Deutsche Bahn wants more space for families in ICE trains, but no slides

Some trains in Finland are almost an attraction in themselves: certain double-decker InterCity services have little playgrounds with mini slides for kids. Deutsche Bahn (Germany's national rail operator) won't go quite that far. But it does want to make ICE trains easier for families.

What happened? 🚆

Bahn CEO Evelyn Palla told the newspaper Tagesspiegel that travellers with children will get noticeably more room. "With the permanent family ticket we have already created good solutions on the fare side," she said. "Now we want to offer families even more space in our ICE and make the family areas more attractive."

That also means reworking trains that are already running. "We are going to touch many trains in our existing fleet again, for example the ICE 4," Palla said. The company plans to present details of the conversions soon.

One thing is off the table: a Finnish-style playground. "We won't be building carousels into the trains," Palla said. "But we will make it much more pleasant and easier to travel with children."

And what about the Wolfsburg commuters?

Palla also responded to the protests over the renovation of the Berlin–Hannover corridor. Many Volkswagen employees commute between Wolfsburg and Berlin. Before the works began, the ICE took about an hour. Right now it takes more than three hours.

The construction is set to last until the end of 2027. Pro Bahn, a passenger lobby group, had accused the company of ruining people's life plans.

From the timetable change on 13 December, the RE 50 regional service between Wolfsburg and Braunschweig will be rescheduled. Passengers heading to Berlin will wait only ten minutes in Braunschweig for their ICE, instead of forty, according to the timetable. That cuts the journey by half an hour. ICE services from Wolfsburg towards the west will also return.

What's next?

Deutsche Bahn is expected to unveil its plans for the new family areas shortly. Palla has been in charge since October 2025, when she took over from Richard Lutz. She says the ICE is already a good product by international standards, "but we want to get even better."