The new ICE L: A very special train

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Now it's official: Deutsche Bahn presented the new ICE L train generation to the public in Berlin on Friday. The train from Spanish railway manufacturer Talgo was initially supposed to run as ECx from 2023 and was later renamed ICE. With considerable delay, it will start at the timetable change on December 14, 2025, in a configuration that was not actually planned.

The ICE L has already been in Berlin for months. This is because at Talgo Deutschland's maintenance depot on Warschauer Straße, where the Talgo night trains were also serviced in the past, intensive work has been carried out on the train until recently. Work on the train was still observed last Sunday.

On Wednesday, we spotted the entire train set for the first time – with the wrong locomotive. This is because only the carriages and the control car of the ICE L have been approved so far. The electric locomotive from Talgo, DB series 105, cannot yet be used. Its approval is not expected until 2026. For now, Deutsche Bahn is coupling a Siemens Mobility series 193 locomotive to the carriages, which is also known as Vectron.

The first deployment of the ICE L is scheduled to start in December on the route from Berlin via Münster or Dortmund to Cologne. Originally, it was supposed to connect Berlin and Amsterdam. However, Deutsche Bahn is also delayed here – indefinitely. From May 2026, the new train is scheduled to run from Berlin via Hamburg to Sylt. From summer next year, the railway plans to run from Frankfurt via Kassel and Hanover to Hamburg with the ICE L and serve the route via Bremen, Ruhr area, Rhineland, Mannheim and Oberstdorf.

Up to 230 km/h electrically

Theoretically, the ICE L is supposed to reach a top speed of 230 km/h. Whether this will work in the first deployment is at least doubtful. According to information from heise online, the new ICEs with a Vectron locomotive will probably only run at 200 km/h at first. However, this is not certain – the railway avoids publicly committing to a locomotive. With the Talgo locomotive BR105, a total approval for 230 km/h is planned.

On the route to Sylt, which is not continuously electrified, the railway uses a Vectron Dual Mode (series 248), which combines a diesel engine with 1700 kW and an electric engine with 2100 kW. This is also a first for the ICE. The diesel-powered ICE-TD is now only operating as a mobile laboratory.

The possible use of different locomotives, including the ability to swap them, makes the ICE L more flexible, similar to the old Intercity trains. A conventional ICE is a fixed unit. For Deutsche Bahn, the ICE L thus potentially also has advantages in the context of the many track renovations planned for the coming years. During closures, the trains can also divert to non-electrified routes. With the ICE L, routes that were previously only used by freight transport could then also be used.

ICE L with fewer barriers

The "L" in the name describes a central function of the train. It stands for "Low Floor" or Niederflur. The floor of the train is particularly low, making it ideal for German long-distance platforms. In Germany, these are relatively high at 760 mm above the top of the rails. However, this is a good height for the ICE L, as it allows for step-free and faster boarding. Passengers in wheelchairs should be able to board significantly more easily. The train has a total of three spaces for passengers in wheelchairs out of a total of 562 seats.

This is where the single-wheel suspension comes into play. The ICE L does not have an axle or a bogie that would necessitate a high boarding edge. Instead, the passenger runs at a height that is very close to the wheel rims. This allows the train to be equipped with a continuously low floor. Exceptions: The control car and the connecting carriage to the locomotive. Each has a traditional bogie at the end.

The construction, a specialty of Talgo that has been in use in Spain for a long time, has further features. The carriages are therefore very short. There are 17 of them in a train. This also offers advantages. On platforms with curves, the entrance does not move as far away from the platform, making boarding easier. However, there is also a disadvantage. It is a bit tighter between the single-wheel suspensions than in many other trains. The technology has to go somewhere.

Overall, step-free and therefore barrier-free boarding is not an easy problem to solve. Doors above bogies should actually be avoided, but this is problematic at stations with curves, as a gap bridging is then required. In international rail traffic, different platform heights must also be considered. The ICE L makes a compromise here and thus offers progress in terms of accessibility on some routes.

Better for mobile communications

The carriages have windows that allow mobile signals to pass through. With good light, you can see a pattern in the windows. Deutsche Bahn is currently also "re-certifying" old trains. Deutsche Bahn also emphasizes that there is a power outlet at every seat, even in 2nd class. However, there is no mention of USB or Wireless QI, which is very robust in everyday travel. This means the equipment lags behind the modern trains of Austrian Federal Railways.

Actually, the ICE L was supposed to travel from Berlin to the Netherlands long ago and replace the old IC passenger coaches, on whose routes the ICE 3 Neo with less capacity is now running. The 320 km/h fast ICE 3 Neo is oversized for the route, only a short section between Berlin and Wolfsburg allows a speed of 250 km/h.

It is also still unclear whether the new ICE L, with an axle load of over 20 tons in some places, can travel on some Dutch route sections with soft subsoil. The railway has remained tight-lipped about this so far, and points out that approval for the Netherlands is planned. However, approval does not mean that every route can be traveled.

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