Until the first refurbishment was completed, there had been three different configurations of ICE 1 trainsets: A train consisting of 14 cars had a length of 410.70 metres (1,347 ft 5 in).

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).

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.

In October 2021, it was announced that DB had ordered ABB to refit all 76 power cars with GTO traction converters with IGBT's.

[4] At the time of commissioning, the conference compartment was equipped with a large table, four freely movable chairs, an electronic typewriter, a fax machine, a telephone and power sockets.

The central part of the car comprises the galley that is connected to a counter facing the BordBistro area (formerly referred to as Bord-Treff "on-board meeting point").

[19] At the delivery ceremony of the first Class 120 locomotive on 13 January 1987, Werner Dollinger, the federal minister for transport, said: "I hereby empower the board of the Deutsche Bundesbahn to order the first ten units of the series version of the ICE from the industry at once.

Prior to that statement there had been speculation that the federal government would not provide funding for the trains that were necessary to effectively use the high-speed lines that were designed for speeds of 250 km/h (155 mph).

Main partners were Duewag (Krefeld-Uerdingen), Waggon Union (Berlin), MHB[clarify] and MBB Verkehrstechnik (Donauwörth).

[25] When the first intermediate cars became available, the first complete ICE 1 trains underwent trials between Fulda and Würzburg on the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line, where they reached speeds of 310 km/h (195 mph).

[6] Every seat had its own reading lamp and information monitors in the entrance areas switched between displaying the train's route and the current speed.

[8] On 12 August 1995, the Chinese head of state Jiang Zemin travelled on board the ICE from Ludwigsburg (near Stuttgart) of Rolandseck (near Bonn).

The Guest of the State was accompanied by the Federal Minister of Transport Matthias Wissmann, DB chief of passenger operations Klaus Daubertshäuser and several board members of AEG and Siemens.

It was planned to toughen up all trainsets for another 10 to 15 years of service at the Nuremberg main railway workshop completing in December 2008.

Smaller measures included diagnosis and subsequent repair of the driver's brake valve, the installation of new relays into some safety circuits and some software changes.

Starting in mid-1993, a newly developed bogie with air suspension was tested in a first class intermediate car (801 088-6) in scheduled service.

These trainsets were used to test cellular repeaters, returnable bottles in the restaurant car and different concepts for in-train Internet access.

For the early-morning service Ernst Barlach from Hamburg to Munich, two compartments in cars 1 and 7 were reserved for the storage of skis in early 1995.

[42] From 13 January to 23 March 1996, the same service was offered in a compartment of car 5 of ICE trains 585 and 588 from Hamburg to Garmisch-Partenkirchen and back.

On a pair of ICE trains between Berlin Zoo and Interlaken this was offered as well on specific dates from mid-December 1995 to mid-April 1996.

Siemens and AEG-Westinghouse hoped to win a contract by Amtrak for 26 trainsets for a fast Boston–New York–Washington service that would eventually become the Acela Express.

[50] On 8 November 2007, trainset 89, which had been shortened to about 200 m (656 ft 2 in), set a Swiss land speed record for railed vehicles during trial runs for the ETCS cab signalling inside the Lötschberg Base Tunnel.

Changes include: The refurbished units are planned to be used on the ICE Sprinter lines and on routes with medium high traffic.

On 3 June 1998 ICE 1 set 151 derailed on the Hanover–Hamburg railway at Eschede, approximately 60 km (37 mi) north of Hanover.

The train was on its way from Munich to Hamburg as ICE 884 "Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen", when the wheel of a first class car broke, and changed the setting of a railroad switch.

The intermediate cars sit on Minden-Deutz [de] type MD 522 bogies with steel suspension and an axle base of 2,500 mm (8 ft 2 in).

Inside the tunnels of the first two high-speed lines, repeaters were installed at a distance of 1500 meters that communicated with the trains using leaky feeders.

Switzerland paid for the equipment after Deutsche Bahn had announced the it would not convert any of their high-speed lines to ETCS cab signalling within the following ten years.

If ETCS is used on any high-speed line in Germany within ten years, Switzerland has to be paid back part of the cost.

Aerodynamic reasons led to the design of the power cars' front as well as the flush fitting of the windows and the low skirts.