Deutsche Bahn Product Codes

[LUKAnorthwest]

Hello Everyone,

it’s been years since I’ve commented on this forum but I have a question that I haven’t been able to answer.

I’ve booked tickets on the ICE from Dusseldorf to Berlin later in September. Under the search it says ‘Products’ and lists ICE1059 as the code. What does this mean? On searching google it brings me the train that has the registration 1059 (an ICE 3) other seevices product codes also show up as individual trains. Does the Product code indicate which train I’ll be getting on? Meaning that I’m on an ICE 3?

many thanks

 

[Bletchleyite]

The numbers are train numbers (we don't really have them in the UK[1], but they're like flight numbers). So ICE1059 is just ICE train service number 1059, a bit like EZY2062 is easyJet flight number 2062 (I was a regular on that for a couple of years ). It doesn't say anything about what unit is used, I'm afraid.

[1] Well we sort of do, it's the Retail Service ID which can be seen on Realtime Trains etc. However it's not used in a public facing manner.

 

[LUKAnorthwest]

The numbers are train numbers (we don't really have them in the UK[1], but they're like flight numbers). So ICE1059 is just ICE train service number 1059, a bit like EZY2062 is easyJet flight number 2062 (I was a regular on that for a couple of years ). It doesn't say anything about what unit is used, I'm afraid.

[1] Well we sort of do, it's the Retail Service ID which can be seen on Realtime Trains etc. However it's not used in a public facing manner.

Thanks for your swift reply!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Thanks for your swift reply!

No probs

 

[30907]

The best place to look for DB train formations is http://www.grahnert.de (click on Wagenreihungen or Zugverzeichnis).
ICE1059 is an unusual train, routed via Osnabrueck not Hamm, and according to that site will be a "short ICE1" of 9 coaches plus 2 power cars.
Google I think threw up an ICE1059 from a couple of years ago on a totally different route, which was an ICE3.

 

[jamie_]

Depending how the CoronaVirus goes it might not be an ICE1 since they are all parked up at the moment - https://m.tagesspiegel.de/wirtschaf...JcQJLfotBmLl4gPJ-ioT0L_En2bhFWx2yG6kvH4hnqVAc

Oh and if you are going for Innotrans that has been moved to April 2021.

 

[dutchflyer]

DB as such has 3 fare-classes: A-B-C, of which A is the highest-includes all trains, also ICE, B is NO ICE, but yes IC/EC and C is only ´Ńahverkehr=regional. But by now at least 80-90% of only NV is not DB-set but by the states or the many ´verbuende (integrated bustramtrain fare areas, like the old UK PTEś).
However, this is only for ful fare and that can be astronomical high (again about just like in the UK). The cheaper advance fares are called SPAR or even SUPERspar preis (saver or supersaver) and these always have ZUGbindung=tied to the quoted train on the quoted sector. If there are also additional sectors to/fro the big main stations, these are in regional. Spar (but not super) preis often include also local citytransportation in main towns (this is quoted as +City). NOT as a dayticket, but only for a single trip to the starting station or away from it on destination. For these the fare class as such does not really matter.

 

[30907]

The Product column shows the category of train you will be getting (dutchflyer has explained how it affects fares), including the codes used for non-DB regional trains; the drop-down version gives the individual train numbers which are used on departure indicators, in announcements etc, but not generally the type of train.

 

[littledude]

The numbers are train numbers (we don't really have them in the UK[1], but they're like flight numbers). So ICE1059 is just ICE train service number 1059, a bit like EZY2062 is easyJet flight number 2062 (I was a regular on that for a couple of years ). It doesn't say anything about what unit is used, I'm afraid.

[1] Well we sort of do, it's the Retail Service ID which can be seen on Realtime Trains etc. However it's not used in a public facing manner.

European train numbers, note NOT ‘route’ numbers like S3, RB70 etc, are simply the train’s headcode, nothing more and nothing less. Germany used a alpha identifier prefixing a number. For passenger this is RB/RE/IC/ICE etc, for freight this is DGS, KT, GC etc, and identifies the type of train/service

Personally I think it’s a significantly better system then our archaic headcode system, and the use of them in reservation systems abroad makes travelling and connections fundamentally easier. No need to scan the board for the ‘11:22 to somewhere near Hamburg’, when all you need to look for is specifically IC 2218, as an example. But that’s a whole other debate

Cheers,
Tom

 

[StephenHunter]

They're common across Europe. IC stands for InterCity - it and EC (EuroCity) are typically loco-hauled expresses, the "second tier" of European trains.

NJ is Nightjet, the Austrian sleeper operation, while EN (EuroNight) covers other high-quality sleepers.

 

[Bletchleyite]

They're common across Europe. IC stands for InterCity - it and EC (EuroCity) are typically loco-hauled expresses, the "second tier" of European trains.

NJ is Nightjet, the Austrian sleeper operation, while EN (EuroNight) covers other high-quality sleepers.

They are commonly used, but their use isn't standardised, for instance the old Frankfurt-Prague sleeper was a D (Durchgangs-Schnellzug = corridored express train) in Germany, but an EX (express) in the Czech Republic. And even in Germany there have been trains that were IC for part of their length and RE for the rest (e.g. the daily direct Hamburg-Berchtesgaden).