The word ''Rheinpfeil'' was used to name a number of

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 along ...

s that ran in Germany between the 1950s and 1991. For much of that period, a train carrying the name ''Rheinpfeil'' also linked Germany with at least one neighbouring country. ''Rheinpfeil'' is a German word meaning "Rhine arrow", and alludes to the

Rhine The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...

valley, which always formed part of the route of the train carrying that name. During its time as a

Trans Europe 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), the ''Rheinpfeils 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 transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often kno ...

) included a "vista-dome car","Table 19: Rheinpfeil (Rhine Arrow)", '' Cooks Continental Timetable'' (February 1967 edition), p. 63; also p. 61. London: Thomas Cook & Son, Ltd. a rarity on European railways. Seating in the dome car was unreserved. As Eurocity, nr 8/9, conveyed two through DB 2 class carriages Hannover-Koln-Basel-Bern-Lotschberg Bergstrecke-Brig-Milano Porta Garibaldi-Florence-Rome, in summer 1990/1991, conveyed in EXP 324/5 Rome-Milan-Brig-Basel

Route

The core of the ''Rheinpfeils route was the

West Rhine Railway The West Rhine railway (German: ''Linke Rheinstrecke'', literally 'left (bank of the) Rhine route') is a famously picturesque, double-track electrified railway line running for 185 km from Cologne via Bonn, Koblenz, and Bingen to Mainz. It ...

, a section of line through the Rhine valley: *

Köln Hbf Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

–

Bonn Hbf Bonn Hauptbahnhof is a railway station located on the left bank of the Rhine along the Cologne–Mainz line. It is the principal station serving the city of Bonn. In addition to extensive rail service from Deutsche Bahn it acts as a hub for lo ...

– Koblenz Hbf –

Mainz Hbf Mainz Hauptbahnhof ("Mainz main station", formerly known as ''Centralbahnhof Mainz''von Meyer, Arthur (1891). ''Geschichte und Geographie der deutschen Eisenbahnen von ihrer Entstehung bis auf die Gegenwart'', W. Baensch, p. 1131) is a railway st ...

The train continued southeast via Frankfurt Hbf and Wurzburg Hbf to Munich until its route was changed in 1979 to run via Mannheim Hbf and Karlsruhe Hbf towards Switzerland. However, the northern and southern termini of the train, varied a great deal over the years.

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{{EuroCity trains EuroCity Named passenger trains of Germany Named passenger trains of Switzerland Trans Europ Express Railway services introduced in 1952 Railway services discontinued in 1991

Route

See also

References

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