6. August 2026
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Riding the Deutsche Bahn ICE-L First Class

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

As a train lover and nerd, I am always excited about riding new trains, interesting routes and exploring the rail companies of other countries. However, in late July 2026, I was really looking forward to a very domestic experience. Germany’s key national provider Deutsche Bahn had rolled out their new high speed train, the ICE-L, in December 2025.

Despite the inaugurate route was between my home town Cologne and Berlin, it took me quite a couple of months to finally explore this new train. I had a First Class ride with them from Cologne Main Station to Heidelberg, routed along the picturesque track West of the River Rhine (which is not in focus of this post). Here are some impressions and thoughts, presented in my Pictured Story format.

 

Deutsche Bahn ICE-L – Technical Information and Routes

The German ICE-L is a high-speed push pull train built by Spanish manufacturer Talgo based on their Talgo 230 platform. Push-pull train means that typically, there is one engine on one end and a non-powered cockpit as part of the train on the other so that you don’t have to change the engine when you change direction. During the trip I had, though, there were engines on both ends, which lead to the funny situation that the cockpit, heading in the direction of travel, was manned but not really in operation.

Thus, from its shape and style, the ICE-L rather reminds of Intercity trains than of ICE trains. The “L” in the name refers to the train being a low floor vehicle. Entering and exiting was very comfortable and the train is also fully accessible. Jokingly, the “L” could also refer to long, as the ICE-L comes with the vast amount of 17 cars. However, these are significantly shorter than ICE cars. Three of them, 15 to 17, host the First Class Compartment, Car 14 is the restaurant car. Car 1 hosts the option to carry bicycles (for a fee, reservation required). In total and without engines, the ICE-L has a length of 236.1 meters and offers a total of 562 seats (85 of them are first class). It can travel with a top speed of 230 km/h.

 

Riding Deutsche Bahn ICE-L in First Class

The interior of the ICE-L feels very modern. My first class ride was in car 16, i.e. in the central first class one. This one also hosted the bahn.comfort zone for Deutsche Bahn status travelers. This felt rather confusing to me as I expected it being located in car 15. The configuration is a 2-1 seating, i.e. two seats on one side and one on the other. There are typically row of seats, but a few also face each other, separated by an expandable table in the middle. I really like the new design of Deutsche Bahn seats. They are also inside a “shell”, so that in case you are reclining, the rear part of your seat facing the next customer is not moving. This is very handy.

The seats in row come with a retractable table in the backrest in the seat in front of them, a smaller tray for tablets or smartphones as well as a cup holder. There is one power socket for each seat in ICE-L First Class, which may also be used for major mobile computers. Potential reservation are shown on a display at the headrest of the seats. I really like the traffic light system in them, indicating whether the seat is currently reserved or taken (red light) or reserved from a future train station (yellow light). A really nice feature of the ICE-L is that the seat numbers are not only shown in these displays, but also at the luggage area above the seats, which can also hold major suitcases. Additionally, there is a reading light at each seat. You also have coat hooks and additional luggage racks.

Toilets

Car 16 also holds two toilets. They are fine, a bit more narrow than in some ICE trains (but much better than the first generation ones). You have to say that the ride was extremely smooth, despite passing the curvy Rhine Valley. thus, I really liked riding Deutsche Bahn’s new generation of rolling stock.

 

Deutsche Bahn

Here are all my postings related to the German National Rail, Deutsche Bahn:

 

Germany in Travel – 2026

Here are all my travel postings related to Germany published during 2026:

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