[RRA_Blogger]

Between Utrecht - Düsseldorf - Eindhoven.

Onward: Utrecht - Düsseldorf.

Travel partner: DB and NS International ICE3M (ICE 105) with carriages 4653, 4684|Siemens Velaro.

Actual route : Amsterdam Centraal <> Basel SBB,
Via : Utrecht C<>Arnhem C<>Oberhausen<>Düsseldorf<>Köln<>Bonn<>Frankfurt Flughafen<>Mannheim<>Karlsruhe<>Offenburg<>Freibur g<>Basel Bad.

Travel fare: €41,90 (Inclusive of all charges), reserved with NS international.

Travel class: 2nd class (2e klas).

Timelines:

Place Arrival Departure
Utrecht Centraal 08.34 08.38
Arnhem Centraal 09.05 09.09
Oberhausen HBF 10.01 10.03
Düsseldorf HBF 10.29

Scheduled timings of departure:
Utrecht - 08.34
Arnhem - 09.07
Oberhausen - 09.58

Scheduled timing of Düsseldorf arrival: 10.17

Total delay : 12 minutes upon arrival.

Description:

I was fascinated with the ICE3Ms operated by the NS international and DB together, so I wanted to give them a try atleast once. Hence, I decided to reserve a ticket in the 2nd class coach of the ICE3M bound to Basel SBB. The nearest boarding point for me was Utrecht, so I had to travel from Eindhoven to Utrecht in a VIRM-4 intercity operated by NS. Since that was pretty much the same experience, I didn't include the write-up about it. So we shall move over to the experience thereupon.

After a decent breakfast at an Italian restaurant in Utrecht CS, I went to my platform and did some fanning until my train arrived. Upon first sight, Carriage 4653 had the NS logo while carriage 4684 had the DB logo.



It was quite a challenge to find out the coach number, as it was shown only on one display per coach and on top of that, it was smaller too. Probably they could devise a better identification strategy, as it was not just me who found it a little difficult, but also the others. There were passengers boarding beyond the waiting time, hence causing a delay upon departure.

Upon entering inside, I observed that the coach was very plush and neat, and the ambience was wonderful. The mild yellow lighting atop the cabin accentuated the feel of the premium cabin. It felt like a first class cabin, though in reality it was a second class cabin. Due to cost constraints, I decided it was enough to try the second class for now. The seat was very comfortable, and had decent legspace. It had a tabletop attached to the back of the seat. The material quality felt to be top notch as well. Additionally, it is thoughtful of them to include cloth hangers and a top storage deck for bags. Unfortunately, what they missed, were mobile charging units, which were provided only in the first class coaches (shared between two seats). I am not sure how that turns out to be a first class facility. Obviously, the coach was pretty clean. I did not use the WC. Another interesting thing to note, was that, they provided cappuccino/coffee in the train, which was wonderful (not for me of course as a non coffee drinker). I am not sure if that was free or comes with a fee.



The train clocked a maximum speed of 140 kmph in the Netherlands, and 160 kmph in Germany. This was pretty surprising and ironic, but a read led me to the fact that the HSL lines haven't been much expanded in Germany and most normal tracks only support a maximum speed of 200 kmph, while the trains can actually peak 250 kmph - 300 kmph (operational limit). In terms of smoothness, the coach was pretty well insulated, and there was not much external noise from the track. After Arnhem Centraal, tickets were checked by an officer from the DB.

The view of Arnhem Centraal from the train was so beautiful, and upon crossing the border, it was a drastic shift from the urban landscape to a rustically rural landscape, guessing it was Elten I saw. Also, the roads seemed to be more patched than those in the Netherlands, upon first sight. The first urban landscape was encountered at Wesel. There was an intermediate signal halt enroute Arnhem and Oberhausen, and at Duisburg HBF.



In all, I did not get an authentic high speed rail experience, possibly because of the track constraints of the route, but I did love the experience otherwise. The ambience of the ICE3M was welcoming, and surely it would be worth a try for longer distances (for eg Frankfurt). It was a pretty comfortable journey.

Return: Düsseldorf - Eindhoven.

Travel partner: Flixbus (Coachpartners)|1 VVG 243|Belgium|Man Lions Coach.

Actual route: 280 Düsseldorf <> Antwerpen,
Via : Roermond<>Eindhoven.

Travel fare: €10.98 (Inclusive of vistadome seat reservation charges).

Timelines:

Place Scheduled arr/dep Actual arr/dep
Düsseldorf 18.50 18.49
Roermond 19.45/19.50 NA
Eindhoven 20.35

Description:

I booked the Flixbus for return, since I thought I might need some rest and it would be good if I arrived directly at Eindhoven. But as my exploration concluded well ahead of the departure time, I started getting impatient and thought of booking an earlier bus and cancelling this ride. But I decided not to. I also went inside the Flixbus lounge for visiting the washroom, and the lounge in-charge allowed me to visit the washroom though I was short of five cents. It was really a great gesture, and I saw that the lounge was maintained neatly. Shortly after that, I had dinner, and waited again. I did quite some spotting again. My bus had arrived by 5.50 pm and the crew was taking rest.



Sharply by 6.35 pm, the crew started the check in, and I was the first passenger on board. He was friendly and kind towards all passengers, and he told he knew English, Dutch and German.

Shortly by 6.40 pm, the lights were turned on and the ambience was just enthralling. Be it the quality of the materials, or the plush feel of the seats, or the premium wooden and chrome upholstery here and there, all of them felt to be top class. The seat had great comfort, but I could not figure out how to recline my seat (as I did not probably figure out the proper lever), and in the fear of breaking something, I decided to give up on the very process. I was pretty shocked to find that there was no mobile charger at least above my seat, as against Flixbus' general display while booking the tickets. However, it had a WC and all other features were there as advertised. But all in all, sans the lack of a mobile charger, the overall upholstery and comfort was just impressive. The AC cooling was optimal and temperature was maintained at 22 to 22.5 degrees.







Coming to the driving, it was smooth and relaxed. The master lights were switched off at departure and the night lights, that were in green, were on. The crew decided to play some songs in his mobile through headphones for his entertainment, so at traffic signals he decided to plug in his headphones and surf for the song. But through the process, he was clear not to do it upon driving, and halted it while driving.

The engine had a pretty good power and the pull felt to be great, compared to the Mercedes Tourismo I travelled with last time, and the AMT felt to be dynamic too. However, I felt a bit of a significant cranking vibration inside the cabin, and after cranking/igniting the engine, it was eliminated. The steering also seemed to be almost as easy to steer as that of a car. But most importantly, at the top speed (limited to 100 kmph) or at the places of speed limit, the crew engaged the cruise control, which really saved a lot of wear and tear on the footpalm that presses the gas pedal. This is a thoughtful feature that can be implemented in India also.

I noted that there was a traffic jam in the Autobahn near Mönchengladbach. I was not sure if it was due to the international border. I had a short nap between Mönchengladbach and Roermond, and hence I missed noticing Roermond. After that, I saw that the route between Roermond and Eindhoven had a semi rural feel to it - The highway N280 was single laned for approximately 10-15 km and it also touched the outskirts of a town.

The fleet arrived at Eindhoven sharply on time, and I totally enjoyed the journey, be it the view of the German Autobahn, or the small nap I had in between, or the Dutch highways and the semi rural road I saw en route, or the enthralling ambience and incredible comfort of the coach. This was a good trip with Flixbus.

For those looking for economy in international travels, Flixbus is the better option of the two, and for the timeliness factor, usually the trains are a better choice, but it is sad that there are no direct trains on Eindhoven <> Düsselforf. It needs a transfer at Venlo.

It was an amazing trip again.

Thanks for reading!
Hereby,
Akshay.

[GTO]

Mod Note: Thread moved to the CV section which is where we usually discuss trains & buses. Thanks for sharing !

[audioholic]

Nice report. I have been a long time Flixbus customer and have toured half Europe in their buses. They are generally very economical and serves the purpose better than taking a train but are generally plagued by delays especially on the longer routes which span across Europe and in the Eastern countries the buses are usually operated by some contract companies which are generally prone to overworked drivers and unsafe operation.

As for the ICE journey, if you really want to experience high speed rail you should do it between Duesseldorf and Stuttgart/Frankfurt. I had traveled between Stuttgart and Amsterdam last year but my train connection was different, with an NS train between Amsterdam and Dusseldorf and ICE between DDS and Stuttgart. The ICE consistently did 250-300kmph and the way it kept it's time was amazing. However since I have made dozens of ICE journeys so far, it is not always that the train gets clearance above 200 or max 250 due to traffic ahead of its route. So you should be lucky to experience speeds of above 250. In that aspect the French TGV is a better bet.

[RRA_Blogger]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Nice report. I have been a long time Flixbus customer and have toured half Europe in their buses. They are generally very economical and serves the purpose better than taking a train but are generally plagued by delays especially on the longer routes which span across Europe and in the Eastern countries the buses are usually operated by some contract companies which are generally prone to overworked drivers and unsafe operation.

As for the ICE journey, if you really want to experience high speed rail you should do it between Duesseldorf and Stuttgart/Frankfurt. I had traveled between Stuttgart and Amsterdam last year but my train connection was different, with an NS train between Amsterdam and Dusseldorf and ICE between DDS and Stuttgart. The ICE consistently did 250-300kmph and the way it kept it's time was amazing. However since I have made dozens of ICE journeys so far, it is not always that the train gets clearance above 200 or max 250 due to traffic ahead of its route. So you should be lucky to experience speeds of above 250. In that aspect the French TGV is a better bet.

Yeah, I get to see a lot of long distance Flixbuses (For eg Amsterdam - Bucharest) and am pretty surprised about their operation. I wonder if they operate such schedules with only two drivers throughout.

Coming to the ICE, it was not a disappointment due to the lack of high speed, but the high speed rail experience could've been something else. Since I'm at Europe, hopefully more such experiences are to come.

[dragracer567]

Travelled in ICE3 once, went from Brussels to Salzburg (the ICE ran till Munich). What really struck me was how much nicer the Siemens coaches were as compared to the Alstom ones used by TGV and Thalys. Even the NVH was much better in the Siemens trains. However, one issue I noticed was that the ICE trains rolled a lot while travelling on Belgian tracks but somehow got better once we crossed into Germany. This is presumably because of the relatively poor quantity of Belgian tracks though TGV and Thalys trains never had this issue. Also DB (the German operator) has a bad record of delayed and cancelled trains unlike SNCF (the French operator) or Thalys which is ironic.

[NJ_9]

My favourite travel in ICE is between Frankfurt and Stuttgart. They hit their top speed in this route. The other fun ride would be between Frankfurt and Paris in both ICE and the French TGV. The TGV feels like a tank , ICE feels more lighter.

Most scenic in Germany being towards the Bavarian region. I love the transport facility in Germany. So many options.

Netherlands local trains look so different, not great looking but very punctual.

[chaudh2s]

I have used Deutsche Bahn ICE's, IC's, RB's, Nightlines, etc. quite extensively since 2007 but have never sat in one ICE that went above 200. There are only a few routes where they use high speed ICE's probably in northern Germany. In the Bavarian region the ICE's usually run in 140-160 range. The TGV from Strasbourg to Paris was the fastest I ever experienced. It did 350 as a routine and it was such an experience to behold. I prefer DB bus for shorter 3-4 hr. journeys but never use Flixbus or any other bus service. The trains are the best and with spar and super spar price they can be quite economical too.

[Ritzvxi]

Hey @RRA_Blogger,

Thank you for the wonderful report.

I have recently moved to the Netherlands and I am based in Eindhoven. Seems like you are in Eindhoven as well. Lets catch up sometime!

The cycling and public transport (NS and the bus services) have been the highlight of my stay here (ignoring the strikes that have happened in the last 3-4 months).

I travel to Amsterdam for work and I love how efficiently the system works! Can't believe that I am surviving and in-fact happy about not having to buy a car here.

Regards,
Sundeep

[e46]

I travelled from Bruxelles to Koln back in '09 summer in a Thalys 2nd class. Being my first international stint, I simply loved the experience.

OT: Sipping cold Kolsch after climbing to the top of the Dom was really nice

[Senna_sempre]

Thank you for sharing your experience.

I take frequently the ICE (from Stuttgart to Frankfurt and vice Versa) and the Flix Bus to cover places in Europe. Some times the Flix bus offers mouth watering deals and extremely economical on the pocket.

I must say im lucky enough to experience the feel when the ICE hit 320 KMPH in some stretches from Stuttgart to Paris. Absolutely no drama at all and the ride was butter smooth.

The return from Paris to Stuttgart was through TGV and it clocked a top speed of 310 KMPH.

[anjan_c2007]

Way back in 2001, I had travelled from Wetzler to Paris. Starting in the evening, the travel from Wetzler to Frankfurt (both in Germany) was by a Die Bahn train. Ticketing was automated. At Wetzler, the train arrived on the dot and its coaches were sparsely occupied. The train journey was superb and more than comfortable, with the rail tracks too laid out aesthetically sans the joints. The platforms and coaches are clean and spick and span too. At the Frankfurt railway station, where we reached after about 40 minutes, there were crowds of passengers of all hues, as it is a busy station being a big metro. There are trams accessible just outside the Frankfurt railway station that can be boarded for sight seeing, if there's time gap between connecting trains.

We had to move to Paris and the train had to be boarded soon. This was the SNCF train which stands for Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer français, France, their national rail carrier. After bring pampered by a Die Bahn train, the SNCF coach looked a bit on the downside, but was much better than any A-1, A-2, B-2 or any other coach of the Indian Railways. The neat upkeep and plush interiors were remarkable. We reached Paris very early in the morning and undertook sightseeing, visiting almost all important tourist spots in and around Paris. A place I remember is "Pigalle". Wonder how this place got its name?

Out of the topic, but a word of caution here. Paris buses, metro trains are notorious for their passenger load of pickpockets and so also almost all the Paris tourist spots. The low income groups of mostly migrants generally engage in such notorious activities. One amongst us was neatly pick pocketed. He lost money but luckily he had kept the travel documents including his passport in another folder that was saved.

Our return journey from Paris to Frankfurt was overnight and by bus. It was a MAN bus with plush interiors that we boarded late in the evening from the Paris main bus stand. Every bus parked there, moving to many destinations was plush and superb looking. The road journey, I must admit was much, much more better than the SNCF train journey. The roads were like airport runways, with absolutely no jerks or any other untoward surfaces. The bus and the runway like roads were so well in unison with one another, as the bus glided over the surface, giving passengers a top class journey. However, there was a hiccup. While peacefully asleep, the France - Germany border had a check post. The bus was stopped. German immigration authorities entered the bus with big, powerful torches. There were only a few tourists like me in the bus, apart from the regular EU intra city travellers. We had given our particulars while booking the tickets. They are very dutiful with such requirements. The conductor was told about me and a few other foreigners. After a good sleep, in the dark of the night, my face faced a powerful beam of torchlight focused at it by the German immigration to see who I am. I was asked about my passport and then they checked it with the Shengen visa validity. This was with another powerful torch carried by another person from the German immigration team. They were satisfied with all the checks and allowed the bus to move.

Again, we reached Frankfurt very early, the next morning. The first train to Wetzler was after about two hours from then. It was quite a chilly morning. The best way we thought would be to board a tram and move within Frankfurt for sight seeing. The tram had heaters and was almost vacant. Neat, clean and much more than expected of a tram, it crisscrossed seamlessly through Frankfurt. It reached its terminus. I am forgetting the place's name. Here the tram driver shifted to the other end of the two coach tram. After a brief halt, the return journey started with the driver on the other end of the tram. We only saw huge skyscrapers in the city's landscape apart from a few residential areas in the vicinity through the tram windows. We were back after about 45-50 minutes at the Frankfurt railway station. The Die Bahn train soon arrived and it was again the plush interiors and the sparsely occupied compartments that attracted our attention. And yes, the views outside the windows showed the neat and clean Germany with its greenery all around.

Germany stands out amongst most of the EU countries. Germany is a class apart.

[RRA_Blogger]

Originally Posted by dragracer567

Travelled in ICE3 once, went from Brussels to Salzburg (the ICE ran till Munich). What really struck me was how much nicer the Siemens coaches were as compared to the Alstom ones used by TGV and Thalys. Even the NVH was much better in the Siemens trains. However, one issue I noticed was that the ICE trains rolled a lot while travelling on Belgian tracks but somehow got better once we crossed into Germany. This is presumably because of the relatively poor quantity of Belgian tracks though TGV and Thalys trains never had this issue. Also DB (the German operator) has a bad record of delayed and cancelled trains unlike SNCF (the French operator) or Thalys which is ironic.

Yeah, I too have come across the delay record of DB, which should be improved. But they have a great variety of locomotives and train services. As for the TGVs, I need to give them a try.

Originally Posted by NJ_9

My favourite travel in ICE is between Frankfurt and Stuttgart. They hit their top speed in this route. The other fun ride would be between Frankfurt and Paris in both ICE and the French TGV. The TGV feels like a tank , ICE feels more lighter.

Most scenic in Germany being towards the Bavarian region. I love the transport facility in Germany. So many options.

Netherlands local trains look so different, not great looking but very punctual.

Upto my knowledge and insight, it is sad that NL does not have much HSLs, but I concur that they are indeed punctual. The latest ICNGs and the VIRMs do look good! I have been frequently using the VIRMs for travel and prefer the upper deck since the lower deck is slightly more notorious for bumpiness.

Originally Posted by chaudh2s

I have used Deutsche Bahn ICE's, IC's, RB's, Nightlines, etc. quite extensively since 2007 but have never sat in one ICE that went above 200. There are only a few routes where they use high speed ICE's probably in northern Germany. In the Bavarian region the ICE's usually run in 140-160 range. The TGV from Strasbourg to Paris was the fastest I ever experienced. It did 350 as a routine and it was such an experience to behold. I prefer DB bus for shorter 3-4 hr. journeys but never use Flixbus or any other bus service. The trains are the best and with spar and super spar price they can be quite economical too.

Flixbus according to many travellers is debatable, but I feel the apt crew would make the travelling experience good.

Originally Posted by Ritzvxi

Hey @RRA_Blogger,

Thank you for the wonderful report.

I have recently moved to the Netherlands and I am based in Eindhoven. Seems like you are in Eindhoven as well. Lets catch up sometime!

The cycling and public transport (NS and the bus services) have been the highlight of my stay here (ignoring the strikes that have happened in the last 3-4 months).

I travel to Amsterdam for work and I love how efficiently the system works! Can't believe that I am surviving and in-fact happy about not having to buy a car here.

Regards,
Sundeep

Thank you! Sure! Looking forward to the meet too. I live at Boschdijk!

Originally Posted by e46

I travelled from Bruxelles to Koln back in '09 summer in a Thalys 2nd class. Being my first international stint, I simply loved the experience.

OT: Sipping cold Kolsch after climbing to the top of the Dom was really nice

I had a read that Thalys seems to be overpriced, but is surely worth the try once.

Originally Posted by Senna_sempre

Thank you for sharing your experience.

I take frequently the ICE (from Stuttgart to Frankfurt and vice Versa) and the Flix Bus to cover places in Europe. Some times the Flix bus offers mouth watering deals and extremely economical on the pocket.

I must say im lucky enough to experience the feel when the ICE hit 320 KMPH in some stretches from Stuttgart to Paris. Absolutely no drama at all and the ride was butter smooth.

The return from Paris to Stuttgart was through TGV and it clocked a top speed of 310 KMPH.

Apparently I should try the Frankfurt - Stuttgart stretch once.

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Way back in 2001, I had travelled from Wetzler to Paris. Starting in the evening, the travel from Wetzler to Frankfurt (both in Germany) was by a Die Bahn train. Ticketing was automated. At Wetzler, the train arrived on the dot and its coaches were sparsely occupied. The train journey was superb and more than comfortable, with the rail tracks too laid out aesthetically sans the joints. The platforms and coaches are clean and spick and span too. At the Frankfurt railway station, where we reached after about 40 minutes, there were crowds of passengers of all hues, as it is a busy station being a big metro. There are trams accessible just outside the Frankfurt railway station that can be boarded for sight seeing, if there's time gap between connecting trains.

We had to move to Paris and the train had to be boarded soon. This was the SNCF train which stands for Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer français, France, their national rail carrier. After bring pampered by a Die Bahn train, the SNCF coach looked a bit on the downside, but was much better than any A-1, A-2, B-2 or any other coach of the Indian Railways. The neat upkeep and plush interiors were remarkable. We reached Paris very early in the morning and undertook sightseeing, visiting almost all important tourist spots in and around Paris. A place I remember is "Pigalle". Wonder how this place got its name?

Out of the topic, but a word of caution here. Paris buses, metro trains are notorious for their passenger load of pickpockets and so also almost all the Paris tourist spots. The low income groups of mostly migrants generally engage in such notorious activities. One amongst us was neatly pick pocketed. He lost money but luckily he had kept the travel documents including his passport in another folder that was saved.

Our return journey from Paris to Frankfurt was overnight and by bus. It was a MAN bus with plush interiors that we boarded late in the evening from the Paris main bus stand. Every bus parked there, moving to many destinations was plush and superb looking. The road journey, I must admit was much, much more better than the SNCF train journey. The roads were like airport runways, with absolutely no jerks or any other untoward surfaces. The bus and the runway like roads were so well in unison with one another, as the bus glided over the surface, giving passengers a top class journey. However, there was a hiccup. While peacefully asleep, the France - Germany border had a check post. The bus was stopped. German immigration authorities entered the bus with big, powerful torches. There were only a few tourists like me in the bus, apart from the regular EU intra city travellers. We had given our particulars while booking the tickets. They are very dutiful with such requirements. The conductor was told about me and a few other foreigners. After a good sleep, in the dark of the night, my face faced a powerful beam of torchlight focused at it by the German immigration to see who I am. I was asked about my passport and then they checked it with the Shengen visa validity. This was with another powerful torch carried by another person from the German immigration team. They were satisfied with all the checks and allowed the bus to move.

Again, we reached Frankfurt very early, the next morning. The first train to Wetzler was after about two hours from then. It was quite a chilly morning. The best way we thought would be to board a tram and move within Frankfurt for sight seeing. The tram had heaters and was almost vacant. Neat, clean and much more than expected of a tram, it crisscrossed seamlessly through Frankfurt. It reached its terminus. I am forgetting the place's name. Here the tram driver shifted to the other end of the two coach tram. After a brief halt, the return journey started with the driver on the other end of the tram. We only saw huge skyscrapers in the city's landscape apart from a few residential areas in the vicinity through the tram windows. We were back after about 45-50 minutes at the Frankfurt railway station. The Die Bahn train soon arrived and it was again the plush interiors and the sparsely occupied compartments that attracted our attention. And yes, the views outside the windows showed the neat and clean Germany with its greenery all around.

Germany stands out amongst most of the EU countries. Germany is a class apart.

I did travel between the Germany and the Netherlands, but I don't remember any border check.

OT- True, I aspire to visit Germany as much as possible, and if possible, consider my future career there.

Thank you all for your valuable insights and information!

[tortoiseNhare]

I had a longish tour in Europe back in 2015 when I got to travel by various types of trains in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary. The fastest experience was Florence to Rome in a Freccia Rossa (operated by Trenitalia) which had once touched 298 kmph. Slowest was the Bernina Express from Chur in Switzerland to Tirano in Italy. The most uncomfortable was the Alex (Albert Einstein Express!) from Munich to Prague.
I got to travel in a diesel engined train too, operated by Trenord in Italy, from Tirano to Brescia.

I also rode the OBB Railjet, displaying a tagline "spirit of Austria" on its engine, from Budapest to Vienna with high expectations. It turned out to be an underwhelming experience in comparison to the Freccia Rossa and the Freccia Argento in Italy, as the railjet had struggled to even reach 160 kmph. I had also travelled by a Deutsche Bahn operated double decker bus from Prague to Nuremberg which, apart from being economical and comfortable, allowed me to have superb views on both sides of the Autobahn through the front windshield of the upper deck.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by RRA_Blogger

I did travel between the Germany and the Netherlands, but I don't remember any border check.

My travel was in September 2001, just a few days prior to 9/11. Post 9/11 they had tighter security in Germany.

Originally Posted by RRA_Blogger

OT- True, I aspire to visit Germany as much as possible, and if possible, consider my future career there.

That's great to know. Once in Germany, one is pampered with its pristine and lush green countryside, cleanliness, better traffic discipline and more. They follow English and always listen to western pop hits, especially the US pop hits as almost all music channels and FM music stations telecast /air these constantly. But only a few of them speak English.