The ''Jules Verne'' was an express train that linked Paris and

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

in France. Operated by the ''Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français'' (

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

), it was the last new

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) to be introduced, in 1980. The train was named after the French author

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

, who was born in Nantes. It was replaced by a

TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

in 1989.

Route

The ''Jules Verne''s route was via the

Paris–Brest railway The railway from Paris to Brest is a 622-kilometre long railway line in France that connects Paris and the western port city Brest, via Le Mans and Rennes. It is used for passenger (express, regional and suburban) and freight traffic. The railwa ...

as far as

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

, then via the

Le Mans–Angers railway The railway from Le Mans to Angers is an important French 132-kilometre long railway line. It is used for passenger (express, regional and suburban) and freight traffic. The railway was opened in 2 stages in 1863. Traffic *TGV *TER Pays de la Lo ...

and finally via the

Tours–Saint-Nazaire railway The railway from Tours to Saint-Nazaire is an important French 282-kilometre long railway line, following the lower course of the river Loire. It is used for passenger (express, regional and suburban) and freight traffic. The railway was opened i ...

. The train had the following stops: * Paris-Montparnasse – Angers-Saint-Laud –

The train operated on weekdays only. Starting in autumn 1983 the westbound train ran as a TEE on Mondays through Thursdays only and was replaced by a two-class ''Rapide'' on Fridays.

Formation (consist)

Initially, ''Jules Verne'' was usually hauled by one of SNCF's diesel-electric locomotives. This class was later replaced by SNCF dual voltage, Class BB 22200 electric locomotives. Prior to that change, made in autumn 1983, the ''Jules Verne'' had been the last train in the TEE network to be regularly diesel-hauled."Editorial" (service changes). ''

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 ...

'' (November 1983 edition), p. 8; also p. 65. Peterborough, UK: Thomas Cook Publishing. However, Belgian diesel locomotives continued to be used occasionally on TEE trains between Brussels and Amsterdam. The train's original formation of rolling stock was a

rake Rake may refer to: * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (theatre), the artificial slope of a theatre stage Science and technology * Rake receiver, a radio receiver * Rake (geology), the angle between a feature on a ...

of SNCF Mistral 69-type , being an A4Dtux, two A8u, two A8tu, one A3rtu and one Vru. On 10 May 1982, the train's rolling stock was replaced by SNCF , which were otherwise in the same formation. The Grand Confort coaches were painted in a distinctive red, orange, light grey and slate grey livery. Throughout the ''Jules Verne''s existence, its

dining car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that ...

was staffed by the '' Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits'' (CIWL).

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * {{Trans Europ Express trains Named passenger trains of France Trans Europ Express Railway services introduced in 1980

Route

Formation (consist)

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography