ICE 4 (Germany)

ShowMeTheJourney has anticipated what questions are most often asked about travelling on these ICE-4 trains managed by the German national rail operator, DB.

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These trains travel at up to 265 km/h (165 mph) when on the high speed lines and up to 200 km/h (125 mph) on other routes.
The high speed lines which these trains use are

• Hannover ↔ Wurzburg
• Halle / Leipzig ↔ Nurnberg
• Seigburg/Bonn ↔ Frankfurt Flughafen
• Nurnberg ↔ Ingoldstadt
• Mannheim ↔ Stuttgart
• Karlsruhe ↔ Offenburg
• west of Ulm

Reservations are now only automatically included in these scenarios:

• for international journeys over the Germany - Austria border from 1 June to 1 September
• when booking Flexpreis Plus tickets for 1st and 2nd class travel - these are the most expensive types of ticket sold by DB.
  When booking any other type of ticket between September 2nd and May 31st, reservations can be added for an additional fee.

Yes, this is typically available when both opting to reserve and in the scenarios when seats are automatically assigned.
If your preferences include seats at tables or seats in Quiet zones, you will need to use the seating plan.

They are mandatory from 1 June to 1 September when making journeys in both directions between Austria and Germany, but they are optional on all other journeys by these trains.

These trains have a bar/bistro service and a restaurant car is also available.

A non-complimentary at-seat catering service of the full menu is available in First class.

Yes - it is available free-of-charge in both 1st and 2nd class.

Yes and the sockets are compatible with standard EU plugs.

These trains have 'Quiet zones' in both 1st and 2nd class, though to ensure your seats(s) are either located within or outside of the areas on the train in which mobile calls aren't permitted, it's best to opt to reserve and then use the seating plan.

In addition to hand luggage, one additional larger piece of luggage or item can be taken on board of charge, provided this load can be carried by one person alone.
The luggage racks on the train have been designed to handle a maximum item size of 700 x 500 x 300 mm (height x width x depth).

Yes and they are located within a 1st class coach by the mobility accessible toilet.

Yes, these trains have been fitted with bike racks, but spaces must be reserved prior to boarding.

Small dogs which can be placed in pet-carriers can be taken on board any train as hand luggage and there is no charge for doing so.

Dogs which can't be fitted in carrier/container, because they are larger than a typical domestic cat, require tickets,
So when booking online for a journey by ICE or IC trains with DB, the German national rail operator, add a larger dog as 'a passenger'.
The price charged will be 50% of the adult rate
If you want to travel 1st class you will need a 1st class ticket for the dog.

The ICE 4 trains are the very latest addition to the family of ICE trains and internally they are as sleek and comfortable as their predecessors, but what may surprise is that they are slower than the ICE 3 trains. they have a top speed of 250 km/h.

Over the next few years, Germany's national rail operator, DB, plans to use them to replace some high speed services currently using ICE 1 and ICE T trains

These ICE 4 trains are a simpler version of the older trains ICE trains, because they DON'T have;

• the lounges at the ends of the trains, which are available on the ICE 3 and ICE T trains,
• many compartment seats - virtually all seats on the ICE 4 trains are in open plan seating saloons.
  The only exceptions are the parent/toddler compartments and the groups of seats at both ends of the train, which can be worth seeking out.

What they DO have, are:

• restaurant cars, like the ICE 1 trains they will be replacing
• more luggage racks including bike racks and other space in which to store luggage
• more information screens throughout the train; including screens which show the connecting details of trains at the next station call.
• ambient lighting which is switched on in the evenings.

ICE 4 trains also have two variants:

• longer 12 or 13 coach trains and on these trains the coaches are numbered 1 - 14.
• shorter 7 car trains which have coach numbers 22 - 28, but when two of these trains are joined together, the second train has coach numbers 31-38.

ICE 4 trains are now scheduled to operate all departures on these routes:

(1) Hamburg - Hannover - Kassel - Frankfurt (Main) - Mannheim - Karlsruhe - Freiburg - Basel - Zurich - Chur
(2) Hamburg - Hannover - Kassel - Frankfurt (Main) - Frankfurt Flughafen - Mannheim -Stuttgart
(3) (Hamburg) - Hannover - Marburg - Frankfurt (Main) Heidelberg - Karlsruhe / Stuttgart
(4) Hamburg - Bremen - Dortmund - Koln Hbf - Frankfurt Flughafen - Mannheim -Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg - Munich
(5) Hamburg - Bremen - Dortmund - Koln Hbf - Frankfurt Flughafen - Mannheim - Karlsruhe - Freiburg - Basel
(6) Hamburg - Berlin - Leipzig - Erfurt - Nurnberg - Munich/Munchen (the non Sprinter services)
(7) Berlin - Leipzig - Erfurt - Frankfurt (Main) - Mannheim -Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg - Munich
(8) Berlin - Kassel - Frankfurt (Main) - Mannheim - Karlsruhe - Freiburg - Basel - Olten - Bern - Interlaken
(9) Berlin - Hannover - Bielefeld - Hamm - Wuppertal - Koln - Bonn (the trains which don't divide in Hamm)

ICE 4 trains now also operate most of the departures on this routes
Hamburg - Hannover - Kassel - Wurzburg - Nurnberg - Munich

Reservations are now only automatically included when upgrading Flexpreis tickets to 1st class, or when booking Flexpreis Plus tickets for 1st and 2nd class travel.
When purchasing the cheaper Super Sparpreis and Sparpreis tickets for journeys by express train, you can opt to either:

• travel 2nd class and add a seat reservation for an additional fee of €5.20.
• book 1st class / upgrade a 2nd class ticket to 1st class and add a seat reservation for an additional fee of €6.50.
  When booking Flexpreis tickets for travel in 2nd class, you can add a seat reservation for an additional fee of €5.20.

If your journey involves more than one ICE train, you will only have to pay one reservation fee, as it will cover all the trains you will be taking.

It is also possible to book reservations at a later date separately from the ticket booking, both online or by using DB branded ticket machines at stations.
Although if you do book your reservations later and your journey involves more than one train, you will then have to pay for separate reservations per train.

Select specific seats

When you opt to reserve, or automatically assigned reservations when booking 1st class Flexpreis tickets/ Flexpreis Plus tickets, DB tends to assign seats randomly.
So if you want your seats to be:

• by a window or on the aisle
• adjacent to a luggage rack
• in a compartment (when available)
• in a Quiet Zone; 1st class in coach 14 or in coach 27/37; 2nd class in coach 2 and 3, or in coach 22/32.
• at a table
  you can select any seats which are still available on the seating plan
  Note that facilities such as compartments and Quiet Zones may be in an entirely different coach / carriage to that in which the seats you have been initially assigned are located.

All ICE trains have family compartments and / or family areas in 2nd class, but when making a booking for a party of adults + children, if you opt to add a reservation, you won't automatically be assigned seats in these family areas.
So you will need to find and select them (when still available) on the seating plan.
On ICE 4 trains the family compartment and family areas are either in coach 9 or in coach 24/34.

Some ICE 4 trains are exceptionally lengthy, they have up to 13 coaches.
Therefore aim to be on the platform/track/gleis at the station at least 5 minutes before departure, particularly if you will be joining the train at an intermediate station.
Give yourself time to figure out where you should wait on the platform/track/gleis prior to boarding.

If you have a reservation before arriving on the gleis/platform/track, check your ticket for the number of the coach in which your reserved seat is located.
Then use the info screens on the gleis/platform, to check in which zone on the gleis you should wait, for easy boarding.

Some coaches/carriages only have one door, while others have two. and the doors won’t open automatically so you may have to press the green button.

If you haven't reserved seats, a less obvious aspect of travelling by ICE 4 trains is that they have 'Quiet' and 'Phone' zones'
So look out for the signs on the exterior and interior of the trains indicating whether a particular coach has these zones.
You can then either target or avoid seats in these areas.

Four Tips For Finding A Seat:

(1) What is a break with how the other ICE trains are operated, is the system for displaying reservation info on these ICE 4 trains
The seat numbers and reservation details are NOT above the seats by the luggage racks.
Instead this info is shown on yellow, not red text, on a side panel on the seat, which faces the aisle - as pictured above.

(2) The info which shows a seat is free or not is similar to the other ICE trains
So if you board a Hamburg – Munchen train at Hannover Hbf and see Hannover – Munchen by a seat number, then this seat will be occupied for the rest of the journey.
However other seats may only be reserved between Wurzburg and Munchen, so if you were travelling from Hannover to Wurzburg, you could sit in this seat.

(3) Seat numbers that have no text beside them or have 'bahn comfort' displayed are available for all or the remainder of the journey.

(4) You may see 'ggf. freigeben' displayed which indicates that a seat MAY be free, but avoid these seats if possible, as in our experience it usually means that the seat won't be free for the entire journey.

(5) An unusual feature is that the yellow text turns itself off 15 mins after the train has departed, from a station from which the seat is reserved.
The logic being is that that if the holder of the reservation doesn’t claim the seat, then passengers without reservations, who board at the next station will know that the seat is available.
So if you do have a reservation and are travelling alone, take care to not be absent from your seat when the train calls at stations.

All seats are in open plan saloons on the ICE 4, except for the dedicated family compartment seats and some seats at the front and back of these trains.
These trains have exceptionally large luggage storage racks, particularly compared to the norm in 2nd class on other European trains.

Quiet zones:

If you haven't reserved, check whether you happen to be sitting in a 'Quiet Zone', if you are the conductor, or your fellow travellers, will ask you not to make or receive calls during your journey.

Power sockets:

The power sockets are between the seats, but under them; one socket per pair of seats in Klasse. 2

Wi-fi:

A plus of ICE 4 trains is that the Wi-Fi is as reliable as you would expect on a relatively new train.

These trains have a restaurant car at which you can take a seat and order food to be brought to you, irrespective of whether you will be travelling 1st or 2nd class.
The prices aren't exceptionally expensive, but the food is quality home-style rather than fine-dining.

You can either join the restaurant car for part of the journey, or head straight to it when you board.
Though you won't be allowed to linger in your seat(s) once you have finished your meal.

There is no trolley catering on ICE trains,
If you are travelling 1st or 2nd class you can opt to purchase hot/cold food and drink from the bar/bistro car, or have a meal in the restaurant car.

Travelling 1st class:

An attendant will also pass through 1st class taking orders for food and drink to be delivered to your seat – try to avoid confusing them with the conductor who will check the tickets etc.
Be aware that you will be charged for all items that you order at your seat.

If you’re travelling 1st class and are particularly thirsty/hungry, don’t wait for the catering attendant to make their round, go to the bar counter and order in person.

Worth knowing:

On ICE trains glasses and china plates and cups are used and not paper and plastic.
Very classy and probably more eco-friendly too, but take care!
It is not unknown for items to fly off tables when brakes are applied or when trains take corners at high speed.

A big innovation with the ICE 4 compared to the older ICE trains is that these are the first ICE trains to be equipped with bike racks, so non-folding bicycles can be taken on board these trains.
Though spaces on these bike racks need to be reserved and paid for prior to boarding .