ICE International Berlin–Amsterdam

Upgraded to new ICE 3neo trains in late 2025, replacing loco-hauled Intercitys on the roughly six-hour cross-border run to the Dutch capital.

Expresses have linked the German and Dutch capitals since the nineteenth century, and the modern service still runs the classic gauge across the North German Plain: Hannover, Osnabrück, then the castle town of Bad Bentheim where Dutch tension takes over the wires. Beyond the border the train drops down the IJssel at Hanseatic Deventer, crosses the Veluwe’s heaths and polder country, and finishes along the IJ into Amsterdam Centraal. Five-plus hours that the timetable planners keep promising to shorten.

Stations

1. 1 kmBerlin Hauptbahnhof
2. 14 kmBerlin-Spandau
3. 181 kmWolfsburg Hauptbahnhof
4. 256 kmHannover Hauptbahnhof
5. 351 kmBünde (Westf)
6. 388 kmOsnabrück Hauptbahnhof
7. 435 kmRheine
8. 456 kmBad Bentheim
9. 483 kmHengelo
10. 536 kmDeventer
11. 550 kmApeldoorn
12. 594 kmAmersfoort Centraal
13. 610 kmHilversum
14. 638 kmAmsterdam Centraal

The stations OpenStreetMap lists for this service, in order, with the distance along the line as drawn here. A train may skip some of them.

Along the way

• Havelland plains
• Hannover interchange
• Bad Bentheim’s border castle
• IJssel crossing at Deventer
• Veluwe heaths
• Amsterdam Centraal on the IJ

How this line was checked

• Line drawn from 5 OpenStreetMap relations, their own nodes end to end: relation 374676 (226 km), relation 2466742 (398 km), relation 9611828 (7 km), relation 9626408 (3 km), relation 1278346 (3 km) — 636 km of the route between them
• Checked against OpenStreetMap: 98.7% of this line lies within 250 m of real track (median 4 m); the longest stretch away from it is 8.5 km
• Checked against the running timetable via ÖBB Scotty: our line sits under 100 m from the shape of ICE 148
• Wikipedia has an article for this line
• See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it

Questions and answers

How long is the ICE International?

The ICE International runs 641 km from Berlin to Amsterdam. It runs through Germany and the Netherlands.

How long does the ICE International take?

The fastest scheduled journey is 6 h 44 min for the 641 km. That is an average of 95 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 250 km/h.

Who runs the ICE International?

DB and NS, with ICE 3neo, Class 408.

How old is the ICE International?

The line has been in service since 2000. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.

How often does the ICE International run?

Every 2 h.

View on the world railway map →

Read more on Wikipedia (in DE) ↗