Intercity services are operated by the DB Fernverkehr division of Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national railway.

A number of German Intercity services serve destinations outside Germany, usually to Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands with some operating under the EuroCity brand.

After some planning, the proposal was approved in 1969, and the services were finally introduced in September 1971, after some delays in delivery of new coaching stock.

The original network consisted of four lines, operating every two hours, and connecting the largest cities in West Germany.

The original lines were: Gradually, the Intercity network started to expand, and with the introduction of the Class 103 locomotives, 200 km/h running was possible.

One major driving force for this was German reunification, which saw the network expand across the former East Germany, but also the opening of two high-speed lines in 1991: Mannheim to Stuttgart and Hannover to Würzburg.

While it still provides a high quality of service, trains now stop more frequently, and are more commonly found on lesser routes.

Most current IC trains convey fewer first-class coaches, more open seating as opposed to compartments, and a Bistro Cafe (buffet car) instead of a restaurant or no on-board catering at all, although this is as much a reflection of the changing habits of modern passengers than it is a change in the status of Intercity trains.

On the main route of EC line 27, Intercity and Eurocity services run every two hours between Hamburg and Prague.

At the start of the 2024 annual timetable, the line only consisted of IC 2012/2013 train pair (Allgäu) from Dortmund and Oberstdorf.

Two pairs of trains run at high speed from Siegen via Unna and Hamm to Münster and continue via Emden to Norddeich Mole; the other six train pairs take over almost all stops for regional traffic and run to Dortmund or via Dortmund to Münster.

The first train on Mondays to Fridays towards Dortmund runs from Stuttgart via Karlsruhe, Heidelberg, Mannheim and Frankfurt Airport.

On the Koblenz–Trier railway, the train runs as an RE, between Koblenz and Düsseldorf as an IC on behalf of DB Fernverkehr with the option of reserving seats and taking bicycles.

Line 51 MDV runs three pairs of trains between Düsseldorf/Cologne and Gera/Leipzig via Dortmund, Hamm, Soest, Lippstadt, Paderborn, Altenbeken, Warburg, Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe, Bebra, Eisenach, Gotha and Erfurt.

Line 55 runs every two hours from Dresden via Leipzig, Magdeburg, Hanover, Dortmund, Hagen and Wuppertal to Cologne.

One pair of trains runs from Magdeburg via Potsdam and Berlin to Cottbus; it is the only long-distance service to stop at some stations.

Between Norddeich Mole and Bremen, the trains run one hour later than the Lower Saxony RE 1 services; on this section they can be used with local transport tickets.

Due to construction work, the trains have been running across the Danish mainland since December 2019,[5] which, together with line 76, creates a two-hour service between Hamburg and Padborg.

Since December 2023, the train does not stop at Almelo, Ibbenbüren, Bad Oeynhausen, Minden, Wolfsburg and Stendal anymore and due to the new Vectron locomotives the locomotive change at Bad Bentheim is no longer needed making the train around 30 minutes faster.

Line 87 will be fully converted to Intercity 2 trains when the installation of ETCS equipment on the Swiss network is completed.

[8] Eight pairs of trains run daily on the EuroCity-Express line 88 operated with RABe 503 multiple units of the SBB, which are classified as Eurocity between Lindau-Reutin and Zurich.

On non-electrified Intercity routes, such as Hamburg to Westerland, or Ulm to Lindau, Class 218 diesel locomotives are used, usually double-headed.

After German reunification, former Deutsche Reichsbahn locomotives could be found on Intercity services – not only the Class 180s, but the 112 (electric) and 219 (diesel) locos.

Early Intercity trains used classic Eurofima stock, shared with TEE and D-Zug expresses, but with the growth of the network in the 1980s, and the inclusion of second class, large numbers of new air-conditioned coaches were built, which are still in use to this day.

Between 2012-2014, Deutsche Bahn undertook a refurbishing program named IC mod to renew its remaining Intercity coaches with updated interiors similar to that found in the ICE 3 fleet.

[9] In December 2023, DB retired all remaining bistro and restaurant cars from IC services due to them being prone to technical issues and reaching the end of their lifespan.

A rebranding of the Deutsche Bundesbahn in the mid-1980s saw a new colour scheme for Intercity services, orient red and light grey with a pastel pink stripe in between.

Deutsche Bahn plans to replace most Intercity and Eurocity rolling stock with Intercity-Express ICE 4 electric multiple unit trainsets by 2025.

[11] ICE 4 is a Deutsche Bahn project to procure up to 300 fourth generation Intercity-Express trains to replace its existing Intercity fleets used on long-distance passenger services in Germany.

[12] In addition to the ICE 4, Deutsche Bahn has awarded Bombardier Transportation a contract to supply double-decker coaches for Intercity services.