INTRO: ICE3 builders Siemens and Adtranz demonstrated the first complete ICE3 unit or German Railway at the Siemens test track in Wegberg-Wildenrath on July 9. Murray Hughes was on board
HEINZ KURZ, Head of Rolling StockTechnology and Train Systems at DB Reise&Touristik, German Railway’s long-distance passenger subsidiary, confirmed on July 9 that 13 four-system ICE3 sets now in course of delivery are intended to serve Paris in 2001 or 2002. Kurz was speaking during an afternoon of demonstration runs at the Siemens test site in Wegberg-Wildenrath near the Dutch border in north Germany.
The demonstration train was the first complete eight-car ICE3 for DB Reise&Touristik, and it has been undergoing a variety of tests since early this year. Five of the cars were fully fitted with passenger accommodation, but the other three were not accessible because of test equipment.
In the workshops at Wegberg-Wildenrath was one of a quartet of four-system units destined for Netherlands Railways, the first of which will be handed to NS this month for certification. The Dutch units are identical to the German four-system sets, apart from the NS logo on the nose and bodysides; they will be operated in a pool with some of the German units in a joint venture covering services from Amsterdam to K
