The ICE 1 was the first mass-produced high-speed train in Germany. It was created in the 1980s when the TGV was growing in popularity in France and the Shinkansen had been operating in Japan for several decades. It is a train set consisting of one power car without seats at each end of the train and non-powered coaches. For this reason, the German term “Triebkopf” (“traction head”) is used for the motor cars.

This was preceded by the InterCityExperimental, which was built only once in 1983. In 1988, a world record for rail vehicles was set at 406.9 km/h.

The basis for the power cars was the class 120, which was the first series-produced locomotive in Germany to be powered by three-phase motors. When not worn, the wheels have a relatively small diameter of 1,040 mm. This made it possible to keep the overall height of the powered end cars at the same level as the coaches to ensure a uniform appearance of the train. Braking is usually done by means of dynamic brakes in the power cars and disc brakes in all coaches. All cars also have magnetic track brakes only for emergency braking.

The sets are approved for speeds of 280 km/h, but were initially only used up to 250 km/h after they went into service in 1991. From 1995 they were allowed to operate at their maximum permitted speed as planned, but this was reversed three years later. Only since 2006 have some been running again at 280 km/h.

A number of nine to 14 coaches can be selected for the train formation, which was often used in the beginning. It should be noted, however, that a train with the maximum number of cars only allows operation up to 250 km/h due to the limited power. All ICE 1 trains now have twelve coaches, consisting of three first-class cars, a dining car (on-board restaurant) and seven second-class cars.

The power cars are forming the class 401, with the running number of one being 500 higher than that of the other. The first and second class coaches form the classes 801 and 802, the second class coaches with a service compartment form the class 803 and the dining cars form the class 804.

From 1989, the first lot of 41 sets was produced, followed by a further 19 pieces until 1993. Later, some ICE 2 cars were ordered for the ICE 1 because there were temporarily too few seats in second class.

One train was destroyed in the serious accident in Eschede in 1998, apart from this all the others are still in use, which were redesigned between 2005 and 2008. This not only included a comprehensive technical overhaul, especially of the power cars, but also a conversion of the passenger compartments to a modern design. At the same time, the number of seats was increased, but this was at the expense of comfort. On its previous routes, the ICE 1 has been replaced by the ICE 4 since 2017, but thanks to another modernization campaign started in 2019, the ICE 1 will still run until around 2030.

Since the large capacity of the ICE 1 proved to be too inflexible with lower passenger numbers, a train half as long was tendered. The tender was won by a consortium whose members partly corresponded to the manufacturers of the ICE 1. The ICE 2 consists of a powered end car, six trailers and a control car. The power car largely corresponds to that of the ICE 1 and additionally has a Scharfenberg coupling to couple two trains together if necessary. The weight of the trailers has been significantly reduced compared to the predecessor. Between 2010 and 2013 the trains underwent a redesign so that they can still be used until 2030 or longer.

For the Florence-Rome high-speed line, which was completed in 1991, the FS procured the ETR 500 from a consortium called TREVI. This has power cars at both ends and is designed for a top speed of 300 km/h. Since this line is operated with 3,000 volts direct current and therefore the total transferable power is limited, the first series trains, known as “Monotensione”, only reached 250 km/h.

From the year 2000 onwards, additional power cars were built that are multi-system capable for new high-speed lines with 25 kV alternating current and are therefore referred to as “Politensione”. Some of these received the trailers of first generation trains, while the older power cars are used with conventional IC cars up to 200 km/h. The newer trains now run in the Frecciarossa train type.