Partial wash

The Metropolitan was an interesting idea that didn't work out. It was a new train only for business travelers, only first class, operated by DB but with completely distinct branding, running high speed services with very few stops between Cologne and Hamburg. At first, DB thought about using two ICE 2 train sets (then still under construction), but in the end decided for a very different approach. The cars are largely constructed like ICE cars, including the wide gangways and special couplings, but the first car (and the cab car) have normal couplings, and the entire train is pushed and pulled by a standard class 101 locomotive. With a top speed of 220 km/h, this is the fastest locomotive propelled revenue train DB owns (all normal train cars are only cleared for 200 km/h). This is basically the same approach ÖBB picked many years later with their RailJet, although that is built by Siemens while these cars were built by Fahrzeugtechnik Dessau (which I think has stopped building train cars by now).

In the end, it turned out that there just wasn't big enough of a market for this special service, so the whole thing was cancelled. That left the question of what to do with the trains, which are only two odd ducks, neither compatible with the normal IC or ICE fleet, but too new and expensive to scrap. They got repainted into standard IC/ICE colors, and now generally run with ICE designations on lines that neither require 250 km/h top speed nor tilting ability. In 2013, Munich-Berlin was one of them, but it may have already changed again.

I got the opportunity to ride one a while back from Nuremberg to Berlin. It's a very convenient train; by design there are no second class cars, so all cars for second class passengers are first class cars with the numbers at the entries changed, meaning lots and lots of space. However, they could do with some maintenance. The expensive wood furnishing looks like it has seen a lot of wear, and there are some things that don't look that professional, such as the snack bars, two of which are permanently closed and apparently have been for years. Given that DB still has a serious lack of high speed trains, I imagine that these rare beasts may be included in the current general rebuilding program for ICEs and old IC cars. If so, they'll probably gain real second class cars, though…