According to the running speed and operating environment of the intercity EMUs, the major challenges for the aerodynamic design of the intercity EMUs were presented from the comfort and economy. Based on the aerodynamic design experience of the high-speed train, the aerodynamic design of the intercity EMUs was carried out by the aerodynamic optimization design of the head shape and the smoothing of the train surface. Intercity EMUs heads corresponding to four speed grades were obtained, and the validation of the aerodynamic design was conducted by the numerical simulation, wind tunnel test and line test. The research showed that the error between the simulation result and the experimental result was small, which could meet the accuracy requirement of engineering computation. The wind tunnel test showed that the aerodynamic drag for three cars of the intercity EMUs was reduced by about 13.2% than that of the original design. The far-field aerodynamic noise could meet the design requirements. The line test showed that the aerodynamic drag of the intercity EMUs could reach the level of CRH2, the pressure amplitude for the train passing through the tunnel and two trains passing by in the tunnel was less than ±4 kPa. All aerodynamic design targets met the expected requirements.