page_title: ICE 1
section_title: Power Cars (Class 401)
hierarchical_section_title: ICE 1 / Formation / Power Cars (Class 401)
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Ein ICE-1-Triebkopf (401 514) in Nürnberg Hbf English: The powerhead 401 514 of an ICE 1 high-speed train at Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof (Nuremberg main railway station)
context_page_description: The ICE 1 is the first batch-produced German high-speed train and one of six in the Intercity-Express family. Revenue service at speeds up to 250 km/h started in 1991. It was raised to 280 km/h in May 1995 and later reduced to 250 km/h again. Today, only a handful of ICE 1 services on the Nuremberg–Munich high-speed railway reach 280 km/h.
  Trainsets consist of two power cars and up to 14 intermediate cars. Occasionally, power cars and intermediate cars of the ICE 2 are used as well. Trainsets always operate as a whole train and cars cannot be coupled in regular service.
  One of the 60 trainsets was destroyed in the Eschede derailment. The others were refurbished between 2005 and 2008 and will remain in service for ten to fifteen additional years.
context_section_description: The class 401 power car includes the cab and the engine compartment. Besides the driver's seat and controls, the cab features a second seat and several controls behind the seats. The engine compartment has a central corridor with door at both ends as well as a door on each side of the power car.
  Both bogies are powered by four forced-air cooled traction motors each. Each motor has a continuous power rating of 1,250 kW, the UIC power rating of the vehicle is 4,800 kW, and the largest starting tractive effort 200 kN. The drive system uses asynchronous three-phase AC motors pioneered in the Henschel-BBC DE 2500 locomotives as well as the InterCityExperimental. These motors are fitted between bogies and frame using pneumatics that are electronically adjusted depending on the current speed ("Umschaltbare Antriebsmasse UmAn," i.e., switchable drive mass). The power cars are directly derived from the Class 120 locomotives.
  At the time they entered into service, the power cars were considered exceptionally advanced technology. Each power car alone had ten computer systems. Displays on both sides of the driver's console allowed, for example, controlling operating conditions or entering failure notifications, that were automatically reported to the maintenance facility via radio.
  While the InterCityExperimental's power cars were higher than the intermediate cars, both heights would be adjusted for the ICE 1 series. A significant change to the predecessor is the pressure-sealed cab.
  Power cars 001 to 020 and 501 to 520 had conventional power converters. All other power cars (051 to 090 and 551 to 591) have power converters that use GTO thyristors which are responsible for the distinctive "melody" when the power car is brought up to speed. Power cars with conventional power converters weigh about 80.4 t, those with GTO power converters two and a half tons less. In October 2007, Deutsche Bahn tendered refitting two power cars with IGBT power converters instead of the GTOs. After field testing, up to 36 additional power cars were converted.
  The power converters are rated to 7.6 MW (10,200 hp). The transformers output 5.2 MW (7,000 hp): 4.5 MW (6,000 hp) for traction and 700 kW (940 hp) for heating, air-conditioning and auxiliary circuits.
  On the front, power cars feature a Scharfenberg coupler underneath a cover. Contrary to all other variants of ICE trains, the coupler of ICE 1 power cars is not used in regular service.
  The ICE 2 power cars (Class 402) are compatible to the intermediate cars of the ICE 1 and are used with ICE 1 trains when necessary. Two ICE 2 power cars were ordered specifically for powering ICE 1 trains (402 045 and 402 046).
  Power cars for service into Switzerland are equipped with a second pantograph matching Swiss specifications and the Swiss Integra-Signum safety system as well as ETCS. The other power cars are prepared for fitting a second pantograph.
  Usually the power car 401 0xx is coupled to the first class cars, while the power car 401 5xx is coupled to the second class end of the train.
caption: ICE 1 power car at Nuremberg
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