High-speed rail in Germany

3rd Generation ICE, a high-speed train in Germany

Construction of the first German high-speed rail lines 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 InterCityExpress (ICE) trains were deployed ten years after the TGV network was established.

InterCityExpress

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 , 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 TGV in France or 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. The accident was the result of faulty wheel design and, following the crash, all ICE wheels of that design were redesigned and replaced.

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.

Transrapid

Germany has developed the Transrapid, a magnetic levitation train system. The Transrapid reaches speeds up to 550 km/h (340 mph). A test track with a total length of 31.5 km (19.6 mi) operated in Emsland until Early 2012, when it was closed and dismantled. 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

ICE network * red: High-speed lines for 300 km/h (186 mph) * orange: High-speed lines for 250 to 280 km/h (156 to 175 mph) * blue: Upgraded lines, 200 to 230 km/h (125 to 145 mph) * grey: Other lines, max. 160 km/h (100 mph)

Upgraded Line

Cologne–Aachen high-speed railway (upgraded line, 250 km/h)

Partially New Line

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

Hanover–Berlin high-speed railway (partially new line, 250 km/h)
Nuremberg–Munich high-speed railway (partially new line, 300 km/h)

Fully New Line

Completely new construction projects:

Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line (new line, 300 km/h)
Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway (new line, 280 km/h)
Mannheim–Stuttgart high-speed railway (new line, 280 km/h)
Erfurt–Leipzig/Halle high-speed railway (new line, 300 km/h, opened on 9 December 2015 )

Lines not yet completed

Frankfurt–Mannheim high-speed railway (new line, 300 km/h, in planning)
Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway (partially new line, 300 km/h, under construction)
Karlsruhe–Basel high-speed railway (new line, 250 km/h, incomplete)
Hanau-Gelnhausen high-speed railway (new line, 300 km/h, in planning)
Stuttgart–Wendlingen high-speed railway (new line, 250 km/h, under construction)
Wendlingen–Ulm high-speed railway (new line, 250 km/h, under construction)

Travel times

DB Intercity-Express travel times between major stations^{1, 2}
	Amsterdam	Berlin	Brussels	Cologne	Cop'hagen	Düsseldorf	Frankfurt	Hamburg	Munich	Paris	Stuttgart	Vienna	Zürich
Amsterdam Centraal		N/A	N/A	2h 37min	N/A	2h 11min	3h 55min	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Berlin Hbf ⁴	N/A		N/A	4h 17min	N/A	4h 14min	3h 39min³	1h 42min	6h 13min	N/A	5h 04min	N/A	N/A
Brussels Midi/Zuid	N/A	N/A		1h 50min	N/A	N/A	3h 05min	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Cologne/Köln Hbf ⁴	2h 37min	4h 17min	1h 50min		N/A	21min	1h 03min	3h 29min³	4h 32min	N/A	2h 13min	9h 15min	N/A
Copenhagen/København H	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A		N/A	N/A	4h 44min	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Düsseldorf Hbf	2h 11min	4h 14min	N/A	21min	N/A		1h 26min	3h 06min	4h 41min	N/A	2h 28min	N/A	N/A
Frankfurt (Main) Hbf ⁴	3h 55min	3h 39min³	3h 05min	1h 03min	N/A	1h 26min		3h 20min³	3h 09min	3h 38min	1h 17min	6h 46min	3h 53min
Hamburg Hbf ⁴	N/A	1h 42min	N/A	3h 29min³	4h 41min	3h 06min	3h 20min³		5h 31min	N/A	4h 59min	N/A	7h 35min
München Hbf	N/A	6h 13min	N/A	4h 32min	N/A	4h 44min	3h 09min	5h 31min		5h 34min	2h 12min	3h 56min	N/A
Paris Gare de l'Est	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	3h 38min	N/A	5h 34min		3h 09min	N/A	N/A
Stuttgart Hbf	N/A	5h 04min	N/A	2h 13min	N/A	2h 28min	1h 17min	4h 59min	2h 12min	3h 09min		N/A	2h 56min⁵
Vienna/Wien Hbf	N/A	N/A	N/A	9h 15min	N/A	N/A	6h 46min	N/A	3h 56min	N/A	N/A		N/A
Zürich HB	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	3h 53min	7h 35min	N/A	N/A	2h 56min⁵	N/A
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 2016 timetable ³ ICE Sprinter ⁴ additional or alternative ICE stops for Berlin at: 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 IC service

High-speed rail

Part of Rail transport

Technologies

High-speed trains
(category)

300 km/h (186 mph) or more	AGV Avelia Liberty AVE Class 100, 102, 103 China Railways CR2C, 3C, 380A, 380B, 380C, 380D, China Standardized EMU ETR 500 Eurostar e300; e320 ETR 1000 ICE 3 KTX-I, II (Sancheon) Oaris Shinkansen Series 500, N700, E5, E6, H5, L0 AVRIL TGV Sud-Est (refurbished), Atlantique, Réseau, Duplex, POS, 2N2 TCDD HT80000 Thalys PBA, PBKA THSR 700T Transrapid Shanghai Maglev Train Velaro Bombardier Zefiro

250–299 km/h (155–186 mph)	China Railways CRH 1A, 1B, 1E, 2A, 2B, 2E, 5 China Star New Pendolino ICE 1, 2 RENFE Class 120, 121, 130 Sapsan SBB RABe 501, RABe 503 Shinkansen Series 200, 300, 700, 800, E2, E3, E7, W7 TCDD HT65000 TGV Sud-Est (original), La Poste V250 Fyra

200–249 km/h (124–155 mph)	Acela Express Adelante APT AVE Class 101/Euromed CRH6A ER200 GMB Class 71 (Flytoget) IC4 InterCity 125, 225 ICE T, TD ICE 4 (ICx) Javelin NSB Class 73 NSB Class 74 Pendolino Railjet Regina Shinkansen series 0, 100, 400, E1, E4 SBB RABDe 500, RABDe 502, RABe 502, Re 460 SJ 2000, SJ X40 Z-TER (Z 21500) Sokol Super Express Class 800, Class 801, Class 802 Talgo XXI Voyager/Meridian X3

Experimental and prototype high-speed trains (category)

High-speed railway line
(category)

List of high-speed railway lines

By country

planned networks in italics

Africa	Morocco

Americas	Argentina Brazil Canada Mexico United States

Asia	China Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Kazakhstan South Korea Malaysia and Singapore Philippines Saudi Arabia Russia Taiwan Thailand Turkey Uzbekistan Vietnam

Europe	Austria Belgium Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Italy Latvia Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Russia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey United Kingdom

Oceania	Australia

Planned high-speed rail by country

High-speed railway lines

Africa

Asia

China (Mainland)	(* Indicates overlap with conventional services) Tianjin–Qinhuangdao –Shenyang* Nanjing–Hefei –Wuhan* Beijing–Tianjin–Binhai Taiyuan–Shijiazhuang Jinan–Qingdao –Rongcheng* Suining–Chengdu* Nanjing–Hangzhou –Ningbo –Taizhou–Wenzhou –Fuzhou –Xiamen –Shenzhen Beijing–Shijiazhuang –Wuhan –Guangzhou –Shenzhen Zhengzhou–Xi'an –Baoji –Lanzhou –Urumqi Jiujiang–Nanchang –Fuzhou* Chengdu–Dujiangyan Shanghai–Nanjing Shanghai–Hangzhou –Changsha –Guiyang Changchun–Jilin Hainan Eastern Ring Guangzhou–Zhuhai Beijing–Shanghai Bengbu–Hefei –Fuzhou Dalian–Harbin –Qiqihar Panjin–Yingkou Hengyang–Liuzhou Liuzhou–Nanning* Nanning–Qinzhou* Qinzhou–Fangchenggang* Qinzhou–Beihai* Taiyuan–Xi'an Wuhan–Xianning Wuhan–Huangshi Zhengzhou–Kaifeng Guiyang–Guangzhou Nanning–Guangzhou Guiyang–Kaiyang Zhengzhou–Jiaozuo Shenyang–Dandong Jilin–Hunchun Lanzhou–Zhongchuan Airport Nanjing–Anqing Nanning–Kunming

Japan	Tōkaidō Shinkansen Sanyō Shinkansen Tōhoku Shinkansen Jōetsu Shinkansen Hokuriku Shinkansen Kyushu Shinkansen Hokkaido Shinkansen

South Korea	Gyeongbu HSR Honam HSR

Taiwan	Taipei–Kaohsiung

Turkey	Ankara-Pendik Ankara–Konya

Europe

Belgium	HSL 1 HSL 2 HSL 3 HSL 4

France	LGV Sud-Est LGV Atlantique LGV Rhône-Alpes LGV Nord LGV Interconnexion Est LGV Méditerranée LGV Est Perpignan-Barcelona LGV Rhin-Rhône

Germany	Cologne–Düren Cologne–Frankfurt Hanover–Würzburg Mannheim–Stuttgart Rastatt–Offenburg Wolfsburg–Berlin Nuremberg–Ingolstadt Erfurt–Leipzig/Halle

Italy	Turin–Milan Milan–Bologna Bologna–Florence Florence–Rome Rome–Naples Naples–Salerno

Netherlands	HSL-Zuid

Norway	Gardermoen Line

Spain	Madrid–Barcelona Madrid–Seville Madrid–Malaga Madrid– Leon Madrid–Toledo Atlantic Axis Barcelona–Perpignan Madrid–Valencia/Alicante

United Kingdom	High Speed 1

North America

South America

References

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Rail travel in Germany.

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