Having been so beastly about our rail service in 'Brave New Railway', it's only fair that I comment again when I have a good journey. The only problem is that the good journey was on an 'Inter City Express' (ICE) service in Germany.
I'd flown to Frankfurt with two people from my client to attend a meeting in Mannheim. Terminal 1 at Frankfurt Airport is linked to stations serving both main and suburban rail lines. The ICE service offered the fastest connection to Mannheim and we'd time to buy a ticket for three at the multi-lingual ticket machine before descending to the platform. Clear displays on the platform showed train details and the layout of the train (including catering facilities). Announcements in English and German apologised for the 5 minute late arrival (most of which had been recovered by the time we got to Mannheim).
The Siemens-built ICE train was warm, the decor both inviting and relaxing and we readily found suitable seats. There's a pleasant air of spaciousness - the design benefits from the Berne Loading Gauge which is more generous than the British Loading Gauge. In addition, our 'Pendolinos' and 'Super Voyagers' are designed to tilt, resulting in a cabin narrower at the ceiling than the floor to ensure a tilted body remains within the loading gauge. The ticket inspector was friendly and chatted in English to us. Toilets were clean and everything worked. The ICE isn't cheap, but you have the option of travelling on a regional train at about half the price. We arrived in Mannheim suitably impressed.
The next day, when our meetings were finished, we travelled from Mannheim to Frankfurt itself. A pleasant, right-time experience. We were a little puzzled when the train first stopped at Frankfurt Airport and then, after a pause of a few minutes, reversed to travel on to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. Later that day, we returned to the airport, this time using the suburban 'S-Bahn' service - a far more basic service for which we paid far less. All-in-all, a satisfying experience.
It must be about 25 years since I was last in Frankfurt (visiting the German consultants employed on the Taiwan Trunk Line Electrification Project) and the railway scene is considerably changed. Then, 'DB' stood for Deutsche Bundesbahn which was a self-regulatory body. This has been turned into a public limited company, Deutsche Bahn AG, regulated by the Federal Railway Office Eisenbahnbundesamt (EBA).
The heading photo shows our ICE train on arrival at Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. More pictures.
