Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: ICE HST HSR

Here was a view out the window at 247 Km/h.

As I said before, these trains are quite fast, but 247 Km/h, or 153.48 m.p.h., isn't even the original ICE speed limit from 1991, which was 250Km/h, or about 156 m.p.h. Although the Class 403 and 406 ICE's are rated for 330Km/h, and the Class 402 is rated for 280, 250 is what most of the high speed network is still rated for in Germany. In addition, a large number of ICE routes are over conventional lines where the speed limit is between about 160 and 200. This is really the weakness of the ICE services, not the trains, but the fact that not enough was invested in building dedicated high speed lines.

This was my train, a Class 406 (and possibly the first one I had ridden) that would take me to Bruxelles-Midi.

This is a Class 402 ICE. These were short-lived in production, having only been built between 1995 and 1997 for lower-traffic routes, and only 46 were built. Originally, they were only six-car sets, with a small passenger capacity even for that length, of 391. This is compared to 12 cars and 743 seats on the original 401 Class ICE, 441 for the 8-car Class 403, and 430 for the Class 406.