AFTER announcing in February that it was placing orders for 28 ICE-T tilting trainsets and another 13 ICE3 units (RG 3.01 p141), German Railway has confirmed that the trains will be built by a Siemens-led consortium. Other members include Bombardier and Alstom, which will supply hydraulic tilt gear to the Fiat design. The orders are effectively options from earlier contracts, although there will be some minor design changes to the seven-car tilting sets such as a higher seating density.

On April 23 DB put ICE-TD tilting diesel sets into service on the 390 km route between Nürnberg and Dresden, and all principal services on this route are to be turned over to ICE-TD units from the start of the summer timetable on June 10.

Work has meanwhile begun in Dresden on a DM2·2bn programme to rebuild the station and its approaches. Funding is coming from federal and Land governments, the European Union and DB.