The ''Helvetia'' 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 train, local trains that stop at most or all of the s ...

that, for most of its existence, linked

Hamburg-Altona station Hamburg-Altona (or simply Altona) is a railway station in Hamburg, Germany, situated to the west of the city's main station, in the district which bears its name. A main line terminal station, most Intercity-Express (ICE) services to and fr ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany, with

Zürich HB , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () i ...

in Zurich, Switzerland. Introduced in 1952, it was operated by the

Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained ...

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the se ...

(DB) and the

Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (german: link=no, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, ''SBB''; french: link=no, Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses, ''CFF''; it, Ferrovie federali svizzere, ''FFS'') is the national railway company of Switzerland. It is usuall ...

(SBB-CFF-FFS). The train's name, ''Helvetia'', is the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word for "Switzerland". Initially, the ''Helvetia'' was a ''

Schnellzug A ''Schnellzug'' is an express train in German-speaking countries, where it refers to trains that do not stop at all stations along a line. The term is used both generically and also as a specific train type. In Germany and Austria it is also ref ...

'' (D), later a '' Fernschnellzug'' (F - although actually diesel multiple units were used on this service). In 1957, it became a first-class-only

Trans Europ Express The Trans Europ Express, or Trans-Europe Express (TEE), was an international first-class railway service in western and central Europe that was founded in 1957 and ceased in 1995. At the height of its operations, in 1974, the TEE network compri ...

(TEE). On 27 May 1979, it was reclassified as a two-class

Intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

(IC),'' Thomas Cook International Timetable'' (May 27–June 30, 1979 edition), p. 6. Peterborough, UK: Thomas Cook Publishing. and on 31 May 1987, it was included in the then-new

EuroCity EuroCity, abbreviated as EC, is a cross-border train category within the European inter-city rail network. In contrast to trains allocated to the lower-level "IC" (InterCity) category, EC trains are international services that meet 20 criteri ...

(EC) network.''

Thomas Cook Continental Timetable The ''European Rail Timetable'', more commonly known by its former names, the ''Thomas Cook European Timetable'', the ''Thomas Cook Continental Timetable'' or simply ''Cook's Timetable'', is an international timetable of selected passenger rai ...

'' (May 31–June 30, 1987 edition), pp. 472, 475. Thomas Cook Publishing. Following a brief hiatus in 1991–1992, it was reintroduced as an

Intercity-Express The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to resume in 2022), France, Belgium, Switzerla ...

(ICE). It ceased to be a named train at the end of 2002. On 12 August 1965, the ''Helvetia'' was involved in a serious collision in

Lampertheim Lampertheim is a town in the Bergstraße district in Hesse, Germany. In 1984, the town hosted the 24th ''Hessentag'' state festival. Geography Location Lampertheim lies in the southwest corner of Hesse in the Rhine rift at the Biedensand Conser ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

, in which the train formation (

consist In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

) was severely damaged, and four people died.

References

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Bibliography

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External links

* {{EuroCity trains EuroCity Intercity Express International named passenger trains Named passenger trains of Germany Named passenger trains of Switzerland Trans Europ Express Railway services introduced in 1952 Railway services discontinued in 2002

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links