ICE Intercity Express Fare StructureICE Intercity ExpressICE Fare Structure ICE Germany ICE trains are the highest category (Class A) trains in the fare system of the Deutsche Bahn. Their fares are not calculated on a fixed per-kilometre table as with other trains, but instead have fixed prices for station-to-station connections, depending on a multitude of factors including the railway line category and the general demand on the line. Even on lines where the ICE is not faster than an ordinary IC or EC train (for example Hamburg to Dortmund), an additional surcharge will be levied on the ground that the ICE trains have a higher comfort level than IC/EC trains. ICE Austria On the intra-Austrian lines (Vienna-Innsbruck-Bregenz, Vienna-Salzburg(-Munich), Vienna-Passau(-Hamburg) and Innsbruck-Kufstein(-Berlin)) no additional fees are charged. ICE Switzerland Likewise, the trains running to and from Zurich, Interlaken and Chur, as well as those on the intra-Swiss ICE trains (see above) can be used without any surcharge. ICE The Netherlands On ICE trains between Amsterdam and Cologne, passengers travelling nationally within the Netherlands (between Amsterdam Centraal and Arnhem Centraal) can use the national OV-chipkaart scheme but have to purchase a supplement. Passengers travelling into/from Germany have to buy an international ticket. ICE Possible Future Service to London In January 2010, the European railway network was opened to a liberalisation intended to allow greater competition. Both Air France-KLM and Deutsche Bahn have indicated their desire to take advantage of the new laws to run new services via the Channel Tunnel and the High Speed 1 route that terminates at London St Pancras International. A test run of an ICE train through the Channel Tunnel took place on 19 October 2010. Passenger-carrying ICE trains, however, will have to meet safety requirements in order to transit the Channel Tunnel. Although the requirement for splittable trains was lifted, concerns remain over the shorter length of ICE trainsets, fire safety, and the ICE's distributed power arrangements. There have been suggestions that French interests have advocated stringent enforcement to delay a competitor on the route. Eurostar also recently chose Siemens Velaro-based rolling stock; there were concerns that Alstom (builders of the passenger trains that already use the Tunnel) and the French Government would take the matter to court. n October 2010, the French transport minister suggested that the European Railway Agency (based in France) should arbitrate. After safety rule changes which might permit the use of Siemens Velaro rolling stock, the French government dismissed their delegate to the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority, and brought in a replacement. In March 2011, a European Rail Agency report authorized trains with distributed traction for use in the Channel Tunnel. This means that the ICE class 407 trains which DB intends to use for its London services will be able to run through the tunnel. In February 2014, however, Deutsche Bahn announced further difficulties with launching the route, and reports make it seem unlikely that service will start anytime this decade. In June 2018, Deutsche Bahn announced that it was shelving plans to revive a potential London-Frankfurt ICE connection. The service would take around 5 hours and could rival airlines and become the first competitor for Eurostar. ICE Ridership
From its inception in July 1991 to 2006, ICE has transported roughly 550 million passengers, including 67 million in 2005. The cumulative sum of passengers is roughly 1.25 billion in 2015. ICE Overview Locale: Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and France. Formerly Denmark. Dates of Operation: 1985-present Track Gauge: 1,435mm Standard gauge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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