Story Behind German High Speed Rail System

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- As we promised in the previous video, today’s topic is a detailed explanation of the German high-speed rail system!

Bearing in mind that in one period there were two German states, West and East, this division, and later process of their integration, greatly influenced the planning and the development of high-speed rail network.

So, the idea of this video was to explain the concept on which this system is based, its brief history, and the most important dilemmas that policymakers had in relation to development plans - such as dedicated tracks or mixed traffic, west-east or north-south orientation, etc.

In the second part of the video, using some cool animations, we tried to show the step-by-step development of this amazing high-speed rail network.

Enjoy and share with us your thoughts in the comment section!

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#Germany #ICE #HighSpeedRail

[clancy]

I wouldn't say that Germany is finished with building HSR. Apart from the new Stuttgart-Ulm HSR corridor, there's also a new HSR corridor between Gelnhausen and Fulda, and there's planning for a new HSR line between Nürnberg and Würzburg (I'm taking this ride quite often, and it always infuriates me - Fulda to Würzburg is 100 km and takes 30 minutes, Würzburg to Nürnberg is 100 km and takes 60 minutes, Nürnberg to Ingolstadt is 100 km and takes 30 minutes - ridiculous). I can't wait for all those new HSR lines to be build. :)

[Critizens]

Great video, you just missed most of the upcoming HSR projects like:

- Frankfurt–Mannheim (300 km/h)
- Gelnhausen–Fulda (300 km/h) + Fulda–Gerstungen (230 km/h); both combined could bring Berlin–Frankfurt below 3:30 h
- Hannover–Bielefeld (300 km/h)
- Hannover–Hamburg
- Nuremberg–Würzburg
- Ulm–Augsburg
- Hamburg–Copenhagen [DK] via the Baltic Sea
- Munich–Kufstein [AT > Brenner Base Tunnel > IT]
- Dresden–Prague [CZ]

So... far away from being done^^

[MrMoccachinoo]

I wouldn’t say that Germany has stopped planing new HSR tracks.

Augsburg-Ulm is currently planed, to connect Munich-Augsburg to the new high speed rail Ulm-Stuttgart.
With its fulfillment there will be a non-stop highspeed track from Munich via Augsburg, Ulm, Stuttgart, Mannheim to Frankfurt, which will cut traveling times massively and will be faster than going by car, even on the German autobahn (mostly) without speed limit

[ludwighofle]

The Cologne-Frankfurt line also carries the new ICE 4-trains. It can't reach the maximum speed of 300 km/h but is able to restart the train after a complete stop on any point on the line. The ICE 4 matches these requirements.
I'm excited abaout the plans for the new 300 km/h-line Frankfurt-Mannheim and the additional underground-station with tunnels for Frankurt main station. With the new Frankfurt-Fulda (or rather Hanau-Gelnhausen), Frankfurt really becomes the main junction in the German high speed train system.

[tunnfisch]

In my opinion Germany should spend way more money on railways. The problem is the projects are often short sighted and not future proof (see Stuttgart 21) and explode in cost. I hope we finally start to separate cargo and passenger rail because everything else has shown to be problematic.

[christophernoble]

Berlin - Hamburg was revamped to cater for speeds up to 230 km/h by ICE units, but 200 km/h by IC trains. This was achieved without the expense of a new dedicated high speed line.

[tobys_transport_videos]

German railways amaze me! I initially travelled from Munich to Cologne on an ICE train in 2018 then got a loco-hauled IC service to Wuppertal. What amazed me was that the loco-hauled service accelerated to 200 kmh soon after leaving Cologne. In April 2019 after studying the timetable, I found an ICE service going from Berlin to Munich in 4 hours. I don't know how far that is but my limited knowledge of DB told me that if I was going to get a train at 300 kmh in Germany, *_this was going to be it!!!_* Somewhere after Hanover we took a dedicated high-speed line and I watched the interactive map on my laptop as the train accelerated in steps to *300 kmh!!!* It was as if the driver was enjoying it too! My fellow passengers, most of whom I expect were German nationals, didn't see anything noteworthy about this train. 😕

I have grown up in Australia, a place where we still think 160 kmh maximum speed is fantastic and fast enough, yet the UK and Europe have been doing this for decades! 💖DB!!!

[benjaminlamey]

As a user, I can confirm that I chose my trips taking care to stick within the HSR lines. for example the ICE between Hamburg and Cologne is never in time. it has no chance to have less than 15 mins delay it is always stuck behind a slower train, that´s the consequence of mixed traffic. As I know it, I never take any connection smaller than 25 mins, but I see so much people missing connections and asking for refund ... On the other hand on the train hamburg to frankfurt hamburg to Freiburg/Basel i rarely have more than 10 mins delay now that the line between Hannovre and gottingen is rehabilitated.
I really appreciate the high speed train in germany, it is quite quick, comfortable and affordable.

[Train_Tendo]

The map at 14:29 is almost completely wrong sadly.
Just to give an example: Augsburg- munich is 230kph but on your map it is less then 200 kph
Same thing on Hamburg- berlin
And basically all blue marked tracks are for 200kph but the map says its less then 200. which means your map says its between 160 and 199 kph.
Pls next time u do a map like that, add a =. So write <=200 or even better just say 161 to 200 or 250 to 299.

And u btw germany didnt stop building these lines. We are just starting. There are so many new lines in planning and building. Also lines like hannover-berlin are getting upgraded to 300kph.
The investments in hsr are rising

Btw there is a map called „openRalwayMap“ u can look up every line speed and location on there.

[adamwnt]

I'm glad you mentioned the schedule of the trains, the combination of different speeds on same tracks and so on.
It is indeed one of the most interesting subjects of the railway world. I'm very much looking forward to that video.

[ianhelps]

As travelling times by train in Germany decrease, it is also noticeable that driving on autobahns is not as fast as it used to be. There are far more cars on the road leading to more traffic jams. Also the increase in traffic wears out the road surface quicker, meaning more road works and hold ups. Munich to Frankfurt used to be a easy four hour drive including a rest stop. Now you have to allow five hours at least. Also Munich to Berlin coukd be done in six hours. Now you're lucky if you can do it in eight hours. The train is the best option!

[petrhajduk]

It is so disappointing that the Berlin - Rhein-Ruhr corridor is still one of the most frequent _plane_ routes.
Also a bit wondering, how comfortable is that Frankfurt to Cologne route?

[Eric-qkqv]

As someone who takes train weekly from Berlin to Baden Wurttemberg...the trains RARELY if ever accelerate above 200 kmh. The potential of the line means absolutely nothing due to the shared tracks and constant construction. Watching this video vs. France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain makes me realize how absolutely backwards Germany's system is

[IamTheHolypumpkin]

You really notice the 40 ‰ (Permil) grade when you take the Frankfurt to Cologne line. Like on an airplane or a car up a mountain you notice the change in airpressure and how much you are pressed in the seat.

[himbourbanist]

As an American, I'm supremely envious of Germany's High Speed Rail network. Absolutely wish we had something similar here that wasn't stuck in development hell like most proposed High Speed lines

[jervandevelde]

2:00 My Belgian little hearth skipped a beat!

[marcustulliuscicero]

"Large cities in Germany"

"Limburg an der Lahn"

[rezaalan]

ICE Trains definitely enjoy their actual operating speed when running abroad, especially to France (beside they enjoyed it on smaller section of high speed rail line or few dedicated high speed rail on domestic lines).

[IANinALTONA]

12:46 Hamburg-Berlin is actually a line with speeds GREATER than 200kph.

[stuttgartspotting]

Die NBS Wendlingen - Ulm wird in einem Jahr zum Fahrplanwechsel im Dezember 2022 bereits eröffnet. Es fährt dann ein ICE pro Stunde und Richtung darüber + ein Regionalzug mit Halt in Merklingen.