The last time I boarded an ICE train in Cologne, it was not clear which spot of the platform I should stand in order to be in front of my wagon when the train pulled in.

I did not see any painted marks on the ground like Japanese Shinkansen. Are there electronic boards on the platform which I should look for before deciding where to stand?

Thanks in advance.

Never been to Cologne, but on every train I've taken in Germany there have been electronic boards on the platforms with the number of the incoming train, it's final destination and letters, A, B, C, D, etc, indicating which section to stand in for 1st Class, Second Class and the restaurant carriage.

Hi Reading54,

Do you have a specific reserved seat you are looking for?

If not, and you only want to find the 1st class and 2d class carriages, Melnq8 has given you all the information you'll need to know!

If you are looking for a specific carriage & seat number, then try to get to your platform early, and look for the big posters that list all the ICE trains for the day -- sometimes it's taken me several minutes and several strolls up & down the platform to locate the poster. It is white, as opposed to the yellow departure posters. Then find your train on the list. There will be a diagram of the train, with the carriage numbers shown, and it will also show where that carriage will be on the platform (A, B, C, etc).

Have fun as you plan!

s

Thanks to Melnq and Swandav for your responses.
Yes, I want to find out where to wait for my specific carriage number. If that is not possible, then at least where the1st and 2nd class areas are.

The German word for what you want is "Wagenstandsanzeiger". You can normally find the posters with the "Wagenstandsanzeiger" near the yellow posters with the departure times and the white ones with the arrival times (on the platforms).

Hi Reading54,

Here is a link that might be helpful. If you scroll down to "Car sequence signage (Wagenreihungsplan)" you will see a picture of what the posters look like. Yellow is where the first class carriages are and green is for 2nd class. There are also some other useful bits of information on that page if you are travelling by rail in Germany.

https://fotoeins.com/2015/02/16/how-...rail-stations/
Good luck!
Lavandula

Ah, this is very helpful. Thanks a lot!