The ''Paris–Ruhr'' 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

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 France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, with Dortmund in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The train was named after its two termini,

in the west and the Ruhr district in the east. For most of its life, it was a

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).

F-Zug

The ''Paris–Ruhr'' was launched on 23 May 1954"Stop Press" (service changes taking effect). '' Cook's Continental Timetable'' (May 23–June 17, 1954 edition), p. 8. London: Thomas Cook Publishing. as a single-class express train with train numbers FT 168 westbound and FT 185 eastbound. The schedule was designed to allow a traveller to attend a meeting in Paris in the afternoon and have dinner on his way back just after leaving Paris. This concept meant a departure from Dortmund as early as 5:30 in the morning and not arriving back in Dortmund until 00:45 (12:45 a.m.). Times from Cologne and the Belgian industrial cities in

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

were more convenient, with westbound departure between 7:00 and 10:15, returning from Paris between 7:30 p.m and 11:00 p.m. The service was operated by

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 remaine ...

, originally using diesel multiple units.

Trans Europ Express

On 2 June 1957, the ''Paris–Ruhr'' was one of the initial

(TEE) services. The rolling stock was given TEE signage on front but the use of VT 08 continued because the German TEE trainsets planned for it were not available in time. Das grosse TEE Buch, p. 73 The timetable remained nearly unchanged as well. On 23 December 1957, the VT 08 were replaced by first-class DB Class VT 11.5 trainsets that were purpose-built for the TEE network. TEE Züge in Deutschland, p. 76. On 29 May 1960, the "mirror" of the ''Paris–Ruhr'', the ''

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival ...

'' was extended to

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

. In order to level-out the kilometer fees the French rolling stock used in the ''Parsifal'' was reallocated to the ''Paris–Ruhr'' and vice versa, so the extra kilometers in Germany were ridden by German trains without the need to pay kilometer fees for foreign tracks. La Légende des TEE p. 181. As a result, the ''Paris–Ruhr'' was operated by French RGP-825 DMUs from 29 May 1960 until 30 May 1965.

Electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

in Germany proceeded and at the beginning of 1965

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or g ...

s and TEE coaches were delivered. The rolling stock of the '' TEE Helvetia'' was replaced by electric-locomotive-hauled trains and its VT 11.5s were reallocated to the ''Paris–Ruhr''. After completion of electrification in Belgium, the ''Paris-Ruhr'' was changed to an electric-locomotive-hauled train as well, on 1 June 1969."Stop Press" (service changes taking effect). '' Cooks Continental Timetable'' (June 1969 edition), p. 6; also pp. 63, 64. London: Thomas Cook Publishing. On 3 June 1973, the service was renamed the '' TEE Molière''.

References

Works cited

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paris-Ruhr 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 1954 Railway services discontinued in 1973