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High-speed rail in Germany

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The InterCityExpress (ICE) network in Germany.
  High-speed lines for 300 km/h (186 mph)
  High-speed lines for 250 km/h (155 mph) or more
  Upgraded lines for 200–230 km/h (124–143 mph)
  Conventional lines, often upgraded for 160 km/h (100 mph)

Construction of the first high-speed rail in Germany began shortly after that of the French LGVs (lignes à grande vitesse, high-speed lines). However, legal battles caused significant delays, so that the German Intercity-Express (ICE) trains were deployed ten years after the TGV network was established.

InterCityExpress

Main article: Intercity-Express

The first regularly scheduled ICE trains ran on 2 June 1991 from Hamburg-Altona via Hamburg Hbf – Hannover Hbf – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe – Fulda – Frankfurt Hbf – Mannheim Hbf and Stuttgart Hbf toward München Hbf on the new ICE line 6. The ICE network is more tightly integrated with pre-existing lines and trains as a result of the different settlement structure in Germany,[clarification needed] which has almost twice the population density of France. ICE trains reached destinations in Austria and Switzerland soon after they entered service, taking advantage of the same voltage used in these countries. Starting in 2000, multisystem third-generation ICE trains entered the Netherlands and Belgium. The third generation of the ICE has a service speed of 330 km/h (205 mph) and has reached speeds up to 363 km/h (226 mph).

Admission of ICE trains onto French LGVs was applied for in 2001, and trial runs completed in 2005. Since June 2007, ICEs service Paris from Frankfurt and Saarbrücken via the LGV Est.

Unlike the Shinkansen in Japan, Germany has experienced a fatal accident on a high-speed service. In the Eschede train disaster of 1998, a first generation ICE experienced catastrophic wheel failure while travelling at 200 km/h near Eschede, following complaints of excessive vibration. Of 287 passengers aboard, 101 people died and 88 were injured in the resulting derailment, which was made worse by the train colliding with a road bridge and causing it to collapse. The accident was the result of faulty wheel design and, following the crash, all ICE wheels of that design were redesigned and replaced.

International operators

Thalys trains began running in Germany in 1997, from the Belgian HSL 3 to Aachen and Cologne using the Cologne–Aachen high-speed railway. TGV POS trains began running in Germany in 2007, to Karlsruhe and Stuttgart using the Mannheim–Stuttgart and Karlsruhe–Basel high-speed lines. Swiss SBB high-speed services using the New Pendolino from Frankfurt to Milan on the Karlsruhe–Basel line started in 2017.[1]

Transrapid

Germany has developed the Transrapid, a maglev train system. The Transrapid reaches speeds up to 550 km/h (340 mph). The Emsland test facility, with a total length of 31.5 km (19.6 mi), operated in until 2011 when it was closed and in 2012 its demolition was approved.[2] In China, Shanghai Maglev Train, a Transrapid technology based maglev built in collaboration with Siemens, Germany, has been operational since March 2004.

List of high-speed lines

Third generation ICE running on the Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway
Bartelsgrabentalbrücke of the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway

Upgraded line

Partially new line

Part of these routes are new constructions that run along or close to the existing, or previous, route:

Fully new line

Completely new construction projects:

Lines not yet completed

Lines planned

Travel times

DB Intercity Express travel times between major stations1, 2
Amsterdam Berlin Brussels Cologne Dortmund Düsseldorf Frankfurt Hamburg Innsbruck Munich Paris Stuttgart Vienna Zürich
Amsterdam Centraal — — 2h 37min — 2h 11min 3h 55min — — — — — — —
Berlin Hbf 4 — — 4h 17min 3h 25min 4h 14min 3h 52min3 1h 42min — 3h 58min3 — 5h 04min 7h 43min —
Brussels Midi/Zuid — — 1h 50min — — 3h 05min — — — — — — —
Cologne/Köln Hbf 4 2h 37min 4h 17min 1h 50min 1h 10min 21min 1h 01min3 3h 38min3 — 4h 32min — 2h 13min 8h 52min —
Dortmund Hbf — 3h 28min — 1h 17min 49min 2h 26min3 2h 49min 11h 12min 5h 35min — 3h 29min 10h 07min —
Düsseldorf Hbf 2h 11min 4h 14min — 21min 48min 1h 26min 3h 06min — 4h 41min — 2h 28min — —
Frankfurt (Main) Hbf 4 3h 55min 3h 39min3 3h 05min 1h 04min3 2h 35min 1h 26min 3h 20min3 — 3h 09min 3h 38min3 1h 18min3 6h 24min 3h 53min
Hamburg Hbf 4 — 1h 42min — 3h 35min3 2h 47min 3h 06min 3h 20min3 — 5h 31min — 4h 59min — 7h 35min
Innsbruck Hbf — 7h 15min — 9h 48min — 10h 13min 5h28min — 1h 49min — 4h 03min — —
München Hbf — 3h 55min3 — 4h 32min 5h 28min 4h 44min 3h 09min 5h 31min 1h 44min5 5h 34min 2h 12min 3h 56min 3h 32min5
Paris Gare de l'Est — — — — — — 3h 47min3 — — 5h 34min 3h 09min — —
Stuttgart Hbf — 5h 04min — 2h 13min 3h 25min 2h 28min 1h 17min3 4h 59min 6h 17min 2h 12min 3h 09min — —
Vienna/Wien Hbf — 7h 40min — 8h 50min 10h 06min — 6h 21min — — — — — —
Zürich HB — 8h 39min — — — — 3h 53min 7h 35min — 3h 32min5 — — —

1 German category 1 stations and comparable international destinations of 250.000 passengers per day or more
2 only direct connections shown; travel times as of the DB 2018 timetable
3 ICE Sprinter
4 additional or alternative ICE stops for Berlin at: Berlin Südkreuz, Berlin-Gesundbrunnen, Berlin-Spandau and Berlin Ostbf
for Cologne (Köln) at: Köln Messe/Deutz and Köln/Bonn Flughafen Fbf
for Frankfurt at: Frankfurt (Main) Flughafen Fbf
and Hamburg at: HH-Altona, HH Dammtor and HH-Harburg
5 EuroCity-Express Service

References

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Rail travel in Germany.
  1. ^ Doll, Nikolaus (17 October 2017). "Warum Deutsche Bahn jetzt einen ECE auf dem Gleise schickt" (in German). Die Welt. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  2. ^ "Transrapid-Teststrecke vor dem Abriss, NDR (in German)".
  3. ^ Denis Bowers (15 June 2018). "Danish parliament approves DKr 11bn rolling stock purchase". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  4. ^ Gernot Knödler (18 June 2020). "Klatsche für Fehmarnbelt-Querung". Die Tageszeitung (in German). Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  5. ^ David Burroughs (7 February 2020). "Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link rail consultancy contract awarded". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Faser i arbejdet" (in Danish). Banedanmark. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
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