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11 May 2005
On the 10th of May I read in a newspaper called Metro
an article about an ICE high-speed train, which would travel on the 11th
of May and would travel through the Netherlands.
With my public transport student card, which I
owned that year, I went to Leiden Central station with a plan to
travel around the Netherlands to find the ICE train. |
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Picture 1: Here I am standing on platform 5 at Leiden Central
station.
I lie to take pictures with trains and I was happy to see a
passing Thalys high-speed train. |
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 Picture 2:
Unsuspectingly I am taking another picture of this train
while it's passing me.On the right of this picture you
can see a part of a red carpet.
I didn't know yet that the ICE would arrive just at this
platform. |
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3: A moment later the ICE I was looking for arrived
actual on the platform (4 and 5) on which I was waiting. On
this picture you can see the arrival of the ICE train at
platform 4.I might have known that the ICE would arrive
here, because the arrival is visible in the background of
picture 1. |
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4: And when I arrived at this side of the platform I now
noticed the red carpet, but also a few German flags. I
didn't know why.There are a lot of people on the
platform, also because the ICE arrived on a point in time
when a normal regional train would arrive. The people
probably want to know when the normal train would arrive. |
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The flags and the red carpet were there because the promotion
tour was officially started at that point and these would give
it a little extra.
Picture 5:
The tour has just opened here. Someone is dealing leaflets at a
door of the ICE. Unfortunately some photographers are blocking
my view.
Later it became clear to me that the ICE train was used
to promote Germany and travelling to and in Germany.
Even I got something when I boarded this train thru this
door.
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On board the ICE leaflets and small books were dealt and we
were standed on a German delicacy.
Picture 6: When I got on board I immediately went to
the Board Restaurant car. For this picture I have put in
front of me what I got: the little book, a leaflet, the
German delicacy and the bag of my camera.
My journey can start now. |
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| When I asked where the train was going to it became clear to
me that the ICE was replacing normal trains. It was not a
separate service. From where I boarded the train (Leiden) it
went as regional train via Schiphol, Duivendrecht, Weesp and
Hilversum to Utrecht.
On the way the intercom often told about the reason of this
special train and also said that it would go 'across the whole
country (the Netherlands)'. But in fact it just used a couple of
important lines. |
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During the journey I looked around in the train. I also met
some acquaintances.
Picture 7: The front of the train, with its glass
walls, was very crowded. Many people wanted to see the
outside view from here (because it has the best view over
the tracks).
Some people were in it since Dordrecht station, where the
train tour started. |
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8: After a few moments in the front I went to the rear
of the train. Here it was very quiet compared to the front.
I tried to take a picture from the outside: The concrete
portals of the overhead cables of the railway line between
Hilversum and Utrecht.Because of the view I stayed there. |
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(left) and picture 10 (below): After a long trip the ICE
arrived at Utrecht Central station. What will be the next
destination? I tried to take pictures of the railway yard of
the station. This is the north side. Other people took
pictures of this train.
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 Picture 11
and picture 12: And then a freight train passed by. It
was possibly going to Amsterdam. As you can see is the front
window not very clean, but you can still look thru it.
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| After a short stop at the station the ICE started to run as
regional train from Utrecht to Zwolle and back. On the way I
met some people, some were there from the start. Someone else
had printed out the whole timetable of the ICE and showed me
where it would go. |
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 I'm
still on the spot which I discovered at picture 8. I could
hold my spot thanks to the people who were already there.
Picture 13 (left): Here you can see a part of the
railway line through the woods of the Veluwe, between
Amersfoort and Zwolle.
Picture 14 (below): Here the train is going to
pass a yellow signal. We are approaching a station.
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Near Nunspeet the train had to go to a side track to let
pass an intercity to Zwolle. Someone told me that we
actually had to let the intercity pass at station 't Harde,
which was one station ahead. He means we are delayed. |
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 Picture 15:
We are now passing the station of 't Harde. It is still a
nice sight. |
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After a long ride the train entered the station of Zwolle.
Picture 16: The driver gave me the possibility to
take a picture of the cockpit of the ICE train. Looking
through the window you can see a train type called a
Buffalo. There are again photographers in my picture. |
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After a short stop the ICE goes as regional train back to Utrecht. Ofcourse I
stayed on my spot, but now i'm going in reverse direction. The view stays good. |
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 Picture 17:
The train has arrived at Utrecht Central station. As you can
see there are a lot of photographers on the platform. |
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Because of the afternoon lunch break of the crew everyone
had to go off board. I took some pictures of the train until I
took a break myself. |
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 The ICE
is still on platform 4 at Utrecht Central station, but will
go to a part to a place where it could stay for lunch.Picture 18:
The train is ready to depart. |
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   Picture 19,
20 and 21: I tried a couple of times to take a picture of
this part of the train. All attempts have failed. |
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 Picture 22: On
this picture you can read a couple of specifications of this
train, like the length
(200,84 m) the train number (4606) and the company who built
it (Siemens and Adtranz). |
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