It is based on the ICE 3 high-speed trains initially co-manufactured by Siemens and Bombardier for German national rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB).

In 1994, Deutsche Bahn were the first to order 50 units of the high-speed trains, branded as ICE 3, that would eventually evolve into the Velaro family.

Velaro derivatives have been introduced in Germany, Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Spain, China, Russia, and Turkey.

In July 2006, a Siemens Velaro train-set (AVE S-103) reached 403.7 km/h (250.8 mph), which was the land speed record for rail vehicles and unmodified commercial service trainsets.

On 15 July 2006, a train achieved a top speed of 403.7 km/h (250.8 mph) between Guadalajara and Calatayud on the Madrid-Barcelona line, this is the Spanish record for railed vehicles.

On 19 May 2006, Siemens announced an order from Russian Railways for eight Velaro RUS high-speed trains including a 30-year service contract.

The trains, connecting Moscow with Saint Petersburg, and later also Saint Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod (the service was temporarily discontinued from 1 June 2015 till 1 March 2018[10]) at a speed of up to 250 km/h (155 mph), are based on the ICE3 train standard but with bodies widened by 33 cm (13 in) to 3.265 m (10 ft 8+1⁄2 in) to take advantage of Russia's wide loading gauge.

This change removes the panorama lounges, found on older trainsets, which provide passengers in the end cars with a cab view.

[20][21] The train's production stages were presented to the press in Krefeld on 28 April 2010,[22] and three completed cars were displayed by Siemens on September 22, 2010 at InnoTrans.

[19] Due to a series of delays in manufacturing and certification, no Velaro D trainsets were in service as of November 2012 and there was no schedule for their delivery.

Only in December 2013 the first four trains delivered to DB were certified for domestic operation as multiple units and started passenger service.

[25] The specification of the Velaro D allows it to use the Channel Tunnel,[18] enabling DB to use it on the services it planned to operate from London to Amsterdam and Frankfurt.

[26] Deutsche Bahn submitted safety documentation for the operation of Velaro D high speed trainsets through the Channel Tunnel to the Intergovernmental Commission in July 2011.

[31] The first of these trains was completed in late 2021 and presented to the public in February 2022, marketed as ICE 3neo by Deutsche Bahn and bearing the DB class number 408.

In October 2023, a new seating for the Deutsche Bahn long-distance fleet debuted on a class 408 train with line number 17.

On 7 October 2010, it was reported that Eurostar had selected Siemens as preferred bidder to supply ten Velaro e320[35] trainsets at a cost of €600 million (and a total investment of more than £700 million with the refurbishment of the existing fleet included)[36] to operate an expanded route network, including services from London to Cologne and Amsterdam.

[37] These would be sixteen-car, 400-metre (1,312 ft 4 in) long trainsets built to meet current Channel Tunnel regulations, and would not be the same as the Velaro D sets which Deutsche Bahn propose to operate services between Germany and London.

[47] In May 2024, the first of the "Velaro EGY" high speed trainsets was undergoing dynamic testing at the Wegberg-Wildenrath circuit in Germany ahead of delivery later the year.

[2][49] The company claims to achieve these improvements via lightweight construction techniques and reduced aerodynamic drag by fully covered, inside bearing bogies.

By 2024, no full trainset had yet been produced except for one prototype car that has been running as part of a Deutsche Bahn ICE-S test train since April 2018.