Frankfurt, Germany via Cologne & Düsseldorf to Utrecht & Amsterdam in The Netherlands on a ICE 3 NEO

The ICE 3 NEO trains between Frankfurt in Germany, via Cologne to Utrecht & Amsterdam in The Netherlands and also to Liège and Brussels in Belgium where planned to start services by the end of 2024, however they are here already way sooner as originally planned. These new trains have some great improvements mainly on the technical side.
In this video we’ll discover the railway station of Frankfurt (am Main) Hauptbahnhof first, after that we’ll discover the first ICE 3 NEO trains on this route and obviously the views from the train.

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Same trip report, on the old trains: https://youtu.be/mSVsVZodHsU (2 years older video)
Marseille, France – Frankfurt, Germany: https://youtu.be/PYYZ_W9XejU
Interlaken, Bern & Basel Switzerland – Frankfurt, Germany: https://youtu.be/ePqqij0BwHo

Station reviews for stations along the way:
Cologne (Köln): https://youtu.be/2bpu_fNTZYc
Amsterdam (before the new construction works started): https://youtu.be/4GVe9hNATjo
Utrecht: https://youtu.be/Jj0-Izd-KNA
Düsseldorf: https://youtu.be/aLvC_zQQEjM
Arnhem: https://youtu.be/qkySlHXFMlA

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▬▬▬▬▬▬ VIDEO CONTENT ▬▬▬▬▬▬
00:00 Introduction
00:52 Frankfurt am Main Hauptbahnhof (Frankfurt am Main central railway station) review
09:37 ICE 3 NEO train (BR 406) between Frankfurt, Cologne (Köln) & Düsseldorf in Germany and Arnhem, Utrecht & Amsterdam in The Netherlands
29:49 Views from the train between Frankfurt, Germany & Amsterdam, The Netherlands
31:54 Personal conclusion of these trains
32:28 Environmental impact train, car & plane on the route Frankfurt, Germany – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
32:47 End of this trip report, Frankfurt, Germany – Amsterdam, The Netherlands by train.

Trip report 209
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the brand new ic3 Neo train replaces the old troubled IC 3M trains on the IC routes between Germany and the Netherlands and also Germany and Belgium what it’s like to turl Bo of these new IC trains and how are they different compared to their predecessors we’re all about to find out in this video as we take this ic3 Neo train from Frankfurt in Germany to Amsterdam in the Netherlands Jo me on board of this brand new I Neo from Frankfurt in Germany to Amsterdam in the Netherlands fire cologne and UT some more towns along the way for now let’s get this video on the track and let’s roll the [Music] intro and just like any tripy port I’ll start off by show you the railway station where this journey starts if you want to see the train straight way you can skip to the point that will pop up right now on the screen Frankfurt how banov is the main railway station in the German city of Frankfurt on mine there are two frankfurtschool some tram and bus stops but you also find them at the S side apart from that obviously you also find taxi stands over here and some spots where you can just pick up and drop a railway passengers by car if you want to go here by car there’s not a lot of space to park over here originally opened in 1888 Frankfurt on mine H banov still functions like one of the most important Railway stations in Germany from here on you find trains to all over Germany mainly longdistance trains and obviously plenty of regional trains this is located in quite an urban area so there quite some bigger cities around here but obviously the number of longdistance trains to all over Germany is also pretty high from and to here apart from that there are many International trains as well with very regular connections to the Netherlands Belgium France Switzerland and Austria and there are some connection to the Czech Republic and Hungary as well long story short this is an important railway station not only for the region and Germany but also from a European perspective at the moment you enter the railway station at the front you get out at this area over here where you find Direct access to the underground section of the Railway Station and most Railway related surfaces and passenger related Services can be found here like for example some car rental companies and access to the ticket counters and also so the lounge there are also lots of fending machines for train tickets and the infrastructure to buy your train tickets online is pretty good as well in Germany although because there are so many Regional tickets this might be a little bit confusing every now and then for the bck account ISS you have to withraw a number and then you have to wait in line and this here is the access to the loune not all first class tickets gain access to the loue so please check the conditions when it comes to this the is located right above the ticket counter area it’s parsely called DB premium I don’t know if this is another kind of loue or not if you know this let me know in the comments Frankfurt how banov is a terminal railway station at least for the most part you basically find the tracks and right opposite from the tracks you find shops and some Railway related Services over here there are also some information points for the well trains obviously and well obviously lots of shops I think the layout speaks in that sense quite for itself even though there are some construction Works going on at this railway station that’s mainly at the underground section so as a longdistance railway passenger you probably won’t notice anything of this at the side of the Railway Station there are quite some left luggage lockers and also some partial delivery lockers for a bigger German partial company from the S side you also have have a nice view at the railroad tracks as you can see over here this station is rather big and obviously also from the sides of the Railway Station you find access to the railroad station and here we are obviously there are plenty of screens with information about departing trains and this here is the area right at the front of the railroad tracks there are quite some entrances to the lower section of this railway station as well where you find the sban what is the commuter rail of the Frankfurt region and the uban what is the underground or the Metro over here you will find through tracks so this is definitely not for all trains a terminal railway station the uban or the Metro is mainly serving Frankfurt and some regions around it but the asban these trains do go way deeper into the area around Frankfurt and also serve in quite some bigger towns around Frankfurt this can all be found at the lower section and by the way if you’re traveling with the espan trains and you’re traveling with the use of a UR rail or inter rail you can also take these trains in the future there will be more tracks at the underground section of this railway station because a new tunnel will be built under the city of Frankfurt making this a better place for trains where they can just go through instead of having a terminal Railway stations where there might be a lot of congestion because trains need to go through each other’s path and also for the current underground section at this railway station there will be a lot of improvements on this short term because the construction Works were almost finished as far as I noticed oh everything in this railway station is pretty clear because of the layout it basically speaks for itself the toilets over here I only saw stairs going down so I don’t know how accessible they are for if you can’t walk the stairs that easily but I bet there must be a way to find easier accessible toilets there are some information stands in the main Concourse as well at the front of the Railway Station but these are not the main ticket counters but there are quite a lot of them at the other side of the Railway Station there are some more trm stops bus stops and also taxi stands and let it be no surpris that in general around this railway station there are lots of hotels to be honest I this is not my favorite railway station but it’s definitely not a railway station I would consider as unpleasant either this railway station can be really busy and just like basically all busy places if you’re here and you’re tring with your lugs just pay a close eye to your lugs will be sad if something bad happens to your luggage or you obviously apart from the many shops you also find this one Miniature Railway over here I deal for Railway fans now personally I prefer the real deal but I know a a lot of you people out there love this at last some of the places at the main Concourse they are pretty big for example you find these food CT over here and there are some more bigger places like for example restaurants for now it’s just really time to go to the platform right at the front of the platforms you will find an information screen and this will host the frame number the Final Destination and some stops along the way in our situation our train was being combined with a train part went to Brussels this part here on the right went to Brussels while I was traving at the front part that was going to Amsterdam and Amsterdam there was also an official press event on the next day what was a Saturday and I went there quickly as well this wasn’t that impressive to be honest basically some talks from officials of seens German Railway company DB and the Dutch Railway company NS and fellow train YouTuber who also works as a railway star Bart comik was also here but for the rest it was nothing special because I want to show you what it’s like to travel on these trains yourself and not how it is to join a press event I’m not going to spend too much time on that and because these are brand new trains I really hope this video will still be helpful to you if you watch this after 5 years from now or preferably longer anyway this here is the ic3 Neo train and this was the first train that came into Amsterdam for the commercial ride out of the Netherlands to Germany and I took that train although the trip we brought is from Frankfurt to the Netherlands I hope you like this video so far if you do so or if it’s a helpful video to you please give me a thumbs up I really appreciate that if you have some questions feel free to leave a comment if you want to say hello feel free to do so and if you like to see more triple course have more sustainable ways of transportation the main focus for this channel is cross bordering and long distance traveling this is definitely both then hit that subscribe button if you haven’t done this already for now let’s continue with this video before we take a close look at the interior of the train let’s take a close look at the exterior the numbers one and two at the outside do Mark very clear where you will find the first and the second class on board of these trains and also at the moment you walk through the train this has been mentioned Crystal Clear apart from the number one this has always been marked with some extra yellow lines as well as you can see on the right yellow is kind of the international standards in Europe at least to Mark the first class sections although this is not an official standard apart from that icons do indicate more or less what facilities can be found where like for example quiet Zone kids area Etc this train does have a dining car but I’ll show you that in a bit this has also been marked crystal clear at the outside at the the entrance doors you will find screens that will host root information so basically the Final Destination the train number stops along the way and the carrots number for most carrots you will find two entrance doors right next to the entrance doors or right at the entrance doors you will find what seats can be accessed best if you take those entrance doors so you don’t have to walk all through the train and there will be less congestion within the trains themselves the train part that I took to Amsterdam was just arriving at the moment I recorded this so lots of people were walking to the main conour of this railway station these trains can be combined and this was also what happened for our route until cologne the train to Brussels and to Amsterdam were traveling as one train from cologne the trains splited and we continue to Amsterdam and the part to Brussels well obviously continue to Brussels these are also two different train numbers so if you’re traveling with these trains and you enter these trains please mind the train numbers this here is actually the train we took and as you can see they were combined already and like I mentioned at the entrance doors you will see what seat numbers can be approached easiest if you take those doors so there will be less congestion at the train itself for now let’s take a close look at the interior of these trains and there’s a small butt for this because you will find two different types of Interiors the layout is the same though in total 90 of these trins have been ordered however during this process the interior have been changed so you will find 16 trains that do have a different kind of interior the layout is for the basically the same though only the seats are a bit different and there are some smaller details that are slightly different as well this here is in the trains that do have the newer interior I sneaked in one of these trains when I saw this standing somewhere along the Route however especially at the moment these Services have just been loued you most likely will travel with the trains that do have the older interior if you watch this video after approximately one year that it has been launced this might be the other way around and unlike their predecessors that was the IC 3M and m stands for multiple power these trains at least the ic3 Neo they can all operate in Belgium the Netherlands and Germany this was mainly one of the issues we had with the previous trains because the fleet was relatively small and if there will be some problems on one train this impacts the entire time t table with these trains if there’s a problem with one train standing in Frankfurt for example it’s way easier to just take another train of these typ because they can all go into the Netherlands and Belgium very similar trains can also be found on the roots to Paris but they are slightly different for now let’s really take a closer look at the interior of these ic3 neot trains and like I already mentioned this will be one of the older IC Neo trains and I can’t say that these trains are brand new because they were actually already running in some routs in Germany on domestic routs and now you can also find them on the international roads to Belgium and the Netherlands this here is the first class that comes in a 2by one configuration like basically all European trains the seats are well not that much wider but the distances between the seats is bigger and the a is a bit wider you have more lag room and and that’s basically it I mean first class is a good product on these trains don’t get me wrong but compared to second class I think first class is not that much better however you have more space and especially for making trip reports for example this is way easier because it’s a bit easier to move around you do find mainly Airline style seats or seats coming in a long distance bus seat composition but there are some Bay seats so seats facing each other as well at the moment you walk through the train it has been clearly marked where you find the first and the second class at the sliding doors before the compartments this has been clearly marked and for the first class also an extra stripe at the floor indic case that you’re entering the first class you will not only find this within the train if you walk through the train but also right next to all the entrance doors and if that isn’t enough at the headrest it has also been clearly marked that this is a first class seat so it’s really hard to miss that this is the first class these trains with the older interior already were operating in Germany for a while and actually at the end of last year I Tred with one of these trains as well and even though I didn’t make the trip report back then I shot some footage of these trains at the moment the seats to face each other in first class you find a bigger table and you can fold this out to make it slightly bigger and there’s a tiny leather bin integrated Within These tables but this Lether bin is really small seat numbers can be found at the side of all seats and right below the lugage racks there’s a digital display that will indicate from where to where a seat has been reserved right under that you find adjustable Cod hangers the displays that will host information from where to where a seat have been reserved well this is nothing new but what is new and absolutely great on board of these trains there’s also an indicator that’s red or orange red means this seat has been reserved from the current station Orange means this seat has been reserved from the next station and even though this is a small adjustment I think this is an absolutely great Improvement tickets for these trains do not always come automatically including a seat reservation especially not for domestic roots in Germany for international routs this is depending on the season and also on what rout you will be triing on so having these indicators can really make it easier for people who don’t don’t have a seat reservation to find a spot and maybe move around a little bit less because you don’t have to go out at the next station to make room for a passenger that will have reservation from that station on however I strongly recommend you to make a reservation for these trains they can be really busy and especially if if a long Railway Journey well this is a lot of comfort for not that much extra and the rule at this moment for 99% of all trains in and through Germany is you pay for the first train and other connecting trains that can be reserved or for free to reserve so especially if you have a longer Journey with several trains just do this the capacity for these ic3 Neo trains is slightly higher than the capacity in the old trains what was the IC 3M and this can mainly be found back in the first class where you will find nine extra seats in second class there are six seats extra so in total there are 15 seats more and by having simply a bigger Fleet for these trains it is also easier to add other trains so basically let two train sets run as one train this way you don’t need extra staff at least not that much extra staff and you can use the existing capacity or time slots for the railroad tracks so this is also a little bit less hassle and for that this might be one of the best improvements for these trains obviously these are longdistance trains and you find a lot of space for luget you have the overhead lugg RS throughout the train and also dedicated luget zones in the open compartment let’s do a SE tour and I was having some issues with the food rest oh if you pull it back too high it doesn’t work therefore you need to pull it back a little bit and then it will well stay uppr you also find different stands for this but since I’m quite a tall boy I don’t use this right above the food rest there’s a magazine rack and right above that there’s a small but quite sturdy foldout table because you have really a generous amount of La Room In First Class the table is a little bit too far away and therefore you can pull this a little bit towards you all sheets in first class do have a personal cup holder and for the airline style or long distance bu seats composition seats you find this thing over here you can place your phone over here and or tablet and play some movies for example all windows do have a sunscreen both in first and second class and obviously a reading light all seats do have a power socket and at the moment the seats are right next to each other there’s some extra space between the seats if you recline these seats you well this is the difference between a fully reclined seat and a non- reclined seat it’s not that much different but even if I fully reclin these seats I do have more than enough lack room the handle to behind the seats is located right under the seats what I really like about these seats in the first class is that there will be screens between the seats and they will create some extra privacy ideal if you work on your laptop for example within the first class there’s a small quiet Zone and then there is a regular zone for now let’s move on to the second class because the most capacity in these trins can be found here however before we do so screens throughout the train right at the f just before you enter the train but also at the ceiling throughout the train do host route information this will not only be the next stops but also line Maps the speeds Etc the speed part is most fun if the train goes along the highp speed line with 300 km per hour between cologne and Frankfurt a lot of this information is not only in German but also in English Dutch and Friends depending what way the train is going moving out from the first class towards the second class that’s a small section of the second class and this is a well dedicated zone for spare seats and seats for pass that do have a certain amount of points gold or silver I don’t know exactly how this is working and right after that you will find the dining car if there’s something I really like about trains it’s having a dining car it just makes the whole experience so much better and the dining cars on German trains are in general pretty nice there’s a small counter where you can pick up orders and this is way smaller compared to the previous trains on my way to Frankfurt in the morning I had some breakfast over here and it was gone before I knew it the menu selection is pretty reasonable but this might also change per season if you want to see what’s on the menu including the prices just pause the video the dining car it’s in general there however in some rare situations and this is mainly because of Staff shortages the dining car is not open or this is only opened for a small section of the route therefore for example having some fending Machines of these trains wouldn’t be a very bad idea I think also just take in account that if you’re traveling with these trains you have a dining car but just in case take something to drink and some food with you the area where you can stand right next to the pickup zone for the dining car this is way smaller and in that sense this is a little downgrade for these trains what is an absolute upgrade is the facilities for people traveling in a wheelchair in these new trains the lifts for wheelchairs are integrated Within These trains so there’s no stuff needed at the railway stations to lift people in a wheelchair up in a special lift for this and I think this is absolutely great I mean I truly believe that traveling should be easy for everybody no matter if you are in a wheelchair or not let be no surprise that close to this area you will find the bigger accessible toilet this toilet is just huge apart from the fact that this is an accessible toet this toilet can also be used as a diaper changing facility if you’re traveling with a little baby over here you find the support bars and left from here you find the diaper changing facility the staff area is located right next to here as well well if there’s some need of assistance the staff can help you for this and right next to this you find the child area and this is the only compartment in this train especially for traing with little kids for this information about reservations can be found at the side of this compartment here you find some light switches that’s a bit easier to film and this here is a special kit area there’s some playboard and also on the table between the seats you can play games this is the only area in the train where the power sockets do have some protection for kids well it’s not very wise to put your fingers in so this way it’s pretty much impossible this compartment can have up to five people what isn’t a lot though right next to this you’ll find the accessible area within the second class the height for some of these tables can be adjusted as well what is ideal for people traveling in a wheelchair by the way if you’re traveling in a wheelchair I highly recommend you to make a reservation for these trains because well if there will be 20 people showing up in a wheelchair that would be a little bit tight in these trains at the other part of this Gage you find the family area there’s some extra space for parking a buggy and obviously you have a lot of space for luggage as well the walls are a bit more playful and let it be no surprise that this is no silent compartment this has also been marked within the train with icons and by the way directions Within These trains have been marked crystal clear as well at the fast abuse there are bigger litter bins you can also use to recycle some waste this way traveling by train is even more sustainable what is absolutely great about these trains you can take bikes and this is new on the IC trains some other newer IC trains already had this but on routs between the Netherlands and Germany this is new there’s a total capacity for eight bikes if you’re driving with a bike it’s obligated to make a reservation I’d love to see some folding seets by the way way opposite from the bike area just the spare seats this here is the regular second class if you’re driving with a bike this will be at the far end of the train so the best thing is to travel in second class for now let’s do a toilet review of the regular toilets and you find plenty of these toilets on both of these trains these toilets are pretty fine and the way they designed it with the water bin over here I think this is actually quite comfortable everything is also with motion sensor so also the soap will B dis spended based on motion this is way more hygienic and as you maybe already notice in a walk through the train also the doors will open based on motion this here at the second class there are some Solo Seats but mainly the seats in second class do come in a 2X two configuration so two seats at both sides of the AIS this is where the train from Amsterdam just arrived in Frankfurt and the cleaning crew hasn’t been everywhere yet what you just saw for luget you obviously have some dedicated luget RS as you can see over here but don’t forget about the overhead lugg re you find all over the train you can store quite a lot of lugs over here as well I also really like it that some of these lugg racks are within the compartments so you can keep a closer eye on your lugg personally I always like to keep my lugage with ins side and otherwise as close as possible to me the rest of the second class compartments are basically the same however there is some variety in zones for example a quiet Zone a non- quiet zone or you name it what I really like about these trains compared to the predecessors is that you have way better mobile cats on both of these trains simply because there are mobile signal repeaters for everybody who travels with a train before you might know that this can be a little bit of challenge mobile corporates every now and then but over here it’s just way better the composition for the seats in second class is mainly like you can find in Airlines or in longdistance buses but there are some Bay seats of seats facing each other as well with a table in between and a very small little bit at the side like pretty much anywhere seat numbers can be found right above the windows under the lug tracks and at the side of the seats at the side this is also in Bria so it’s easier for people with a very bad side I really like the indicators I just can’t say this enough I mean the red and the orange light to indicate if the seat has been reserved and or maybe from the next station well you also find a reading light obviously and basically like everywhere in the Train the windows do have a sunscreen most features are basically the same as what I showed you in first class however in second class you just have slightly less black room and it’s a little bit less wide obviously over here you also find the mobile phone holders or tablet holders I deal to watch a movie some YouTube well for example a train fking trip reports further on there is a sturdy foldout table a magazine rack and there’s no food rest in the second class seats can be reclined with this handle at the bottom of the seats and if I fully reclin him I still have a reasonable amount of La room but I can’t say this enough I’m a very tall guy so it might look tighter than it really is a little bin is located right in the seat in front of you and this also counts for the first class by the way another great Improvement in second class is the amount of power sockets on board of these trains in second class this used to be one per two seats but this is one per seat one thing I really want to mention and this doesn’t only count for these trains but for trains in general you have these dedicated lug zones but also at the moment the back ends of the seats are facing each other you can store lugs over here at last free Wi-Fi is available this is not just an internet connection but it can also link your mobile device to an onboard entertainment and infotainment system where you find several magazines newspapers and also live Ro information there’s a small section in English as well well I bet I forgot some things but I think I already told you quite a lot as well and besides from that this video is taking way too long already so for the last bit of the video I’ll just show you some views from the train between Frankfurt and Amsterdam I’ll give some information written on on the screen while I show you these views and I’ll get back to you at the very end of the video for some last information [Music] down down [Music] down [Music] as the train is leaving utra it’s time for my personal final clusion and I think that these strains are really a big step forward mainly in terms of reliability but also the ride Comfort is pretty comfortable they accelerate pretty fast it feels all very smooth the seats are pretty good there’s a little more capacity on one single train set however because you can combine these train set easily there’s a potential boom when it comes to the capacity and this is absolutely great and also needed just like in many videos a quick comparison on the environmental impact if you’re traveling on this route by train car and plane in travel time comfort and especially the environmental impact the train is at least in my opinion the absolutely winner oh because this video takes way too long I’m not going to spend more time on this topic that’s it for this video on the new ic3 Neo to the Netherlands I hope you lik this video or this has been helpful to you if so please give me a thumbs up I really appreciate that if you have some comments or questions let me know in the comment section and if you like to see more triple po about more sustainable ways of transportation you haven’t subscribed to the channel yet then hit that subscribe button if you haven’t done this already before we really end up this video one last thing thank you for watching if you are interested in other Tri you can find them on this channel and something else you’ll find in the description of this video on you YouTube is a link to a map and on this map you can find all trp reports as well might be useful or if you’re looking for a specific video see you on the next video