The SECRET German High-Speed Train they don’t tell you about!

This is Germany's luxurious and lesser-known LUXURY high-speed train, we'll be exploring its lavish design and amenities, on a non-stop journey from Berlin to Frankfurt.

---

Journey Details:
Origin: Berlin Hbf
Destination: Frankfurt(M)Hbf
Company: Deutsche Bahn (DB)
Train: DB 101 + Metropolitan ICE
Accommodation: Second Class Seat (2nd)
Distance: 586 kilometres / 364 miles
Price: €33.90 (£31.00 / $39.50)
Time: 4h 03m, +2 minutes late

---

Find me elsewhere:

[SuperalbsTravels]

Would you use a luxury train service like the Metropolitan? 👇💬

[ft]

The toilets were indeed rather fancy. Towards the end of its life DB used the metropolitan as a testing ground for all sorts of (weird) ideas, so it even featured bird sounds on the toilets as a means to make them more pleasant. Fun fact: The trains interior was designed by the same company as Berlin Hbf.

[BinaryCounter]

As a German I really appreciate the effort trying to pronounce the city names correctly. And on most of them you're very close to how a native speaker would pronounce them.
This makes the video so much easier to follow along than with "englishized" names. Thank you!

[olli]

You gotta keep in mind that this train is 25 years old and it still looks outstandingly mondern. It was absolutely futuristic back in the day. Sadly, the ticket pricing for the Metropolitan was insane and travel times on the chosen route were too long compared to flight times. People that were able to pay those prices rather chose the plane, even if it meant less comfort for 45 minutes instead of great comfort for about 3:30 hours. With lower pricing, a real highs-speed capability of the train and the deployment on actual high-speed routes, the Metropolitan might've had succeeded.

This project ultimately failed, because its goal was not to generally get more people to go by train. Its goal was to make more money for DB, which started its money-making frenzy around that time with the ambition to go public sometime in the 2000s. The Metropolitan might be the ultimate symbol of this failed project. I'd say, the counterpart to the Metropolitan is the ICE 4. It's the high-speed train for everyone, with the goal to transport as many people as possible rather quickly and at rather low prices but without the comfort. Even if us train nerds might not like it, in the end, that is what gets more people to go by train.

[milmn]

This train used to run regularly between Hamburg and Berlin around 2010. I often traveled this route and randomly stumbled upon this train. Afterwards, I sometimes went out of my way to catch it (it didn't run at an optimal time for me), as I absolutely loved the fact that one could get better than first class comfort with a second class ticket. It's a shame that it's gone, but understandably so, as it was an expensive nightmare to maintain just two unique units.

[svenakin]

I rode that train once by sheer chance and had been wondering about it the whole time what type of new train this was. Now I know, thank you!
Fun Fact, when we arrived the conductor was going to announce our delay at arrival, stopped midway and said, audibly puzzled, that we had arrived eight minutes ahead of schedule.

[alexanderkrumeich]

Metropolitan was a completely separate brand from DB. They had their own call center and ticketing system. When they shut down operations, they sold off a lot of stuff. I managed to buy six of their exquisite coffee mugs with the iconic logo. The train may be gone, but the mugs are still in service. 😊

[tryndaweniger]

Kinda unrelated but huge respect to the way you pronounce cities. I can't speak for other cities than german ones but you pronounce all cities almost 100% accurate (the foreign ones sound pretty good too but I can't tell if correct)

The fact that you (eventually take time to research the correct pronounciation and) pronounce the cities the native way is a huge sign of respect and I love it

[lja]

"The hot drink machine was sadly not working" - that's the law in every German train

[edwardtodd]

I took a train fromunich to Hanover in October 1989. Somewhere after Wirzburg, we were running alongside a river, and then a fence came down to the rover, ran along for about a kilometer then went back up into the hills. It cut through the woods as it came down and returned to the hills and has clear earth on either side. It was the iron curtain. Little did I know that within two months it would become redundant.

[OlafDerFriese]

Deutsche Bahn Secrets can really be fun. In the mid 1990s (prior to recommendations on the internet) I had to use a train from Bremen to Nuremberg regularly. On the first trip, we noticed that carriage no. 5 was an old 1st class wagon serving as 2nd class. You could not reserve a seat there but as we entered at the start of the route, we always got seats there and enjoyed space and luxury.

[scfan]

Never been on this train in my 30 years riding DB. Thank you for making this video!

[publicminx]

that design is really good. not everything which runs under 'luxury' (trains, hotels etc.) has a good aesthetics. in this case it also gives a great combination of retro, futuristic and present modern vibes at the same time without overstretching it. this also creates a a really interesting and great atmosphere ...

[hanfbrot]

Thank you for the pronounciation of citys. Really nice!

[markoobid]

In lovely memory of the best ever German Intercity train.
R.I.P Metropolitan, you are already missed!

[herr_mrsir]

Great video about a great train! That brings back good memories. The first time I happened to ride on the Metropolitan ICE I thought I accidentally got into a 1st class car. I love the interior. I was lucky to join the last trip of the train in december 2021 from Cologne to Hanover. The train itself and pretty much all the stations along the way were packed with people wanting to see the train one last time. It's sad that DB has taken the Metropolitan trains out of service, but I understand the decision.

[samtrak]

The polished wood and black leather interiors are off da hook!

[InTeCredo]

I had never heard of Metropolitan ICE until I happened to board one in 2009. I was gobsmacked at the extravagantly luxurious and futuristic appointments in the Metropolitan ICE. Then, Deutsche Bahn deployed the Metropolitan ICE for the Munich-Berlin Gesundbrunnen route from 2011 to 2017 prior to the opening of new high speed trunk line between Bamberg and Berlin via Erfurt. I made every effort to book the "first class" seat on Metropolitan ICE every time I visited Berlin. Now, I use ICE Sprinter that takes about four hours between Munich and Berlin with amazing view of landscape rolling by so fast at 300 km/h (about half of the route).

[ProfTydrim]

I'm very pleased to see you in fact did show the actual route of the train on the map like I suggested below your ICE 4 video :) high quality content, keep it up

[carstenbohme]

I ended up on this train a couple of years ago on the Erlangen - Berlin route, specifically in one of the former-first-but-now-second class cabins. It was pretty unsettling at first because I thought myself in the wrong class and simply could not believe that DB operates something like it. After that: Absolute bliss, one of the best train rides ever. RIP