Chronologic history
Note: in this overview relief trains are omitted.
For the purpose of the information it is important to note that the introduction
of daylight saving time (summer time) varied a lot between the countries
involved. Introduction was as follows: 1966: Italy, 1974: Spain, 1976:
France, 1977: Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, 1980: Germany and
1981: Switzerland. (These are all the countries where times are mentioned
during a transition.) More information on this can be found in the
timezone pages.
Graphical history
The picture below shows the number of TEE trains running each season (summer
or winter) from 1957 to 1995, a pair counts as two. For ease of reference
it includes a grid. The horizontal lines are put at 10 trains with a dot for
each season, the vertical lines are put at 5 years with a dot for each 2 trains.
The dashes at the bottom mark the start of the summer season for each year.
Trains shown in red are without counterpart (running one-way only), the
green trains are the Lufthansa Airport Express
trains that are not really TEE trains. Note that sometimes changes occur
during a season, these are always put halfway the season. Also the vertical
lines are set off a bit agains the real start of the season to avoid
confusion with staggered edges.
Detailed history
- Summer 1957
-
- Introduced:
-
l'Arbalète
Edelweiss
Etoile du Nord
Helvetia
Ile de France
Mont Cenis
Oiseau Bleu
Rhein-Main
Ruhr-Paris and Paris-Ruhr
Saphir
10 pairs introduced; balance: 10 pairs.
- August 1957
-
- Introduced:
-
Ligure
1 pair introduced; balance: 11 pairs.
- Winter 1957/58
-
- Introduced:
-
Parsifal
Mediolanum
2 pairs introduced; balance: 13 pairs.
- Summer 1958
-
- Introduced:
-
Lemano
1 pair introduced; balance: 14 pairs.
- Summer 1961
-
- Introduced:
-
Cisalpin
Gottardo
Ticino
3 pairs introduced; balance: 17 pairs.
- Summer 1963
-
- Introduced:
-
Brabant (one direction)
1 train introduced; balance: 17 pairs and 1 train.
- September 1963
-
- Introduced:
-
Brabant (second direction)
1 train introduced; balance: 18 pairs.
- Summer 1965
-
- Introduced:
-
Blauer Enzian
Diamant
le Mistral
Rheingold
Rheinpfeil
5 pairs introduced; balance: 23 pairs.
- Summer 1967
-
The first big renumbering took place in this year
- Introduced:
-
Rembrandt
1 pair introduced; balance: 24 pairs.
- February 1969
-
- Introduced:
-
le Lyonnais
1 pair introduced; balance: 25 pairs.
- Summer 1969
-
- Introduced:
-
Catalan Talgo
Roland
2 pairs introduced; balance: 27 pairs.
- Winter 1969/70
-
- Introduced:
-
Bavaria
1 pair introduced; balance: 28 pairs.
- Summer 1970
-
- Introduced:
-
Goethe
1 pair introduced; balance: 29 pairs.
- Winter 1970/71
-
- Introduced:
-
le Capitole (2 pairs, du matin and du soir)
2 pairs introduced; balance: 31 pairs.
- Summer 1971
-
The second renumbering took place in this year
- Introduced:
-
l'Aquitaine
Kléber
le Rhodanien
3 pairs introduced; balance: 34 pairs.
- Winter 1971/72
-
- Abandoned:
-
Rheinpfeil
- Introduced:
-
l'Etendard
Prinz Eugen
Stanislas
1 pair abandoned, 3 pairs introduced; balance: 36 pairs.
- Summer 1972
-
Rhein-Main renamed to van Beethoven
Balance unchanged.
- Winter 1972/73
-
- Abandoned:
-
Mont Cenis
1 pair abandoned; balance: 35 pairs.
- Summer 1973
-
Ruhr-Paris and Paris-Ruhr renamed to Molière
- Introduced:
-
Adriatico
Erasmus
2 pairs introduced; balance: 37 pairs.
- Winter 1973/74
-
- Introduced:
-
Cycnus
Vesuvio
2 pairs introduced; balance: 39 pairs.
- Summer 1974
-
- Abandoned:
-
Ticino
- Introduced:
-
Ambrosiano
Aurora
Iris
Merkur
il Settebello
1 pair abandoned, 5 pairs introduced; balance: 43 pairs.
- Winter 1974/75
-
- Introduced:
-
Memling
Rubens
2 pairs introduced; balance: 45 pairs.
- Summer 1975
-
- Abandoned:
-
Aurora
Goethe
2 pairs abandoned; balance: 43 pairs.
- Summer 1976
-
- Abandoned:
-
Diamant
1 pair abandoned; balance: 42 pairs.
- Summer 1977
-
- Abandoned:
-
Bavaria
1 pair abandoned; balance: 41 pairs.
- Winter 1977/78
-
- Abandoned:
-
le Lyonnais
1 pair abandoned; balance: 40 pairs.
- Summer 1978
-
- Abandoned:
-
Cycnus
Merkur
Prinz Eugen
- Introduced:
-
Gambrinus
3 pairs abandoned, 1 pair introduced; balance: 38 pairs.
- Winter 1978/79
-
- Introduced:
-
Faidherbe
Gayant
Watteau
3 pairs introduced; balance: 41 pairs.
- Summer 1979
-
Blauer Enzian renamed to Diamant(2)
- Abandoned:
-
l'Arbalète
van Beethoven
Edelweiss
Helvetia
Molière
Parsifal
Saphir
- Introduced:
-
Bacchus
Friedrich Schiller
Goethe(2)
Heinrich Heine
7 pairs abandoned, 4 pairs introduced; balance: 38 pairs.
- Winter 1979/80
-
- Abandoned:
-
le Rhodanien
1 pair abandoned; balance: 37 pairs.
- Summer 1980
-
- Abandoned:
-
Bacchus
Erasmus
Roland
- Introduced:
-
Albert Schweitzer
3 pairs abandoned, 1 pair introduced; balance: 35 pairs.
- Summer 1981
-
- Abandoned:
-
Diamant(2)
Iris
- Introduced:
-
Jules Verne
2 pairs abandoned, 1 pair introduced; balance: 34 pairs.
- Summer 1982
-
- Abandoned:
-
le Capitole (one pair)
Catalan Talgo
Friedrich Schiller
Lemano
Ligure
5 pairs abandoned; balance: 29 pairs.
- Winter 1982/83
-
- Abandoned:
-
le Mistral
Stanislas
2 pairs abandoned; balance: 27 pairs.
- Summer 1983
-
- Abandoned:
-
Albert Schweitzer
Gambrinus
Goethe(2)
Heinrich Heine
Rembrandt
- Introduced:
-
Lufthansa Airport Express (4 pairs)
5 pairs abandoned, 4 pairs introduced; balance: 26 pairs.
- Winter 1983/84
-
- Abandoned:
-
Gayant (one direction)
1 train abandoned; balance 25 pairs and 1 train.
- January 1984
-
- Abandoned:
-
Cisalpin
1 pair abandoned; balance: 24 pairs and 1 train.
- Summer 1984
-
il Settebello renamed to Colosseum
- Abandoned:
-
l'Aquitaine
Brabant
l'Etendard
Etoile du Nord
Mediolanum
Memling
Oiseau Bleu
7 pairs abandoned; balance: 17 pairs and 1 train.
- Winter 1984/85
-
- Abandoned:
-
le Capitole (remainder)
1 pair abandoned; balance: 16 pairs and 1 train.
- Summer 1985
-
- Abandoned:
-
Gayant (other direction)
1 train abandoned; balance: 16 pairs.
- Summer 1987
-
- Abandoned:
-
Adriatico
Ambrosiano
Colosseum
Ile the France
Rheingold
Rubens
Vesuvio
7 pairs abandoned; balance: 9 pairs.
- Winter 1988/89
-
- Abandoned:
-
Gottardo
1 pair abandoned; balance: 8 pairs.
- Summer 1989
-
- Abandoned:
-
Kléber
1 pair abandoned; balance: 7 pairs.
- Winter 1989/90
-
- Abandoned:
-
Faidherbe
Watteau
Jules Verne
3 pair abandoned; balance: 4 pairs.
- Summer 1993
-
- Abandoned:
-
Lufthansa Airport Express (all 4 pairs)
4 pairs abandoned; balance: 0 pairs.
- Winter 1993/94
-
- Introduced:
-
Brabant
Ile the France
Rubens
Watteau(2)
4 pairs introduced; balance: 4 pairs.
- January 1995
-
- Abandoned:
-
Brabant
Ile the France (one direction)
Rubens
Watteau(2) (one direction)
2 pairs and 2 trains abandoned; balance: 2 trains.
- Summer 1995
-
- Abandoned:
-
Ile the France (second direction)
Watteau(2) (second direction)
2 trains abandoned; balance: 0 pairs.