The ''Molière'' was an international train operated by
SNCF, initially linking
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 ...
and
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
. The train was named after
Jean Baptiste Poquelin, using his stage name.
Trans Europ Express
The ''Molière'' was the successor of Paris-to-Düsseldorf section of the ''
TEE Paris–Ruhr'', on the same route and schedule. The name ''Paris–Ruhr'' was no longer accurate because the deletion of the Düsseldorf-to-
Dortmund section in 1971 meant that the train no longer served the
Ruhr.
On 1 June 1975 the route was shortened further, to Cologne, resulting in a length just under the economic optimal distance of 500 km. From 28 May 1978 the ''Molière'' called in St. Quentin in both directions. On 1 October 1978 the weekend services were scrapped, and on 26 May 1979 the ''Molière'' made its last journey as a TEE.
D train
On 27 May 1979 the ''Molière'' was continued as two-class
D-train on the same schedule as the TEE. The train consisted of
SNCF Corail coaches. In 1980 the train was upgraded to
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 ...
with train numbers IC 430,431. In May 1983 the route was extended to
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, conveying sleeping and couchette coaches. This nighttrain became the numbers D 430,431 calling at: København H – Naestved – Nykøbing – Rødby Færge – Puttgarden – Lübeck – Hamburg – Bremen – Osnabrück – Münster – Hamm – Dortmund – Bochum – Essen – Duisburg – Düsseldorf – Köln – Aachen – Verviers – Liège-G. – Namur – Charleroi-Sud – Maubeuge – St. Quentin – Paris-Nord. In May 1986 the route was shortened to Cologne - Paris again, so only a day service remained.
EuroCity
On 31 May 1987 the ''Molière'' was upgraded to
EuroCity status. The EC service was initially allocated train numbers EC 40 and EC 41, and the northern terminus became
Dortmund instead of Düsseldorf. According to the EuroCity scheduling, the train was part of a trio. Together with
EC ''Gustave Eiffel'' and
EC ''Parsifal'' it provided three EC services daily in each direction between Paris and the
Ruhr.
On 23 May 1993 the train was renumbered to EC 30,31. On 14 December 1997 the ''Molière'' was replaced by the Paris – Cologne
Thalys
Thalys (French: ) is a French-Belgian high-speed rail, high-speed train operator originally built around the LGV Nord high-speed line between Gare du Nord, Paris and Brussels-South railway station, Brussels. This track is shared with Eurostar tr ...
service.
[ La Légende des TEE p. 340.]
References
Works cited
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External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moliere (train)
International named passenger trains
Named passenger trains of Germany
Named passenger trains of Belgium
Named passenger trains of France
Trans Europ Express
Railway services introduced in 1973
Railway services discontinued in 1997