Deutsche Bahn (DB) and Siemens Mobility have achieved a significant milestone by reaching a speed of 405.0 km/h with an ICE test train on the high-speed route between Erfurt and Leipzig/Halle. Such high-speed runs, exceeding 300 km/h, are rare on the German rail network and are reserved for testing purposes.
Dr. Philipp Nagl, CEO of DB InfraGO AG, stated: “Today, an ICE has traveled faster than ever before on the Erfurt–Leipzig/Halle line. A new top speed of 405.0 km/h also confirms the high performance of the infrastructure on this high-speed route: after ten years of continuous operation, we can run at such high speeds without any modifications.” He emphasized that these tests provide crucial data for maintaining and developing high-speed routes and trains.
Christian Hirte, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Minister for Transport, remarked: “Germany is and can be top! Today’s top-speed run shows that we in Germany have high-quality infrastructure and a powerful industry.”
Thomas Graetz from Siemens Mobility highlighted the capabilities demonstrated by their Velaro Novo test vehicle during this event: “The successful test runs of our Velaro Novo test vehicle…clearly demonstrate the performance capabilities of our latest generation of high-speed trains.”
Dr. Hiie-Mai Unger from DB Systemtechnik added: “Driving innovation forward and preparing rail transport for the future – that’s what we at DB Systemtechnik contribute to with our test runs.”
The ICE-S train used in these tests is designed for measurement runs to evaluate new lines and inspect infrastructure conditions. The Velaro Novo represents a continuation of previous generations with improvements in efficiency and capacity while reducing energy consumption by up to 30 percent.
Regular service ICE trains operate at speeds up to 300 km/h on specific routes like those connecting Berlin to Munich or Cologne to Frankfurt. The Erfurt–Leipzig/Halle route was inaugurated in 2015 as part of German Unity Transport Project No. 8 (VDE8), built specifically for such velocities.
The route is currently closed until July 12th for maintenance work which includes installing low-maintenance bridge bearings among other optimizations ensuring continued reliability and performance.
