- German Federal Railway Authority approves trains' deployment in Germany
- Four new ICE trains delivered to Deutsche Bahn
- Approval process for operation in France and Belgium still underway
The new ICE trainsets from Siemens for Deutsche Bahn (DB) have been approved for immediate deployment in Germany. The German Federal Railway Authority (EBA) approved the trains' operation – also in multiple-unit or so-called double-traction mode – on DB's rail network. Two trains were delivered in November for test purposes. Siemens has now supplied DB with two more ICE trains of the Velaro D type for deployment in Germany, with four additional trains to follow in the spring of 2014. "With the approval to operate these trains in Germany now granted, we've reached an important milestone in this project," said Jochen Eickholt, CEO of Siemens' Rail Systems Division. As agreed with DB, the remaining eight of the 16 ICE trains originally ordered are reserved for test runs in Belgium and France in preparation for implementing cross-border operation and obtaining the requisite authorizations.