NS expects improvements due to new Amsterdam-Frankfurt trains

Travelers between Amsterdam and Frankfurt will travel with new ICE 3neo trains starting this Saturday. Deutsche Bahn's (DB) fast trains look very similar to their predecessors on the outside: they are white with a red stripe and have a streamlined nose. However, according to the NS, which maintains the timetable with DB, they have been "greatly improved," both technically and in terms of comfort.

"We have been really looking forward to these trains," NS International director Heike Luiten said in a statement. The twenty-year-old ICE trains have increasingly suffered from breakdowns in recent years, especially on hot days. The hope is that things will go better with the new train sets.

The ICE runs seven times a day from Amsterdam Central Station via Utrecht and Arnhem to Cologne and Frankfurt. Furthermore, passengers have more space for luggage on the new trains. Each seat has a tablet holder and a power socket. Special facilities have also been built for people with disabilities, such as a wheelchair lift. The windows are also new, and can block out sunlight but allow the mobile phone signal to pass through better than before.

DB Board Member Dr. Michael Peterson is pleased with the timing of the modernized trains being deployed from Saturday: "We have delivered as promised. The ICE 3neo will be deployed earlier to Amsterdam and Brussels, just in time for the start of the European Championships. This will directly benefit the many fans and international travelers that the ICE 3neo will now bring to Germany particularly comfortably and reliably!"

Furthermore, the new train has 439 seats: 340 in second class and 99 in first class. Recently, 54 train drivers and 82 train managers from the NS in Cologne have been trained to work with the train. They do this together with German colleagues.