The RE 200 (formerly IRE 200) is the fastest regional train in Germany with all trains running at 200km/h on the newly opened Wendlingen-Ulm High Speed Line, but its potential is severely limited at the moment resulting in less than desirable connections. We’ll be taking a look at this service in this video, including the promising future it has lined up in the coming years. Enjoy the video!
Journey details:
Date of travel – April 2024
Operator – DB Regio
Train type – 2x Class 193 Siemens Vectron MS Locomotives hauling DB IC1 coaches
Class of travel – First
Origin – Ulm Hbf
Destination – Wendlingen-am-Neckar
Price – First class = €17.40/£15.04/$20.50,
Second class = €6.50/£5.62/$7.66
Journey time – 27 minutes
Distance – 60km/37 miles
Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoyed the video!
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#db #deutschebahn #re200 #ire200 #stuttgart #wendlingen #ulm #stuttgart21 #germany #tripreport #vlog #trains #highspeed #highspeedrail #dbregio
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:26 Ulm Hbf
02:13 The RE 200
03:48 Boarding, Route Info & Departure
05:15 First Class Interior
06:58 The High Speed Line
07:58 Walkthrough
08:52 The Future
10:09 Journey Summary, Conclusions & Pricing
11:00 Arrival into Wendlingen & Outro – Thanks for Watching!
25 Comments
The new Wendlingen-Ulm high-speed railway is a part of the massive Stuttgart 21 project. You should make a video about the project!
0:55 10.6 million passengers annually – That’s still less than Bristol Temple Meads
Yes, it's a great service and I enjoyed the highspeed with comfortable seats. They have this spring beneath the seat that makes rides much smoother, and also of course because of new railway tracks.
9:17 you fell for misinformation. Stuttgart 21 does NOT increase capacity. It is a reduction in capacity as-built and will need complete ETCS coverage to (hopefully) match the existing infrastructure in terms of capacity. Projected from currently planned service patterns, it will open at somewhere close to 110% capacity.
Stuttgart 21 is primarily a real estate project, and an urban renewal project second. Passengers rate a distant third (as evidenced by the ridiculous footpaths through/around the construction site)
According to the NIMBYs on the Hamburg–Hanover route, what you’re showing is impossible, as there are no regional trains capable of reaching 200 km/h. Consequently, there’s no need for stations either, as no one can use these fantasy trains anyway.
Thanks for the lovely video, hopefully the RE200 will be fully integrated soon. Greetings from Hamburg
Wendlingen is also useful for its bus connection to Stuttgart Airport. However, unfortunately the connecting time is nowadays around 30 minutes, meaning there is not that much time saved.
Ab Fahrplanwechsel 26/27 im Dezember, wird er nur noch RE heißen. Die Bezeichnung IRE wird es in Baden-Württemberg nicht mehr geben.
Where will these Vectrons go after the old carriages are phased out?
The temporary new terminus station Plochingen is the only logical terminus: better and more connecting trains to Stuttgart.
Two Vectrons means something like 16k horsepower – I think that's more than even an ICE3 set.
I take this train every week to go from munich to Stuttgart by Deutschlandticket, and its actually not that empty as it is shown in yt videos. Especially at Friday evening and Sunday evening when people travel somewhere for the weekend
Increase Stuttgart Main Station capacity*
*this statement is subject to extensive debates
Regiobahns with compartments? Cool!
So about the Stuttgart 21: when I came to Germany, I was 12, and they started to close the main concourse for the renovation. In 2025 I graduated from high school but still didn't finish. Now I am 20 and studying in Stuttgart, and the finish date is: there is no one! So well, maybe it will be finished when I graduate from uni, which in this case is very realistic.
Those reading lights in the compartment at 6:23 are disabled when the ceiling lamp is on.
took this train last fall RT Wendlingen-Ulm and back and on the way out it was quiet but in the afternoon when i went back it was much busier quite a nice service.
Great video you know there's a new YouTube train channel called Not Just Solo Travel? It makes Great video
Interestingly, IC1 carriages will be operating by Leo Express between Prague and Munich starting in Dec 2026. Looking forward 🎉
Yeah, great little service between Ulm and Wendlingen. I traveled the Geislinger Steige (old line) so often. I've used the IRE200 a few times and I'm following the project since they started the construction in Stuttgart. The construction works itself are almost finished as the public could see last Easter when the construction site was open. It's a pity the signaling system is delaying the opening but software projects seldom are on time relying on a lot of moving parts (literally!)
10:05 I want you to refresh two pieces of information about that:
The delivery of the Trains has been delayed again as of May 8th. It's now planned that these trains will be inaugurated in December 2026.
As for the Future, once Stuttgart 21 has finally been completed, the RE200 will be the new RE1 from Friedrichshafen at Lake Constance, with eventual extension to Lindau later, through the Airport Stuttgart all the way until Karlsruhe. But it's feared that the Stuttgart 21 will be delayed until at least 2030.
I found that some seats are in face-to-face private rooms, while others have a regular uniform orientation. Is there any explanation for this？🧐
Early arrival – are we actually in Germany….? Good one
'Scuse me, what? A train arriving at its destination early in Germany?
If anyone wants to know more about the train, the YouTuber "peterle sky" is operator on the engine of the train.
In his channel, he tells many details about the train.
Enjoy 🙂
Wait, when did you film this? The Ulm Main Station building has been closed due to construction for about a year and will be for another? Do you preproduce videos several years in advance? :O