AnsaldoBreda were wrong with it, I think
Two types of IC2 exist. One is an IC3 with two carriages, and the other is an IC4 with two carriages.
Where do you start? The type was riddled with design and manufacturing faults, and never worked properly. One of the biggest problems was that coupling and uncoupling of units was unreliable: this is an important point as portion working is normal in Denmark. Of the 83 built some never fully entered service - one turned up in Libya - and around twenty have been withdrawn.
That is because it does not move.
Although DSB took most of the blame, the IC3 was a prominent subject in the media for more than ten years and it became clear that one problem was that Denmark had been slow to electrify. I think it sunk into the minds of politicians that unless they authorised electrification, in twenty years a new generation of high-speed diesels might need to be ordered. As such things would probably have to be another special design, if that design also had problems, then some of the blame might fall on to the heads of politicians. (Or maybe I am a cynic.)
They have at least learned from it. Faced with a choice of two for their new electric locos they decided Skoda were too much of a risk (ask DB and ČD!) and took the sensible option of buying the proven Vectrons from Siemens.
DSB made it clear when placing all their recent orders that they wanted proven designs. I don’t think that, even if a first-class new design had been offered, that they would have risked the media and political outcry.
Yes, I saw that requirement at the time the tender was launched. I was astonished Skoda even bothered bidding as by no stretch could their loco really be considered proven (only 28 have been built). Perhaps DSB kept them in the process to keep Siemens honest as Bombardier didn't have a 200km/h loco in service at all?
I think that Skoda was just trying to show that it was now one of the big boys. If I remember correctly, DSB had indicated that it wanted to have a minimum of three bidders on the shortlist.
Of the twenty-three IC2, one set went to the museum and up to fifteen were sold to Rumania “without guarantee”, although only seven have left so far. The others have been or will be scrapped; many only saw four years of very limited use, having been delivered up to six years late and never working properly.
Having travelled on an IC3 for the first time only last year, they were one of the most pleasant surprises in a long time that I've had using a train - seats as you describe.
IC3 set 85, the last of the original build, is named after Jens Nielsen, who was DSB’s chief designer 1971-1992 and also a member of BR’s Design Panel for a period. Unfortunately for him, he qualified to have a set named after him as all the personages whom sets were named after had to be dead; he died in 1992 aged fifty-four.
It was reported that the first DSB knew about the appearance of set 09 in Libya was when a journalist contacted them to ask what it was doing there and they thought it was a hoax.As I recall. one of the IC4s DSB ordered went missing, and was discovered in the desert in Libya, having been a "present" from Silvio Berlusconi to General Ghadhafi.
"In March 2013, as well as in earlier media reports, it was reported that one of the missing IC4 trainsets planned for delivery in Denmark had been found in Libya. Reportedly, AnsaldoBreda and the then Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi gave Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi the trainset as a present in 2009 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Gaddafi's accession to power"
IC4 - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
"The IC4 units were originally scheduled to enter DSB's Intercity service in 2003. On 25 June 2007, one IC4 unit (trainset no. 4) entered regional service between Aarhus and Aalborg. On 27 August 2007, another test train entered regional passenger service between Aarhus and Fredericia in eastern Jutland. Two further units entered regional service during the autumn of 2007"
As I recall. one of the IC4s DSB ordered went missing, and was discovered in the desert in Libya, having been a "present" from Silvio Berlusconi to General Ghadhafi.
"In March 2013, as well as in earlier media reports, it was reported that one of the missing IC4 trainsets planned for delivery in Denmark had been found in Libya. Reportedly, AnsaldoBreda and the then Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi gave Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi the trainset as a present in 2009 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Gaddafi's accession to power"
IC4 - Wikipedia
"The IC4 units were originally scheduled to enter DSB's Intercity service in 2003. On 25 June 2007, one IC4 unit (trainset no. 4) entered regional service between Aarhus and Aalborg. On 27 August 2007, another test train entered regional passenger service between Aarhus and Fredericia in eastern Jutland. Two further units entered regional service during the autumn of 2007"
Here's a video of said train
