German ICE - 1st Class

[peter.rabbit]

Apologies if this request has been posted before. I've managed to buy a cheap 1st Class London Spezial journey from Köln to Brussel Zuid. Other than a comfier seat, what else could I expect - is it free tea / coffee and water, or food, or what? Have never travelled 1st class on DB before.
Thanks.

 

[33056]

You get a free (German) newspaper but refreshments have to be bought; however the crew will usually come round, take orders and bring stuff to your seat. IIRC there is a small surcharge for this so it is cheaper to go and fetch it yourself - the buffet / restaurant is next to 1st class so it is not far to walk.

 

[Gavioliuk]

In 2011 travelling from Freiburg to Karlsruhe we got free coffee plus a box of chocolates. The chocolates were to promote DBs sponsorship of one of the German Olympic teams.

 

[33056]

Ah yes, chocolates

Forgot that they usually come round with a tray or basket of something like a small chocolate bar, bag of nuts / biscuits - nothing substantial. In fact last time we travelled round Germany in 1st, the snack of choice was a small bag of savoury biscuits and we ended up with quite a few bags of them as they always seemed to come round handing them out after we had just eaten.

 

[stuartmoss]

On my last DB first class journey there were no freebies but an at seat service, I seem to remember that a coffee and a decent slab of chocolate cake set me back around 5 Euros.

 

[tony6499]

Travelled from Paris to Frankfurt last April in ICE 1st class and received a lunch similar to an airline tray meal free.

 

[Newshy37]

Can you not sit behind the driver and watch where you are going like on the old multiple units? I had a walk through one once but the coach looed VERY posh, is that another class again or had I had too much schnapps?

 

[317666]

Can you not sit behind the driver and watch where you are going like on the old multiple units?

You definitely can on ICE-3s and I think you can on ICE-Ts too.

 

[stuartmoss]

Check out my videos of this below:

[youtube]7Y4-K45ANTE[/youtube]

[youtube]fgnpq-0bXk0[/youtube]

 

[lemonic]

Travelled from Paris to Frankfurt last April in ICE 1st class and received a lunch similar to an airline tray meal free.

I believe the Paris to Frankfurt route is the only ICE route where you get served a complimentary meal in 1st class.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Yes, it's only on Paris-Frankfurt that the food is free.
On other ICE routes, the staff will serve drinks and light meals (eg. eintopf or chile con carne) at your seat. If the train is too busy, this doesn't always happen and the service is a bit variable.
The 'outer' cabins on ICE-3 and ICE-TDs indeed do allow you to peer into the driver's cab. One end is 2nd class, the other first. There is no supplement for this, indeed because the cabin is a little claustrophobic they tend not to be as full as the rest of the train. The drivers can override this: the 'glass' can be switched to opaque, so it's not foolproof.

 

[30907]

or sometimes the glass switches of its own accord, and back again a few minutes later

 

[ainsworth74]

or sometimes the glass switches of its own accord, and back again a few minutes later

I believe that it switches automatically when running under cautionary aspects.

 

[richardderby]

ice 'sprinter' trains have complementary meals and drinks in 1st class. these are the fastest in Germany..
.ICE-Sprinter
The so-called "ICE-Sprinter" trains are extra fast trains between Germany's major cities running in the morning and evening hours. They are tailored for business travellers or long-distance commuters and are marketed by DB as an alternative to domestic flights. Some of the Sprinter services continue as normal ICE services after reaching their destination. Sprinter trains usually depart around 06:00 for morning services and 18:00 for evening services.
A reservation is mandatory on the ICE-Sprinter (currently €11 in 2nd and €16 in 1st class). In addition to the usual 1st class service (on-seat service, free newspapers like Financial Times Deutschland or Handelsblatt), the 1st class in the Sprinter trains also offers free drinks, an on-seat breakfast or dinner and additional newspapers. In the 2nd class, newspapers are provided in the carriages at no extra cost.
The first Sprinter service was established between Munich and Frankfurt in 1992. Frankfurt-Hamburg followed in 1993 and Cologne-Hamburg in 1994. This service ran as a Metropolitan service between December 1996 and December 2004. In 1998, a Berlin-Frankfurt service was introduced and a service between Cologne and Stuttgart ran between December 2005 and October 2006. Until December 2006, a morning Sprinter service ran between Frankfurt and Munich (with an intermediate stop at Mannheim), taking 3:25 hours for the journey.
As of January 2010, the individual ICE Sprinter lines are:
No. Departure station Intermediate stops Destination Travel time (hh:mm) Time of day
1091
1093 Berlin Ostbf Berlin Hbf, Berlin-Spandau Frankfurt (Main) Hbf 3:36
3:37 Morning
Evening
1092
1090 Frankfurt (Main) Hbf Berlin-Spandau, Berlin Hbf Berlin Ostbf 3:37
3:35 Morning
Evening
1094 Hamburg-Altona Essen Hbf, Düsseldorf Hbf Köln Hbf 3:29 Morning
1095 Köln Hbf Düsseldorf Hbf, Duisburg Hbf, Essen Hbf, Hamburg Hbf Hamburg-Altona 3:29 Morning
1097 Hamburg-Altona Hamburg Hbf, Hannover Hbf Frankfurt Hbf 3:19 Morning
(Source: Deutsche Bahn AG[14])

 

[Newshy37]

Yes, it's only on Paris-Frankfurt that the food is free.
On other ICE routes, the staff will serve drinks and light meals (eg. eintopf or chile con carne) at your seat. If the train is too busy, this doesn't always happen and the service is a bit variable.
The 'outer' cabins on ICE-3 and ICE-TDs indeed do allow you to peer into the driver's cab. One end is 2nd class, the other first. There is no supplement for this, indeed because the cabin is a little claustrophobic they tend not to be as full as the rest of the train. The drivers can override this: the 'glass' can be switched to opaque, so it's not foolproof.

Ooh, that's exciting So is there a way of booking those seats or do you just get what you are given (I'm talking second class here) also if the second class is at the rear can you see where you've been or is the glass opaque? Anyone know which routes the ICE 3's are on? The one I had was from Munich to Cologne so if I can get one in on the way back from Hungary with the kids later in the year I will, they'll (I'll) love it.

Sorry for pinching the thread a bit.

Oops, just watched the second vid "From the rear cab", sorry.

 

[Oscar]

Only ICE 3s run on the Köln - Frankfurt high speed line (or the French LGV Est) so any train running on one of these lines for part of the journey will be an ICE 3. Only the ICE 3 can reach the top speed of 300 km/h on the Köln - Frankfurt high speed line or 320 km/h on the LGV Est. The top speed of the ICE 2 is 280 km/h.
Many multiple units used on local services in Germany also simply have a glass partition between the driver's cab and the rest of the train.

 

[lemonic]

You can specifically reserve seats in the section at the front/back (officially known as Lounge) of an ICE-3/ICE-T train if booking by phone with Deutsche Bahn. The train formation and whether you have a 1st or 2nd class ticket will dictate whether it ends up being the front or the back.

On this (German) website http://www.grahnert.de/fernbahn/reihung/reih0039.html you can find the formation of your train by its number e.g. ICE17. Next to each ICE train it will tell you if the Lounge exists (i.e. if it is an ICE3/ICET as opposed to ICE1/ICE2) and if so, what carriages have the Lounge at the front of the train.

 

[notadriver]

Why are glass partitions fashionable on German trains and not anywhere else such as France and England ?

 

[GNER 91128]

I wonder if it has anything to do with suicide rates.

 

[317666]

You can specifically reserve seats in the section at the front/back (officially known as Lounge) of an ICE-3/ICE-T train if booking by phone with Deutsche Bahn. The train formation and whether you have a 1st or 2nd class ticket will dictate whether it ends up being the front or the back.

You can also now select seats when booking on www.bahn.de, at least you can with ICE-3s. They're doing it as a trial and it works the same way as East Coast, you click on a seat which is free that you would like to sit in. However, I think it might only be available on the German language version of the site.

 

[Newshy37]

Ta, will see what I can do on my way home in summer. Thanks.

 

[sarahj]

I managed to get behind the driver on a ICE3 run from Koeln to Amsterdam. The only time he made the glass non see through was during the changeover from German AC to Dutch DC. I think he has to drop the panto, then raise it again. I was more disconserted by the fact that the guard sat and chatted with him most of the way. Thats a big no no over here.

 

[Oscar]

I believe that the ICE 3 is automatically controlled to a certain extent and so the driver is responsible for less than on a comparable service in Britain. The driver ate a snack while driving when I was on an ICE 3 last week.

 

[317666]

I believe that the ICE 3 is automatically controlled to a certain extent and so the driver is responsible for less than on a comparable service in Britain. The driver ate a snack while driving when I was on an ICE 3 last week.

On high speed sections when the LZB cab signalling system is used, speed can be automatically controlled if I remember correctly.

 

[ainsworth74]

The driver ate a snack while driving when I was on an ICE 3 last week.

I've seen a couple of drivers over here having a snack whist driving. One them seemed to be enjoying a very large fruit salad!

 

[johnnychips]

I've seen a couple of drivers over here having a snack whist driving. One them seemed to be enjoying a very large fruit salad!

More healthier than a parmo, then, in your neck of the woods. At least he won't have a heart attack while driving.

 

[maxiboy]

You can also now select seats when booking on www.bahn.de, at least you can with ICE-3s. They're doing it as a trial and it works the same way as East Coast, you click on a seat which is free that you would like to sit in. However, I think it might only be available on the German language version of the site.

Also works with ICE-T (and ICE 1, which do not have a lounge).
At the moment, ICE 2 services are excluded due to an ongoing refurbishment programme. Unfortunately the new seats are a lot less comfortable and the nice late 1980s/early 1990s style colour scheme is gone.