011, the train ran with 9 cars and again with 7 cars from March 16.

Seating capacity

Seats according to comfort category

Area	before June 2001		Summer 2001		from Sept. 2001			from December 2004		from Dec. 2009		from March 2011		class
Club	84	24%	84	35%	84	22%		84	22%	123	21%	84	22%	1st Class
Office	153	44%	96	41%	96	25%		298	78%	465	79%	298	78%	2nd Class
Silence	114	32%	57	24%	57	15%
Traveler					145	38%
total	351		237		382			382		588		382		total

From July 1, 2001 to August 31, 2001, both train sets were in use shortened by two cars. At that time, cars 1 and 5 were converted from 57 seats each to the new traveler seating with a total of 31 additional seats, which were then available to passengers from September 1, 2001. Car 5 was then added to the train set as car 2.

Car sketch of the Metropolitan control car 116.8

Wagon statistics

Car statistics from 1999 - delivery condition

dare	genus	design type	purpose	Car numbers Tz 930 [1]	Car numbers Tz 931 [2]	Empty weight (t)	Occupied weight (t)
1	Apmz	116.0	End car	70 80 10-95 702-3	70 80 10-95 701-5	56	60
2	Apmz	116.2	Middle car	70 80 10-95 703-1	70 80 10-95 704-9	56	60
3	Apmkz	116.6	Galley car	70 80 85 95 710-6	70 80 85 95 709-8	58	62
4th	Apmz	116.4	Central carriage	70 80 10 95 705-6	70 80 10 95 706-4	55	59
5	Apmz	116.4	Middle car	70 80 10 95 708-0	70 80 10 95 707-2	56	60
6th	Apmkz	116.6	Galley car	70 80 85 95 712-2	70 80 85 95 711-4	57	61
7th	Apmbzf	116.8	Control car	70 80 80-95 713-5	70 80 80-95 714-3	59	63

Car statistics from September 1, 2001 - Traveler conversion and since March 16, 2011 - 7-car train

dare	genus	design type	purpose	Car numbers Tz 930 [1]	Car numbers Tz 931 [2]	Empty weight (t)	Occupied weight (t)
1	Apmz	116.0	End car	70 80 10-95 702-3	70 80 10-95 701-5	56	60
2	Apmz	116.1	Middle car	70 80 10-95 708-0	70 80 10-95 707-2	56	60
3	Apmkz	116.6	Galley car	70 80 85 95 710-6	70 80 85 95 709-8	58	62
4th	Apmz	116.4	Central carriage	70 80 10 95 705-6	70 80 10 95 706-4	55	59
5	Apmz	116.2	Middle car	70 80 10 95 703-1	70 80 10 95 704-9	56	60
6th	Apmkz	116.6	Galley car	70 80 85 95 712-2	70 80 85 95 711-4	57	61
7th	Apmbzf	116.8	Control car	70 80 80-95 713-5	70 80 80-95 714-3	59	63

Car statistics November 24, 2009 to March 14, 2011 - Eleven car train

dare	genus	design type	purpose	Car numbers Item 924	Car numbers Item 926	Empty weight (t)	Occupied weight (t)
1	Apmz	116.0	End car	70 80 10-95 702-3	70 80 10-95 701-5	56	60
2	Apmz	116.1	Middle car	-	70 80 10-95 707-2	56	60
3	Apmz	116.1	Middle car	-	70 80 10-95 708-0	56	60
4th	Apmkz	116.6	(Galley) dare	-	70 80 85 95 710-6	58	62
5	Apmkz	116.6	Galley car	-	70 80 85 95 709-8	58	62
6th	Apmz	116.4	Central carriage	70 80 10 95 705-6	70 80 10 95 706-4	55	59
7th	Apmz	116.2	Middle car	-	70 80 10 95 704-9	56	60
8th	Apmz	116.2	Middle car	-	70 80 10 95 703-1	56	60
9	Apmkz	116.6	Galley car	-	70 80 85 95 712-2	57	61
10	Apmkz	116.6	(Galley) dare	-	70 80 85 95 711-4	57	61
11	Apmbzf	116.8	Control car	70 80 80-95 713-5	70 80 80-95 714-3	59	63

[1] = Item 930 (parent locomotive 101 130-3): acceptance of the wagon train on June 14, 1999

[2] = Item 931 (parent locomotive 101 131-1): acceptance of the wagon train on July 12, 1999

Since all four locomotives have had the same technical and color equipment since they were repainted in January 2005, today (as of March 2010) there is no longer any division into regular locomotives and replacement locomotives.

Although cars 1 and 5 of both trains were converted to traveler cars with more seats in the summer of 2001 , they have not become heavier thanks to different seats.

WIFIonICE

In the summer of 2019, the WLan WIFIonICE from the Swedish system provider Icomera was installed in all fourteen cars , first in Item 931 and then in Item 930 . This means that it was the last Deutsche Bahn trains running in ICE traffic to receive this technical facility. Up to this point in time, the trains with the Metropolitan set were marked in the timetable information under Comments with the note “No WLAN available on this train”. In contrast to other ICE trains, the system here works independently of each car. Each car has its own router and no access points. Each router can access three providers depending on availability on the route.

Comparison with the Railjet concept

Since the timetable change in December 2008, the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) have been using so-called Railjet trains on the Munich – Salzburg – Vienna – Budapest route (which are also used on other routes). These trains correspond to the metropolitan trains in various respects; they are also locomotive hauled high-speed push-pull trains in the speed range over 200 km / h. The Railjet trains are also made up of seven parts, with six firmly coupled intermediate cars and a control car. As a further parallel to the Metropolitan, there are no longer any conventional car classes on the Railjet trains, but instead three different comfort areas:

• Economy (corresponds to the second class tariff)
• First (corresponds to the first class tariff)
• Business (more expensive and more comfortable than first class)

The Railjet were no longer equipped with a classic dining car (with seats), but - like the Metropolitan trains - only had a bar (with standing tables, in the Railjet it was called "Bistro"). However, this concept was abandoned a little later and the bistros were equipped with tables and benches.

Incidents

On the evening of December 10, 2016 (a Saturday) at 7:58 p.m. on the Anhalter Bahn near Bülzig (km 88.4) , a metropolitan unit operating as an ICE came across two Deutsche Bahn signal workers who were fatal were injured. They were busy fixing a malfunction, for reasons that are still not clear they did not notice the approaching train. There was a large-scale deployment of state and federal police, rescue workers, railway employees and fire departments. The train with around 320 passengers was later evacuated from the platform in Bülzig. The full closure of the route lasted until 2.09 a.m. on Sunday morning.

See also

• Hamburg-Cologne Express

literature

• Wolfgang Bauchhenß: “Silver Arrow” offside. DB luxury train in the shadow of the ICE. In: LOK MAGAZINE No. 261 / Volume 42/2003. GeraNova Zeitschriftenverlag, Munich. Pp. 8-10; ISSN  0458-1822 .

Web links

Commons : Metropolitan Express Train  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• 360Cities.net: Panoramic photo of the interior of the metropolitan car
• 360Cities.net: Panoramic photo of the interior of the Metropolitan bistro standing area
• bahnbilder.de: further picture gallery of the two MET sets
• railfaneurope.net: Picture gallery of the two MET sets
• Marcus Grahnert: fernbahn.de / photos and detailed description of the MET
• Thomas Heier: Railway / MET

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Jürgen Lorenz: The METROPOLITAN introduces itself . In: Eisenbahn-Kurier , No. 321, June 2001, ISSN  0170-5288 , pp. 10/11.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Report "Metropolitan: New quality for city connections by rail". In: Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau , 48, No. 9/1999, pp. 591/592.
3. ↑ Announcement Metropolitan GmbH is founded . In: Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau 45, No. 9/1996, p. 513.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Metropolitan can also do ICE . In: DB Welt , February 2010 edition, East regional section, p. 23.
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} Metropolitan is taking shape . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 5, May 1999, ISSN  1421-2811 , pp. 206/207 .
6. ↑ ^{a b} Presentation of the Metropolitan . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 7, July 1999, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 258/259 .
7. ↑ ^{a b} Metropolitan becomes concrete . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 9, September 1998, ISSN  1421-2811 , pp. 342 .
8. ↑ Metropolitan at the start . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 9, September 1999, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 339 .
9. ^ Subdued MET balance sheet . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 12, December 1999, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 506 .
10. ↑ "Passengers can now get a trial course with us" . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , No. 107, 2001, ISSN  0174-4917 , p. 27.
11. ↑ www.welt.de: Das Große Bahn – ABC , quote from Feuerstein , December 25, 2005.
12. ↑ Report DB Reise & Touristik: “Metropolitan” from Hamburg to Cologne . In: Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau , 48, No. 5/1999, p. 255.
13. ↑ Timetable perspectives . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 4, April 2001, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 186/187 .
14. ↑ “Miles & More” on the rails . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 2, February 2001, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 52 .
15. ^ Jan-Eric Lindner: Bonus miles affair now also with the railway. Hamburger Abendblatt, April 3, 2003, archived from the original on April 29, 2003 ; accessed on October 10, 2015 . 
16. ↑ http://www.bahntv-online.de/btvo/2002_sp/magazine/0128/content/metro_01_va.htm Awards , 2001.
17. ^ Association of German Architects u. a. (Ed.): Renaissance church of the railway stations. The city in the 21st century . Vieweg Verlag , 1996, ISBN 3-528-08139-2 , pp. 182/183.
18. ↑ Deutsche Bahn AG: Annual Report 1999  ( 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. (PDF file, 1.61 MB, 122 pages).  
19. ↑ Deutsche Bahn AG: Annual Report 2000  ( 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. (PDF file, 1.30 MB, 144 pages).  
20. ↑ Deutsche Bahn AG: Annual Report 2001  ( 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. (PDF file, 7.83 MB, 144 pages).  
21. ↑ Deutsche Bahn AG: Annual Report 2002  ( 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. (PDF file, 4.90 MB, 252 pages).  
22. ↑ DB Fernverkehr AG: Annual Report 2003 ( Memento of the original from September 21, 2006 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. (PDF file, 946 kB, 64 pages). 
23. ↑ Report Metropolitan: Satisfied customers according to the passenger survey . In: Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau , 48, No. 11/1999, p. 705.
24. ↑ Peter Zerbe: Another chance for the Metropolitan. Die Welt, August 14, 2001, accessed October 10, 2015 . 
25. ↑ Even greater losses of millions on the railway. Spiegel online, May 31, 2003, accessed October 10, 2015 . 
26. ↑ Stefan Domke: Like flying without flying. In: wdr.de. December 11, 2004, archived from the original on December 9, 2007 ; Retrieved July 7, 2017 . 
27. ↑ ^{a b c} Off for the Metropolitan . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 10, October 2004, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 469 .
28. ↑ Metropolitan runs between Cologne and Berlin . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . Issue 2, February 2005, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 50 .
29. ↑ The most important changes to the timetable . In: Eisenbahn Magazin . No. 12 . Alba, Düsseldorf December 2009, p. 19 .
30. ↑ Ostthüringer Zeitung : End of an era: The last ICE leaves Saalfeld on December 10, 2017
31. ↑ Alexander Baumbach: Tragic accident near Bülzig: Two train technicians killed by ICE. In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. December 11, 2016, accessed December 12, 2016 . 

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on January 25, 2009 .