Metropolitan (train)

Metropolitan
Metropolitan trainset in 2002
Overview
Fleet size4 locomotives, 2 trainsets
Stations called at4
Parent companyDB Fernverkehr
Deutsche Bahn
HeadquartersBad Homburg
LocaleGermany
Dates of operation1 August 1999 (1999-08-01)–11 December 2004 (2004-12-11)
10 December 2021 (2021-12-10)[a]
SuccessorICE Sprinter
Technical
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
Electrification15 kV AC, 16.7 Hz
Operating speed200 km/h (120 mph), 220 km/h (140 mph)
Route map

Hamburg Hbf
Lower Saxony
Bremen
Bremen
Lower Saxony
North Rhine-Westphalia
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
North Rhine-Westphalia
Lower Saxony
North Rhine-Westphalia
Essen Hbf
Düsseldorf Hbf
Köln Hbf

Metropolitan (stylised as MetropolitaN) was the brand name of a German premium passenger train service between the cities of Cologne and Hamburg. Meant as an alternative to air transport, the (at its start) first-class-only trains were operated from 1 August 1999 until 11 December 2004 by the Metropolitan Express Train GmbH (MET GmbH) based in Bad Homburg, a wholly owned subsidiary of the DB Fernverkehr wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn AG.

Service was discontinued in December 2004 due to low usage and profitability;[1] the trainsets were deployed in InterCity and Intercity Express traffic before being retired at the end of 2021, when they were offered for sale.[2][3] As the search for a buyer fell through, the trainsets were scrapped as of 2024.[2]


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  1. ^ "Metropolitan kann auch ICE". DB Welt [de] (in German). February 2010. p. 23.
  2. ^ a b "Der Exot des Fernverkehrs geht in Rente" [The exotic of long-distance travel retires]. Deutsche Bahn (in German). Archived from the original on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Metropolitan Express Train (MET)". Gebrauchtzugportal Personenverkehr (in German). DB Regio AG. 27 September 2022. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.