What happened to the Trans Europe Express
“Rendezvous on Champs-Elysees. Leave Paris in the morning with T-E-E. In Vienna we sit in a late-night café. Straight connection, T-E-E.”
Kraftwerk’s minimalist 1976 tribute to the pleasure of long-distance train journeys will likely be familiar to music fans, but to a generation of Europeans, Trans Europe Express remains a byword for fast, luxurious international travel.
Replaced by the patchy and somewhat less glamorous EuroCity brand in 1987, the stylish red and ivory TEE trains were a response to the growth of air travel and the private car in the late 1950s.
Advanced diesel and multivoltage electric trains slashed journey times by eliminating lengthy stops at international borders to check passports and change locomotives and crews.
Wednesday, 16 December, 2020 - 07:15
A train on the line constructed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and financed by the Chinese government arrives at the Nairobi Terminus. Photo: Reuters/Thomas Mukoya Berlin- Asharq Al-Awsat
People who traveled to Europe before the 1980s may remember the Trans-Europ Express (TEE) rails. Now, and after decades of suspension amid the prosperity of low-cost airlines, Europe s largest rail companies have decided to revive the TEE network, reported the German News Agency.
The new night rails will link cities like Barcelona, Rome, and Warsaw. The main national train operators in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and France have announced plans to launch new trans-European rails as of 2021.