DB Class 403 (ICE 3)

Updated: August 2026 – A flat, pointed nose, windows all the way to the front, and passengers instead of a machine room behind the windscreen: that’s the ICE 3 of Class 403. With it, Deutsche Bahn left the power-car concept behind. This page explains how to recognise the class, how it differs from its multi-system sister classes, and how to photograph it.

What is Class 403 (ICE 3)?

Class 403 is the single-system base variant of the ICE 3: an eight-part high-speed multiple unit with distributed traction from the Siemens Mobility consortium, approved for 330 km/h and designed for the German network with 15 kV AC. Around 8,000 kW of traction power is distributed across several coaches of the train.

The decisive break from ICE 1 and ICE 2 lies in the concept. There, the traction equipment sits in dedicated, windowless power cars. On the ICE 3 it sits distributed under the floor across the whole train. That has three visible consequences: every coach offers seats, the front of the train is an ordinary passenger coach with windows, and the front end could be designed flatter and more aerodynamically.

Class 403 also has relatives: Class 406 is the multi-system variant for cross-border services, and Class 407 and Class 408 are newer vehicles from Siemens’s Velaro family. All are marketed as ICE 3, but they differ substantially in technical terms – which is the most common source of confusion when identifying them.

The fastest route to identification

Exactly where these numbers are shown on the vehicle is covered by the guide Finding the train number; the system behind the twelve-digit vehicle number is explained in the article on the UIC number.

The ICE 3 variants compared

Class	Electrification systems	Lounge with view of the line	Main use
403	Single-system (15 kV)	yes	domestic services on high-speed lines
406	Multi-system	yes	cross-border services
407	Multi-system (Velaro D)	no	cross-border services
408	Multi-system (ICE 3neo)	no	domestic and cross-border

All four classes carry the UIC type code 93 and are shown in the timetable equally as ICE. For spotters, though, they’re four different vehicles – anyone who just logs “ICE 3 seen” loses the information that’s actually interesting. A full comparison of all the generations is in the article ICE classes 1 to 4.

Spotting: where the ICE 3 feels at home

The ICE 3 is built for high speeds and so tends to run where they can actually be used: on high-speed lines and the major long-distance corridors between them. The high-speed line towards the Rhine/Main area effectively begins right outside Cologne Hauptbahnhof. Anything more specific would be irresponsible – the assignment of classes to lines shifts with timetable changes, engineering works and the delivery of new vehicles.

In practice that means: major hub stations with long-distance services are the best starting point, because that’s where dwell times and turnarounds happen. Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof is the densest point in the network for this. Out on the open line at a high-speed section you get more spectacular shots, but only a few seconds per train. An overview of suitable locations is in the article on the best stations for trainspotting in Germany.

What distributed traction means in practice

The switch from power car to multiple unit is more than a design decision. It changes the vehicle in four ways that can all be observed.

• Every coach carries passengers. Where the ICE 1 has two vehicles without seats, the ICE 3 has none. Over the same train length, more space is left for travellers.
• Axle load falls. Traction equipment distributed across many axles loads the track less than the same power concentrated in two vehicles. That opens up routes where heavy power cars reach their limits.
• Acceleration improves. More powered axles mean more transmittable tractive effort. For the timetable that often matters more than pure top speed, because stops and slow sections determine most of the time lost.
• The front is freed up. Without a machine room behind the windscreen, the nose could be drawn out flat and the space behind it used as passenger space. That’s exactly how the lounge with a view of the line came about.

For identification that means: the missing power cars aren’t a detail – they’re the result of a fundamentally different design. Once you understand that, you’ll also immediately place the ICE 4 of Class 412 correctly – there, the traction is organised differently again, namely in individual powered coaches.

Photo tips for the ICE 3

The ICE 3’s flat nose is a rewarding but tricky subject: it looks flat head-on and lives on the angle.

• Three-quarter view instead of a head-on shot. About 30 to 45 degrees to the vehicle axis shows the nose and flank together and gives the shape depth. At the end of the platform at Nuremberg Hauptbahnhof, this angle is easy to find.
• Low viewpoint. From platform height, the flat nose looks squat. A slightly lower angle emphasises the wedge shape.
• Expose tightly. The white front blows out quickly in sunshine, and you can’t recover detail in the white afterwards.
• Fast shutter speed. For passages on high-speed lines, 1/1000 s is a starting point that’s often still too slow.

The article on the best telephoto lens for railway photography covers which focal length makes sense for this, while the guide taking good photos of trains covers the basic technique.

Common mix-ups

Conclusion

The ICE 3 of Class 403 marks the shift from the power-car concept to the multiple-unit concept. Two observations are enough to identify it: windows right to the front and a flat, pointed nose. The harder part is telling the members of the ICE 3 family apart – there, the lounge behind the driver’s cab is the dividing line between the classic build and the newer Velaro variants. In the end, the vehicle number settles it.