ICE Trains (an overview)

There are now 6 types of ICE train in service, so click on the buttons below if you know which type of train you will be travelling by.

*Technically the 403 and 406 trains are different, but from a passenger perspective, they are virtually identical, but the 406 trains are used on the routes between Germany and both Belgium and The Netherlands.

**These trains are mainly used on the DB-SNCF services on the Frankfurt (Main) ↔ Paris routes.

On the journey guides SMTJ strives to make the distinction between specific types of ICE train being used on each route, because the on-board experience varies depending on which type of ICE train you will be used for your journey.
ICE trains are generally fabulous, but being on an ICE1 train can feel very different to travelling on an ICE-T train etc.

All ICE trains have:

(1) A bistro bar serving drinks, snacks and hot/cold light meals.

(2) An at seat service in 1st class (but note that the food/drink is not complimentary)

(3) Family compartments and other family areas within the train.

(4) 'Quiet' and 'Phone' zones within the train.

Travellers are not supposed to use their phones in 'Quiet' coaches/zones, the conductor or your fellow passengers will ask you not to do so.

Mobile phone usage is permitted in the 'Phone zones', but in effect this means any seat on the train, that's NOT located in a Quiet Zone'

If you know that you'll want to use your mobile device during your journey, you can select 'seat in a 'Phone zone' - and conversely you can book a seat in a 'Quiet Zone' if you don't want to be disturbed by mobile phone usage.

If you haven't reserved, you'll be less likely to be aware of these 'zones' when boarding a train and looking for seats.
You may unwittingly find a seat available, which happens to be in a 'mobile' or 'quiet' coach, when either of these zones may not have been your preference.
So look for the symbols on the outside and the inside of the trains - though we have made multiple journeys by ICE trains, without being aware of the existence of these zones, as can be seen on one of the images above, the signage can be quite subtle.

The key differences between the different types of ICE trains can be summarised as:

Compartment seats available to all passengers = ICE 1 and ICE-T trains and some ICE 3 (the 403 and 406) trains

End of train lounges = ICE 3 (403 and 406) and ICE T trains

Bike racks = only on ICE 4 trains and the latest type of ICE 3 trains, the 'neo trains, which are now entering service; spaces for non-folding bicycles are now also available on ICE-T trains

lThis is not a comprehensive list, it's a summary of the type of ICE train USUALLY used on each of these routes - in both directions

ICE 'Sprinter' Service: Berlin - Erfurt - Frankfurt (Main):

• some departures by ICE 3 (403) trains
• some departures by ICE 4 trains
• some departures by ICE 1 trains (modernised)

ICE 'Sprinter' Service: Berlin - Erfurt - Nurnberg - Munchen:
all departures by ICE 3 trains

ICE 'Sprinter' Service: Berlin - Koln hbf - Bonn:
all departures by ICE 4 trains

ICE 'Sprinter' Service: Dusseldorf - Koln-Messe/Deutz - Frankfurt Flughafen - Nurnberg - Munchen:
all departures by ICE 3 trains

ICE 'Sprinter' Service: Hamburg - Frankfurt (Main) Hbf - Mannheim - Stuttgart:

• most departures by ICE 4 trains
• some departures by ICE 1 trains (modernised)

Basel – Freiburg – Karlsruhe – Mannheim – Frankfurt Flughafen - Koln Hbf - Dusseldorf – Dortmund/Duisburg – Arnhem – Utrecht – Amsterdam
all departures by ICE 3 (403) trains

Basel – Freiburg – Karlsruhe – Mannheim – Frankfurt Flughafen - Koln Hbf - Dortmund - Bremen - Hamburg
most departures by ICE 3 (403) trains
some departures by ICE 4 trains

Berlin - Kassel - Frankfurt (Main) - Mannheim - Kalrsruhe - Basel - Bern - Interlaken:
all departures by ICE 4 trains

Berlin - Kassel - Frankfurt (Main) (Sud) - Frankfurt Airport:
most departures by ICE 1 trains
some departures by ICE T trains

Berlin - Hannover - Hamm - Dortmund - Essen - Duisburg - Dusseldorf:
all departures by ICE 2 trains

Berlin - Hannover - Hamm - Wupppertal - Koln/Cologne hbf:
all departures by ICE 2 trains

Berlin - Hannover - Wupppertal - Koln/Cologne hbf - Bonn:

• most departures by ICE 4 trains
• some departures by ICE 2 trains

Berlin - Erfurt - Nurnberg - Regensburg - Linz - Wien/Vienna:
all departures by ICE T trains

Dresden – Leipzig – Erfurt – Frankfurt (Main) - (Weisbaden)
all departures by ICE T trains

Frankfurt Main – Frankfurt Flughafen - Koln Hbf - Aachen – Liege – Bruxelles Nord - Bruxelles Midi/Zuid
all departures by ICE 3 (406) trains

Frankfurt (Main) – Frankfurt Flughafen - Koln Hbf – Dusseldorf – Duisburg – Arnhem – Utrecht – Amsterdam
all departures by ICE 3 (406) trains

Frankfurt Main – Frankfurt Flughafen - Limburg Sud - Montabaur - Seigburg/Bonn - Koln Hbf
most departures by ICE 3 (407 'Velaro') trains; the new 'neo' trains are being introduced to this route

Frankfurt (Main) - Mannheim - Kaiserlautern - Paris (Est)
some departures by ICE 3 (407 'Velaro') trains
(other departures by TGV InOui trains)

Frankfurt (Main) - Mannheim - Karlsruhe - Strasbourg - Paris (Est)
some departures by ICE 3 (407) trains
(other departures by TGV InOui trains)

Hamburg - Bremen - Dortmund - Koln - Koblenz - Mainz - Mannheim - Stuttgart ( a non-high speed route).

• most departures by ICE 1 trains
• some departures by ICE 4 trains

Hamburg - Hannover - Kassel hbf - Marburg - Frankfurt (Main)
most departures by ICE T trains

Hamburg and Bremen - Hannover - Kassel - Wurzburg – Nurnberg – Munchen/Munich

• some departures by ICE 4 trains
• some departures by ICE T trains
• some departures by ICE 2 trains

Hamburg - Berlin - Leipzig - Erfurt - Nurnberg - Munich/Munchen

• most departures by ICE 4 trains
• a few departures by ICE 1 trains

Hamburg - Berlin - Leipzig - Erfurt - Frankfurt (Main) - Mannheim - Stuttgart - Munchen:

• most departures by ICE 1 trains
• a few departures by ICE 4 trains

Hamburg - Hannover - Kassel - Frankfurt (Main) - Mannheim - Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg - Munchen/Munich
all departures by ICE 4 trains

Hamburg - Hannover - Kassel - Frankfurt (Main) - Mannheim - Karlsruhe - Freiburg - Basel - Zurich - Chur

• most departures by ICE 4 trains (all trains which travel to Zurich)
• a few departures by ICE 1 trains

Munchen – Nurnberg – Wurzburg - Frankfurt Main – Frankfurt Flughafen – Koln Messe/Deutz – Dusseldorf – Essen – (Dortmund)
most departures by ICE 3 (403) trains; the ICE 3 (407 'Velaro') trains are used on some departures

Munchen - Augsburg – Ulm - Stuttgart - Mannheim – Frankfurt Flughafen – Koln Messe/Deutz – Dusseldorf – Essen – Dortmund
most departures by ICE 3 (403) trains; the new 'neo' trains are being introduced to this route

Munchen – Augsburg – Ulm - Stuttgart - Mannheim – Frankfurt Flughafen – Koln Hbf – Dusseldorf – Essen – Dortmund
all departures by ICE 4 trains

Munchen/Munchen - Augsburg - Ulm - Stuttgart - Mannheim - Frankfurt (Main) - Erfurt - Leipzig - Berlin

• most departures by ICE 1 trains
• a few departures by ICE 4 trains

Stuttgart - Karlsruhe - Strasbourg - Paris (Est)
by ICE 3 (407) trains - plus French TGV trains

Wien/Vienna – Linz – Nurnberg – Frankfurt (Main) – Koblenz – Koln/Cologne
all departures by ICE T trains

Wien/Vienna - Linz - Nurnberg - Erfurt - Berlin
all departures by ICE T trains

Reservations are now included when booking 1st class journeys by ICE trains.

However, in 2nd class (and for rail pass users in 1st class and 2nd class) they're available, but optional.
They can be added when making a booking or purchased separately either online or at the station - at a ticket desk or at a DB ticket machine.

If you have not reserved the availability of seats is NOT guaranteed - if need be walk through the train to find available seats.

Also worth knowing about seat reservations on ICE trains:

In addition to ensuring that you can remain in one seat for your entire journey, there are THREE less obvious benefits of making a reservation, if you will be travelling 2nd class, or using a 1st class rail pass).
(And when booking 1st class tickets, when reservations are automatically added, these three things are also worth keeping in mind).

(1) You can select between options for the location of your seat, which in addition to window or aisle seats, can include compartment seats and seats at tables.

(2) You can choose in which 'zone' on the train that you wish to travel by - 'Quiet', 'Mobile' or 'Standard'.

(3) You can usually choose specific seats on a seating plan and if you will be travelling on an ICE 1 or ICE 4 train, you will also be able to ensure your seat is facing forwards.

Though if you have opted to face forwards, be aware that ICE trains reverse direction when calling at the hbf stations in Frankfurt (Main), Leipzig and Stuttgart and that also applies to most trains which call at Koln Hbf.

When booking tickets for journeys by ICE trains on the DB website, which is managed by the German national rail operator, you can reserve seats by using a seating plan.
These seating plans differ slightly between each type of ICE train, so you can use them to check which type of ICE train is being used for a departure.
Though something to look out for is that the bar / bistro / restaurant cars are only included on these seating plans, if they also house seats which can be reserved.

This is a seating plan of the 12 coach variant of an ICE train because coach 9 has both 1st and 2nd class seating - because the 2nd class family compartment is in what is otherwise a 1st class coach.
This split of coach 9 into 1st and 2nd class is unique to this type of ICE train.

The only version of the ICE trains which have 9 coaches / cars is the 9 coach variant of the ICE 1 trains - which has six x 2nd class cars, two x 1st class cars and 1 x restaurant car
So because the seating plan doesn't show the restaurant car, but the 6 x 2nd class cars and 2 x 1st class cars can be seen, this must be the 9 car variant of an ICE 1 train.

This is a seating plan for an ICE 2 train because coach car 26/36 is the bar / bistro car, but it also has a 1st class seating area, so it shows up on the plan.

Two ICE 2 trains can be joined together on many sections of their routes.
So when that is the situation, two ICE trains will be shown on the seating plan - with two bar / bistro cars visible, coaches 26 and 36.

ICE 3 trains uniquely among ICE trains have 8 coaches / cars
5 x 2nd class cars
1 x restaurant car, which also has a 1st class seating are that can be reserved, hence it shows up on the seating plan
2 x 1st class cars.

So blocks of three dark grey 1st class cars, with one of them also being a restaurant car = this must be an ICE 3 train.

Two ICE trains are joined together on most departures by this type of train, hence the double train on the seating plan.

On the 12 / 13 coach variant of the ICE 4 train the restaurant cars have a 1st class seating area which can be reserved, which gives a block of 4 x 1st class cars on the seating plan - shown in the deeper grey.
The 12 / 13 coach variant of the ICE 4 is the only type of ICE train with a block of four 1st class cars.

ICE T trains uniquely only have one car / coach which is solely dedicated to 1st class seating, so if you see only 1 x dark grey car on a seating plan, it has to be an ICE-T train - the 7 car or 5 car variant.