Germany's high-speed rail is often the envy of Europe. In terms of both comfort, and also style.
It's easily one of the most instantly recognisable railway brands, anywhere in the world.
But with the introduction of the newest generation of trains, the
ICE 4, a lot of frequent travellers are left complaining about the new experience.
So, is it really that bad? Let's find out!
Welcome to Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof,
a major terminus station here in Germany's fifth-largest city.
The station's entrance hall and trainshed dates back to 1888,
and at the time was Europe's largest station.
Often referred to as the most important station in Germany, Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof boasts some 24
mainline platforms, with an additional four S-Bahn commuter train platforms located below ground.
With such a title, the station of course sees trains to many destinations,
such as regional trains, connecting Frankfurt am Main with nearby cities and towns.
There's also high-speed ICE trains to all corners of Germany.
Finally, the international services to France, as well as Belgium, the Netherlands,
and Switzerland - the latter of which I'll be travelling on today.
My train is ICE 373, the 16:50 to Interlaken Ost.
I'll be travelling as far as Basel Badischer Bahnhof, in the international City of Basel.
This service will be operated with one of Deutsche Bahn's (or DB) newest ICE 4 trains,
entering service from 2016. These new trains have received quite a lot of criticism from passengers,
so it will be interesting to see what they're actually like.
I'm travelling in Second Class today, and I have a seat reservation here in Coach 6.
I'll be sitting in Seat 81, a rear facing airline style seat at a window.
Today's route will take us from the bustling metropolis of Frankfurt,
through Mannheim and Karlsruhe, then skirting the French border
before crossing over into Switzerland to serve Basel Badischer Bahnhof.
The scheduled journey time is 2 hours and 45 minutes,
to cover the 327 kilometres (or about 203 miles) of track.
Departure from Frankfurt is a couple minutes late, at 16:52.
The top-speed of this 12-carriage train is 250km/h (155mph), which
will be achieved later on in the trip. It's also worth mentioning that there's
an ongoing programme to upgrade the speed of many ICE 4 trains to 265km/h (165mph).
For the time being, we'll be enjoying the views as we weave out of Germany's financial capital.
Before we take a look at this train's controversial interior,
let's check out the WiFi network, which is actually pretty cool. Once connected,
you have free access to the ICE Portal, which allows you to check out information
about the destination en-route, as well as play games and access other media.
Oh - and the WiFi on-board is actually pretty decent too!
Anyway, let's take a look at the interior.
Firstly the seats. Now these are one of the most criticised elements of these new trains.
Honestly, I think that they are some of the best seats on rails,
with a decent amount of padding and fantastic ergonomics.
The adjustable head cushion is also the best of any ICE train,
providing exceptional support and comfort.
Beneath the seat cushion, you can find the recline lever, which further increases comfort.
With decently sized adjustable armrests found between each seat.
Also between seats, you can find a single European style power socket,
which seemed a bit limited for such a new train.
The seat in front has a folding seatback table. It's of a decent size, and also has a cupholder.
As for legroom, it's actually really good, there's loads of room to stretch out here.
You can also find a little net for storing items on the back of the seat in front.
This normally houses the DB mobil magazine,
whilst this is of course in German, it's always nice to look at the pictures too. My favourite
page has to be this one towards the back, which shows the diversity of DB's long-distance fleet.
Finally, there's a little bin found beneath the seats in front,
which is a nice feature that helps keep the train tidy.
Overall I really like this seat, but DB has received a lot of complaints about it.
They've listened to the feedback though,
and created a modified version with extra padding and more spacious head cushions.
I've tried the new model myself, and I've got to admit, it's even more comfortable.
For luggage space, there are multiple very large luggage stacks in every carriage,
as well as of course your regular overhead luggage racks.
Above the windows, you can find a sliding coathook.
And there's also a pretty decent adjustable window blind.
It is a shame though, that one of my favourite things about this train wasn't in use today.
As you can see, the lighting is quite harsh and bright.
Sometimes, these lights are changed to another colour, such as a soft orange or purple,
which really improves the overall ambience of the train.
We're now arriving into our first station stop after about 35 minutes of travel.
This is Mannheim Hauptbahnhof.
After Mannheim, our journey speeds up,
and we can now run at up to 250km/h (155mph), the top-speed of this train.
Following a 25 minute high-speed run, we arrive into Karlsruhe, our next station.
It might not look like much, but I really like this station.
The classic design is really appealing to me,
and I also find it amusing that its platforms can host anything from a Tram to a TGV!
From Karlsruhe, the train runs close to the French border all the way down to Switzerland.
Right, I'm getting pretty hungry, so let's head down to the on-board restaurant.
I would check out the toilets, but it seems they weren't quite up to the job today,
much like this gangway door, which was running on 'manual mode', to put it politely.
Here we are at the DB Bordrestaurant, located in Coach 10.
The restaurant on the ICE 4 trains is a pleasant and classy affair,
with a very open and spacious area for dining.
At the time of recording, DB was operating its international cuisine menus,
and this month's feature was Italy.
I went for the 'Bunte Gnocchi', and a bottle of Bitburger German beer.
The only criticism I have is that the regional
menus aren't on offer long enough - this was a really tasty meal.
This set me back a total of €12.10,
which I think is a pretty good deal for a meal on a high-speed train.
Adjacent to the restaurant carriage, you can find the multifunction carriage,
featuring a barrier-free toilet, as well as the train manager's office.
You can also find a family compartment, which features seats around a colourful table,
as well as some stuff for young children to play with.
There is an impressive four wheelchair spaces here too,
located in close proximity to the train manager's office and the wheelchair lift.
Anyway, time to head back to my seat for the remainder of the trip down to Basel.
For this trip, I used an Interrail pass, so just paid for the seat reservation costing €4.
For a normal ticket in Second Class booked a few days before,
you can expect to pay something around €49.90.
On this 203 mile journey, that gives a price per mile of about 22p, which
is generally quite reasonable value for money considering the quality and speed of the train.
Moving on to the other main complaint on the ICE 4. Many seats are poorly aligned with the windows,
even in First Class. I'd be really annoyed if this was my allocated seat on a busy train for a long
journey, especially considering that some of the luggage racks are better aligned with the windows!
But overall, to answer the question... Are they really that bad? Well I have to say no.
Despite a few flaws, the ICE 4 is easily one of the best high-speed trains that I've been on.
They have great capacity which is ideal for ever growing passenger numbers, and I think the comfort
and ambience is really nice, with the on-board restaurant being a much appreciated inclusion.
As someone who travels frequently on long-distance trains in the UK that look like...this,
the ICE 4 would be a massive upgrade.
Passing through Weil am Rhein indicates that we are just about to cross the Swiss border,
and we are nearly at Basel Badischer Bahnhof.
So what do you think of Germany's newest high-speed trains?
Are you unimpressed with the new design, or do you think they're not as bad as some say?
Leave a comment down below with your thoughts, I'm interested to hear what you think!
We arrive into Basel Badischer Bahnhof one minute early, at 19:34.
This station is interesting, as despite being on Swiss territory,
it's operated as a DB station with the platforms even being part of Germany for customs purposes.
If you enjoyed this video, then you'll definitely love the video on screen now.
Thanks for watching, and I look forward to seeing you again on my next journey!