Where to find DB class 218

[47513 Severn]

So I will be spending next week in Germany. Where will I find class 218 hauled services these days? I will be based in Dusseldorf but I don't think there are any left in NRW. I'll be on an Interail so distance, in terms of cost, is not a concern but ideally somewhere I can get to in a day trip. I'm guessing the Frankfurt area is one option.

47513

 

[30907]

This is the best I can find, but it's last year's diagrams and Braunschweig has definitely finished. Frankfurt and Mainz seem to be the nearest, but on short distance stoppers only.

http://www.v160.de/index.php/baureihe-218/baureihe218-fahrzeugeinsatz

The forum on there might have more up to date info but you have to wade through tons of non current stuff.

If you want a decent run I would head down to Stuttgart and beyond for the REs to Friedrichshafen, or even to Muehldorf.

The other possibility with an early start is the Westerland line where you get pairs of them on long IC trains PLUS the Sylt car trains. But Sylt in a gale might not be to your taste....

If two consecutive days and a sleeper are in order, you could do both, using the Austrian double decker from Passau to Hamburg (or the CNL from Munich) to link them.

 

[DaiGog]

The Mainz and Frankfurt turns finished last December, along with Braunschweig. Frankfurt diagrams are now 245s, while Mainz and Braunschweig went over to other operators with new DMUs.

If you're on Yahoo Groups, join ERG (European Rail Gen) which has a Files section with this year's diagrams (Dec 14). In a nbutshell, current 218 workings include:
- Mühldorf - Munich (some 218s, some 245s)
- Munich - Lindau (pairs of 218s on the Zurich EC trains which give way to SBB electic traction at Lindau)
- Munich - Memmingen / Kempten (a few 218s mixed in with 245s and DMUs)
- Lindau - Friedrichshafen - Ulm, hourly; peak hour extension to Stuttgart on one service which is booked top & tail 218s on DD stock, plus one IC train in each direction with a pair of 218s
- Ulm - Rottweil / Neustadt(Schwarzwald) - one weekend diagram which is well recommended as a nice run with real fresh air stock
- Stuttgart - Ulm - Kempten - Oberstdorf: one IC each way, pair of 218s as far as Immenstadt then a single one up the branch to Oberstdorf (the branch is recommended for scenery and an excellent brauhaus outside Oberstdorf station!)
- Augsburg - Kempten - Oberstdorf: one IC train each way, single 218
- Hamburg / Itzehoe - Westerland: 4 pairs daily on ICs (two start/finish at Itzehoe, two at Hamburg Hbf)
- Hamburg - Lübeck - Kiel: two 218-hauled each weekday in the peaks

Having said all that, I suspect you won't be going next week now.........I was planning to go on Friday for the long weekend but not any more!