Operator: Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS)
Headcode: ICD1852
Route: HLV-RTC
Class: 1st Class
Seat: ??
Date: Thursday 25th September 2025
With us having arrived back in The Netherlands by way of a Deutsche Bahn (DB) Intercity service from Hannover (read about that here), our arrival into Rotterdam at the end of this leg would just leave a couple of local trains/metros before boarded the ferry home. And so, for this final long-distance train of the trip from Hilversum to Rotterdam Centraal, we’d be travelling onboard one of NS’ (Dutch Railways) new Intercity trains in 1st class. These Intercity Nieuwe Generatie (ICNG) trains have been introduced since my last journey on an NS ‘Intercity Direct’ service (read about that here) so I was looking forward to trying one out.
We’d arrived at Hilversum around 15 minutes before departure on one of the DB/NS jointly operated Intercity services from Berlin, having travelled onboard from Hannover and this gave us just enough time to grab some sandwiches and drinks from the platform kiosk to overcome the lack of food issue from onboard the Intercity. Thankfully with all our luggage, the Intercity Direct service was departing from the same platform, making our change between trains much easier and, with a couple of minutes to go before departure, the ICNG rolled into the station. These sleek looking electric units, painted in NS’ iconic blue and yellow colour scheme entered service in April 2023, replacing the loco-hauled carriages that had been serving the route since 2013.
Our train was ICD1852, the 1534 service from Amersfoort Scothorst to Breda which had stopped at Amsersfoort Centraal on its way to Hilversum. After Hilversum we’d call at Duivendretch and then head around the southern edge of Amsterdam to Amsterdam Zuid, the current alternative used by ICD services to avoid Amsterdam Centraal which is currently undergoing refurbishment. From Amsterdam Zuid, we’d then call at Schiphol Airport, one of the best-connected airports in the world, before joining HSL-Zuid, The Netherlands’ sole high-speed line, for the non-stop run to Rotterdam Centraal. From Rotterdam ICD services generally continue along HSL-Zuid to either Breda or Brussels, with some also continuing beyond Breda back onto the conventional rail network to Eindhoven.
Built by Alstom in Poland, the ICNGs are the latest version of their popular Coradia platform, of which the British Rail class 180s, 334s and 458s are all members. There are three variants of the ICNG, classes 3100, 3200 and 3300, with all able to run on the core domestic network but the class 3300s able to run on either the German or Belgian rail networks (depending on the sub-class). The class 3200s and class 3300s are eight-car units, whilst the class 3100s are shorter with just five cars and in total NS has 99 units across the three types, with options for up to 150 more. Our service was operated by unit 3209, one of the eight-car domestic variants, however ultimately it doesn’t really matter as the interiors and passenger experience are the same across all units.
1st class can be found in the middle of the train and is laid out in the usual 2-1 configuration with the seating mainly around tables, although there are a few airline style seats available. The large leather (or mock leather) seats reminded me of the 1st class seating onboard the now retired British HSTs and every seat has its own power socket and USB-A socket, reading lights and coat hooks. The bottoms of the seats also move forward slightly to imitate a recline. Luggage storage is well placed close to the external doors, just the other side of the priority seats and there’s plenty of it, with storage still available even after our four large bags were put in it. Of course, with these being modern trains, there are information screens and WiFi throughout the train and most importantly, they provide level boarding!
Departing Hilversum ontime at 1553, we passed the large Railpro works that sit alongside the railway and before long were crossing the 72km long Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal which connects the River Rhine with Amsterdam. As we entered the outer suburbs of Dutch Capital, we headed onto the Amsterdam Ringspoorbahn which runs around the southern side of the city, avoiding Amsterdam Centraal and we soon stopping at our first stop, Duivendretch. Located close to Ajax’s Johan Cruijff Arena and at the crossroads of the Amsterdam-Arnhem and Weesp-Leiden railways, Duivendretch is a major interchange station with a mix of inter-city, local and metro services.
Between Duivendretch and Amsterdam Zuid the tracks of the railway and metro (up to eight in total at some points) run between the carriageways of the A10 motorway, and as we pulled into Amsterdam Zuid it seemed like they were extending the metro platforms to allow for even more capacity to this busy part of Amsterdam. Shortly after leaving Amsterdam Zuid, we headed into the tunnel under Schipol Airport, unfortunately meaning that I couldn’t see any aircraft until we emerged from the other side. After departure I did get to see a few aircraft on approach, including KLM’s PH-EZO arriving on KL1946 from Basel and Transavia’s PH-TFO arriving on OR1742 from Funchal. Around Hoofdoorp the high-speed line crosses the conventional lines and some sidings on a flyover, then follows the conventional line for a bit until Nieuw-Vennep where HSL-Zuid turns to the south to take a more direct route towards Rotterdam.
With even the longest journeys to Brussels on ICD only taking a couple of hours, NS doesn’t provide catering onboard these services, so make sure to stock up beforehand if you fancy a mid-journey snack. Our journey between Hilversum and Rotterdam Centraal only took 56 minutes, and with a well-placed platform shop at Hilversum we certainly didn’t need any refreshments. One thing The Netherlands does provide on this section of line is plenty of scenery to keep you occupied including the famous Dutch Tulip fields and of course the odd windmill or two. If you can make your journey on this section during daylight hours, I’d certainly recommend it, especially during Tulip season as it can be incredibly colourful!
Arriving in Rotterdam Centraal on time at 1649, I was impressed with these new ICNG trains and the overall journey on this ICD service. Unfortunately, the score takes a bit of a hit owing to there being no lounge at Hilversum (not that we needed one for our 15-minute wait) and there being no catering onboard (again, not that its really needed), however for the journey we were making NS’ offering was pretty spot on. Hopefully I’ll get to do another trip on these trains in the future, perhaps a trip to Brussels starting in Amsterdam or Rotterdam where NS have lounges for international passengers.
Lounge 0*
Seat/Facilities 4*
Food 0*
Service 5*
Punctuality 5*
Overall Rating 14/25 (read about my rating system here!)
Flights & Times 