European Railroad Discussion > A trip on the ICE

We boarded our ICE Train at Berlin-Sud Kreuz at 1735 today enroute 88 km to Lutherstadt-Wittenberg. We had spent the day in Potsdam - take your wife; she will love it. I was in the first class cabin immediately behind the engineer. Accelerating moderately trough the south Suburbs of Berlin, after a few minutes we were cruising at 199 Kilometers per hour! The ride was smooth and quiet. At that Speed we covered three km per Minute. I timed it at 18 seconds per km. About km 47, we slowed to about 120 km (80 mph) for 15 km. Signals were green, but I saw a lot of new Switches in place, so perhaps a slow order.... At km 64 we accelerated back to full Speed and arrived in Wittenberg at 1811. 88 km in 36 minutes.

This morning on our northbound trip, we did it 32 minutes - no slow orders. The geography of the 88 km is flat like Illinois or northern Indiana. It is a fast railroad, that was laid out with few curves many many years ago in the 1850s?.

Considering that this railroad in 1989 was East Germany and in terrible shape, this is a remarkable Remake. 100 mph Speed averages!

Awesome information, thanks for sharing. Is it a passenger route only, or are there freights? Any photos?

Posted from iPhone

How was your visit to Wittenburg? Here in the US we of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the reformation and many groups are touring that area around Wittenburg.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Hopefully the driver had the glass unfrosted so you could see ahead. Some do, others don't. And some go back and forth when there is something they maybe don't want the passengers to see. Such a cool experience especially at that speed. And yes, Potsdam is a great place to visit with accommodations way lower in price than nearby Berlin and only a short time away by frequent train service.

MEKoch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Considering that this railroad in 1989 was East
> Germany and in terrible shape, this is a
> remarkable Remake.

I'm not sure on what you base this statement. I rode the Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1989, from Hamburg to Berlin and back, and found it perfectly acceptable. The line through Lutherstadt-Wittenberg was electrified carrying large amounts of both passenger and freight traffic. Passenger trains either started from Berlin Lichtenberg or circumnavigated their way round the city on the Ringbahn. Most trains also stopped at Schonefeld Airport too. It was electrified, using the same 16kV system as West Germany. Fast trains were equipped with first and second class cars, with restaurant and buffet cars operated by Mitropa. Photography wasn't a problem, the DDR authorities were surprisingly relaxed about foreigners photographing trains. My main disappointment was the weather, it rained solidly all week.

The ICE trainsets are absolute wonders of engineering. It's really amazing how you can look up, see you're going 200km/h and barely even feel it.

The only time I've really felt that "holy crap, this is fast" feeling in an ICE set was on the new track south of Koln to Frankfurt, cooking along at a hair over 300. At that speed you started to feel every tiny little track bump, and every time we'd blast through a tunnel you could see almost continuous blue flashes coming off the pans up top and reflecting off the walls.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/17 16:15 by NDHolmes.

Meanwhile on the Northeast Corridor, 150 in limited areas is considered HSR.

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Meanwhile on the Northeast Corridor, 150 in
> limited areas is considered HSR.

In Europe, the NEC would be considered "normal" trackage not suited to HSR.

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> andersonb109 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Meanwhile on the Northeast Corridor, 150 in
> > limited areas is considered HSR.
>
> In Europe, the NEC would be considered "normal"
> trackage not suited to HSR.

DB's newest ICE-4 trainsets are only designed for a top speed of 249kph(154mph) because of new safety rules that require higher safety standards for trains that operate at 250kph and higher. The increased cost, combined with there being only one line in Germany where trains can go faster than 250kph, that being the Rhein - Main NBS(Köln - Frankfort am Main). Caused DB to concentrate the ICE-3 and ICE-3M on that route and the routes to Paris.

86325: glad that the DR was in good condition in 1989. My experience in northern East Germany was the opposite - slow plodding and ever vigilant about security.

Posted from iPhone

MEKoch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 86325: glad that the DR was in good condition in
> 1989. My experience in northern East Germany was
> the opposite - slow plodding and ever vigilant
> about security.
>
> Posted from iPhone


Interesting, when was your experience of the DR?

Whilst taking pictures around Berlin in August 1989 I met up with an East German railfan who gave me a timetable poster for Frankfurt an der Oder, which I still have, now framed. I also have the last DR system timetable for 1989/90, during which the DDR itself disappeared!

On the journey from Hamburg the train crossed the border at Buchen-Schwanheide, where the loco change took place, the DB hydraulic being replaced by a DR class 132, the much loved (by railfans) Ludmillas, still going today. The train was then non stop to Spandau, where it entered West Berlin (and the streetlights started!). I spent most of the journey leaning out of the window.

86325, Yes I rode the the 80 inch driver steam loco in 1972. At times we flew along. But the border crossing east of Hamburg was a one hour nightmare. Gun toting soldiers and snarling dogs. Lengthy interrogations.
On another trip to the DDR my attempts at photography were again threatened by gun toting soldiers with dogs.
Glad you met nicer people.

Posted from iPhone

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> andersonb109 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Meanwhile on the Northeast Corridor, 150 in
> > limited areas is considered HSR.
>
> In Europe, the NEC would be considered "normal"
> trackage not suited to HSR.

And in Europe, normal cant deficiency is more than tilting trains are allowed here.

TAW