The Gayant was an

express train An express train is a type of passenger train that makes a small number of stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, allowing faster service than local trains that stop at most or all of the stations alo ...

that linked Gare du Nord in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, France, with

Tourcoing Tourcoing (; nl, Toerkonje ; vls, Terkoeje; pcd, Tourco) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a commune within the department of Nord. Located to the north-northeast of Lille, adjacent to Roubai ...

in the department of Nord, also in France. The train was named after

Gayant Gayant the Gigantes y cabezudos, giant is an iconic processional puppet of Douai. Each year for three days at the beginning of July, the Gayant festival takes place. The Gayant family, composed of the giant's wife Marie Cagenon, and their thre ...

, the of

Douai Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, Dou ...

, France. One year before the creation of the

TEE A tee is a stand used in sport to support and elevate a stationary ball prior to striking with a foot, club or bat. Tees are used extensively in golf, tee-ball, baseball, American football, and rugby. Etymology The word tee is derived from the ...

-network the French railway SNCF introduced three ''Trains d'affaires'' to link

with the industrial area of Nord, near the Belgian border. These trains were scheduled as a morning, midday and evening service in both directions. Initially the services were operated with RGP 600 DMUs. In 1959 these were replaced by locomotive hauled trains consisting of Corail coaches. Although domestic TEE-services were allowed from 1965, the ''Trains d'affaires'' were not upgraded to TEEs until 1978. Das grosse TEE Buch p. 114 Together with the upgrading to TEE the trains were named. The midday service pair was named ''Gayant''.

References

Works cited

* * {{Trans Europ Express trains International named passenger trains Named passenger trains of France Trans Europ Express Railway services introduced in 1978