The ''Jean Monnet'' was an

express train An express train is a type of passenger train that makes few or no stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, providing faster service than local trains that stop at many or all of the stations along their ...

that linked Brussels Midi/Zuid in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium, with Strasbourg-Ville in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, France, and later also with Bâle SNCF in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, Switzerland. Introduced in 1999, it was operated by the

National Railway Company of Belgium The National Railway Company of Belgium (, NMBS; , SNCB; ) is the national railway company of Belgium. The company formally styles itself using the Dutch and French abbreviations NMBS/SNCB. The corporate logo designed in 1936 by Henry van de Ve ...

(NMBS/SNCB), the

Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois The Chemins Company is a dietary supplement manufacturer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The company, founded in 1974 by James Cameron, became embroiled in a series of criminal investigations in 1994 after a woman died and more than 100 other ...

(CFL), and the French National Railway Corporation (

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

). The train was named after

Jean Monnet Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet (; 9 November 1888 – 16 March 1979) was a French civil servant, entrepreneur, diplomat, financier, and administrator. An influential supporter of European unity, he is considered one of the founding fathers of t ...

(1888–1979), a French political economist and diplomat. One of the

founding fathers of the European Union Founding may refer to: * The formation of a corporation, government, or other organization * The laying of a building's foundation * The casting of materials in a mold See also * Foundation (disambiguation) * Incorporation (disambiguation) ...

, he is regarded by many as a chief architect of

European unity The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated population of over 449million as of 2024. The EU is often desc ...

Route

The route of the ''Jean Monnet'' was as follows: * Brussels Midi/Zuid –

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

– Strasbourg-Ville (– Bâle SNCF from 2004) It was particularly appropriate that a train running from Brussels to Strasbourg via Luxembourg be named ''Jean Monnet'', because those three cities are the venues of the main EU institutions.

History

The ''Jean Monnet'' first ran on 30 May 1999, as a replacement for the Brussels to Strasbourg section of the EC ''Edelweiss'', which had operated on the same schedule, and with the same train numbers, on that section, and had then continued to Switzerland."Summer services hanges tofrom May 30" (May 1–29, 1999). ''

Thomas Cook European 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 Public transport timetable, timetab ...

'', p. 3. Thomas Cook Publishing. Made up initially of only three coaches, the new train was not a great success until 2004, when it was extended to Basel. The train's categorisation as a

EuroCity EuroCity (EC) is an international Train categories in Europe, train category and brand for European inter-city rail, inter-city trains that cross international borders and meet criteria covering comfort, speed, food service, and cleanliness. E ...

was controversial, because it failed to meet two of the criteria for such categorisation: it had no

restaurant car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a passenger railroad car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. These cars provide the highest level of service of any rai ...

, and also too many stops, particularly in Belgium. These issues meant that the ''Jean Monnet'' lacked not only the glamour of the earlier

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 ...

es, but also the more modest charms of a EuroCity meeting all of the usual criteria. The ''Jean Monnet'' last ran on 10 December 2011.

References

External links

Rail.lu: Jean Monnet
– images of the train {{EuroCity trains EuroCity International named passenger trains Named passenger trains of Belgium Named passenger trains of France Named passenger trains of Luxembourg Named passenger trains of Switzerland Railway services introduced in 1999 Railway services discontinued in 2011 Jean Monnet