The new German double-decker train that everybody HATES!

This is Deutsche Bahn’s new Twindexx Intercity 2 train, a controversial addition to the DB fleet. Does this double-decker train really deserve the hate it gets? Let’s find out today, as I travel from Nuremburg to Stuttgart in First Class.

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Journey Details:
Origin: Nürnberg Hbf
Destination: Stuttgart Hbf
Company: Deutsche Bahn (DB)
Train: DB 147.5 + Intercity 2 ‘Twindexx Vario’
Accommodation: First Class Seat (1st)
Distance: 203 kilometres / 126 miles
Price: €33.80 (£28.40 / $34.40)
Time: 2 hours 10 minutes, arrived 9 minutes late

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Germany’s long-distance trains often get a lot of praise and for good reason with Incredible comfy spacious interiors and a tasty onboard dining service but today I’m going to be riding the controversial new inter city 2 trains a double deck design that has left many passengers feeling disappointed with their Journey today I’ll show you inside this train looking at all parts of the rather basic interior and even Explore the food and drink options so join me as we cross Southern and see if this hated train is really as bad as people say hello and welcome back to another video today I’m here in Newberg in Germany and I’m going to be traveling with the controversial DB inter city 2 over to stutgart I booked into first class on this journey so let’s see what all the fuss is about let’s go good morning from nur’s Regal station the main departure point situated right in the heart of this Bavarian City this station first opened in the 1840s with this spectacular Frontage being added in 1906 so heading inside we are met with a huge selection of shops including many typical German Brands such as Rea to go there are of course many International fast food brands dotted around the main hall as well down here you have the DB risal Centrum or ticket office in English here you can buy tickets for all regional operators and DB long-distance trains the station’s facilities are split across across multiple levels and there’s even an underground section here upstairs you can find the DB Lounge for passengers traveling with first class tickets though as a word of warning this is only available if you purchase the most expensive Flex price tickets and one thing you should be sure not to miss is the presence of this amazing Mosaic covering various parts of the station’s walls and ceiling but with departure time fast approaching let’s head through to the platforms Nar H bof has an impressive 21 platforms and even a couple of tracks running through the center as is common with major stations in Germany the majority of services are operated by deutan the national operator of the country this ranges from Regional Services identified by this iconic red Livery to these esand commuter trains that stop at all stations and of course there are plenty of IC highspeed trains connecting every corner of Germany in [Music] style also a small handful of services are operated by goahead a private operator from the UK but my train today will be one of the new inter city 2 trains consisting of a DB 147 electric locomotive and a rake of five double deck coaches these trains presented service from 2015 and in the years since their introduction have attracted a lot of strong criticism about their poor levels of comfort in fact these trains are nearly identical to the much cheaper Regional double deck trains as shown here a few adjustments have been made to improve Comfort but we’ll soon find out whether that’s good enough or if these trains should be avoided I’m traveling in first class today located at the front of the train in coach five my reserved seat is on the top deck with signs at the doors indicating which deck each seat is located on first class is in a 2+1 layout and I’ve reserved seat 135 a forward facing single seat today’s route sees us heading west from nurburg for a relaxed journey through Germany’s Hills and the towns of kyheim and irland journey time is scheduled to be 2 hours and 10 minutes covering 203 km or about 126 Mi our trip begins just 2 minutes behind schedule pulling out of newb H bhof at 0944 we depart alongside a pair of IC 3 units these Trains being a level above the inter city service I am on after a few minutes of par we diverg to head Southwest towards stutgart not long later we’re out in the countryside so let’s take a look around the interior of this train seating in first class takes the form of these dark blue leather seats and overall this interior looks pretty smart these were pretty well padded and had a decent ergonomic design overall quite comfortable there’s even some padded fabric on the winged headrest all SE have armrests which can fold down like so and just beneath the seat you can find the recline lever though the amount of recline on offer is very limited as for legum it’s absolutely fantastic and there’s a lot of room to stretch out here on the seat in front there’s a foot rest though this was strangely off center compared to my seat meaning you have to bend your legs sideways there’s also a storage net for your smaller items and a little drinks holder and lastly a relatively small seatback table can be found though this does feature a bracket to enable the use of a laptop now watch this interior is overall pretty decent it is incredibly similar to DB’s Regional double deck trains Can you spot any differences let me know in the comments looking at the prices they sometimes charge I don’t think I’d be too happy if I paid any extra for this but now on to the things that are different about the seat Well the headrest slides up a little bit and uh there’s some carpet I don’t know it’s really not very impressive but enough about this very Regional interior for now let’s take a look back outside after just over 20 minutes we’re pulling into the first station the city of ansbach was once home to the prolific German composer Johan zebastian the similar name is presumably just a coincidence the first part of our journey is mostly spent gently weaving through the hills of Bavaria with many picturesque views on offer there are also plenty of farm Fields visible from the railway no doubt many of which grow barley to make beer after all this is the region where October Fest is held the world’s largest beer festival not long later we cross into the state of Barden vber and arrive at the station of kyheim where a collection of older trains can be seen sitting in a maintenance and storage facility with the station platforms located to my left whilst not as fast as Germany’s impressive high-speed trains the inter city 2 is still capable of 160 km an hour which is generally enough as these sets tend to run on slower routes it’s faster than this old classic car anyway now let’s take a look at what else you can expect on this double deck inter city train the lower deck of this Carriage also features first class seating though the view from the windows isn’t as good down here so I recommend sitting upstairs if you can but the majority of the train is second class with a 2 plus2 seating layout whilst still pretty comfortable this is also very similar to the regional double deck trains each of these Center carriages also featur as a bike storage space which can be booked for a fee of €750 on this route and a little higher on longer Journeys in the last Carriage you’ll find the multi-function area with storage for six bikes and two wheelchairs though I couldn’t film this as the carriage was very busy this multi-function area also features lower external doors making boarding with bikes or wheelchairs much easier and upstairs there’s a dedicated children area featuring Railway related cartoon characters and a few table seats for families all carriages feature two toilets one at each end of the carriage these modern vacuum toilets were in really good condition which is definitely a benefit compared to the often filthy Regional trains here you can find the disinfectant and soap dispenser both working fine the water needed a bit of encouragement but this was also working some tissues are provided to dry your hands we are now coming into our next stop situated in the small town of elang with a population of around 25,000 and check out the cool Livery on one of Barden viber’s Regional trains this yellow and black design is inspired by the Region’s coat of arms with the iconic lion being formed of the operator’s logo instead as we continue to make our way south towards Alan Hal bhof let’s talk about the onboard catering now on the older inter city trains catering was in the form of a highquality dining car serving tasty cooked meals and yes they had beer in this very impressive glass however with these new trains there’s only a limited menu of drinks and snacks served from an airline style trolley I’ve left a menu on screen now but it’s definitely a downgrade these trains do have free Wi-Fi which is certainly useful as phone signal in the German Countryside is notoriously unreliable and the speeds of this were actually excellent even being good enough to catch up on some YouTube or stream music just next to the seat you can find a European style power socket beside this is a small personal bin a feature I really like as it helps to keep the train tidy of course one big advantage of these double deck trains is that they have large nearly panoramic windows and the windows are fitted with adjustable Sun blinds but unfortunately these weren’t very effective as they still let most light through a disadvantage of long-distance double deck trains is the cramped feeling as a result of squeezing in two floors of passengers whilst this particular model was quite spacious compared to certain others your luggage will certainly feel the squeeze these overhead luggage racks are tiny there are thankfully some large luggage Bays with coat hooks fitted throughout the carriage to compensate for this though oh and if you look closely at the overhead luggage racks there’s an individual reading light just above your seat the next station is alen H bhof which serves as an interchange for local stations in the area as well as the lines to both nerd lingan and the major city of ol we are now back in the countryside and speeding towards stutgart I’ve got to say these ic2 trains are a really smooth ride this is a combination of the well-maintained German tracks and the heavyweight design of these double-decker [Music] carriages by the way this isn’t the only double deck into city train in DB’s Fleet there are also a fleet of secondhand Stadler units from Austria and these have a totally different interior with many quirks of their own so let me know in the comments if you’d like to see a video on this train so as we close in on stuttgart’s Main Station let’s talk about how much this journey costs I pre-booked about 2 weeks before my journey which typically costs around € 2790 though I also reserved a seat for an additional € 590 totaling € 3380 whilst this seems like pretty decent value if you already have a ticket for regional trains such as the Deutschland ticket then there’s little point in paying for this inter city train as Regional trains operate on this route with broadly the same Journey times and similar levels of onboard Comfort this inter city 2 trade is clearly not up to the usual high standards of Germany’s long-distance inter city trains but maybe that’s okay these trains are to be used used on secondary inter city routes and serve many destinations that never had a longdistance service before other routes will be upgraded to IC trains which offer an even better onboard experience than the old inter city trains did we eventually pull into stutgart H bhof at 12:01 running 9 minutes late overall I thought the inter city 2 was a fairly Pleasant train to spend a few hours on despite its rep reputation as a regional train with carpet for secondary long-distance routes they’re not too bad though still compared to the old inter city trains they are a massive downgrade as always let me know what you thought of the inter city 2 in the comments and for a look at Germany’s secret luxury highspeed train then click up here now to watch my video on the IC Metropolitan