Heinrich Heine (train)

Heinrich Heine
Overview
Service type Trans Europ Express (TEE)
(1979–1983)
InterCity (IC)
(1985–1989)
EuroCity (EC)
(1989–2003)
Locale Germany
France
First service 28 May 1979
Last service 14 December 2003
Former operator(s) Deutsche Bundesbahn /
Deutsche Bahn
Technical
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification 25 kV 50 Hz (France)
15 kV 16.7 Hz (Germany)
Route map
Legend
 Paris Est
Metz-Ville
 Saint-Avold
 Forbach
 France / Germany border
 Saarbrücken Hbf
 Homburg (Saar) Hbf
 Kaiserslautern Hbf
 Neustadt (Weinstr) Hbf
 Mannheim Hbf
Frankfurt Hbf
 Fulda
Eisenach
 Erfurt Hbf
 Weimar
Leipzig Hbf
Dresden-Neustadt
 Dresden Hbf
 Bad Schandau
 Germany / Czech border
 Děčín
 Ústí nad Labem
Prague-Holešovice
 Prague hl.n.

The Heinrich Heine was an express train operated by Deutsche Bundesbahn, initially linking Frankfurt am Main and Dortmund. The train was named after the German poet and journalist Heinrich Heine.[1]

History

Trans Europ Express

The Heinrich Heine was part of the IC79 scheme introduced on 28 May 1979. It was the "mirror" of the Goethe on the West Rhine Railway. Early in the morning Heinrich Heine left Frankfurt for a northbound trip and Goethe left Dortmund southbound. In the evening both trains ran in the opposite directions.[2] This concept of a pair of trains running at the same time on the same route in opposite directions was later applied as principle of the EuroCity network's schedule.

TEE 29 country station km TEE 28
19:23  Germany Dortmund 0 10:21
19:44  Germany Essen 34 10:00
19:55  Germany Duisburg 54 09:49
20:09  Germany Düsseldorf 77 09:36
20:36  Germany Cologne 117 09:09
20:56  Germany Bonn 151 08:45
21:31  Germany Koblenz 210 08:13
22:22  Germany Mainz 302 07:21
22:46  Germany Frankfurt am Main 340 06:56

Part of the IC79 scheme was running on weekdays only.[3] After one year of service the Heinrich Heine was suspended during the summer, so in 1980, 1981 and 1982 the train did not ride during June, July and August.[4] From 26 September 1982 the service was reduced to once a week, northbound on Mondays and southbound on Fridays, because Lufthansa introduced their Lufthansa Airport Express serving the same customers on the same route. Eventually the TEE adventure for the Heinrich Heine ended at 27 May 1983.

InterCity

The Heinrich Heine was revived as InterCity on 2 June 1985 between Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main.[5]

EuroCity

In order to raise the frequency of EuroCitys between Paris and Frankfurt am Main the Heinrich Heine was commissioned to that route together with the EC Gustave Eiffel, doubling the number of EuroCitys on this route. The schedule of the EC Heinrich Heine was designed to leave Paris in the morning, attend a meeting in Frankfurt and return to Paris having dinner on board.

EC 54 country station km EC 55
16:49  Germany Frankfurt am Main 0 13:13
 Germany Mannheim 81
 Germany Kaiserslautern 142
 Germany Saarbrücken 209
 France Forbach Lorraine 219
 France Metz 289
23:11  France Paris Est 643 06:58

After German reunification the Heinrich Heine was prolonged farther east to Dresden on 2 June 1991. On 28 June 1995 the eastern terminus shifted even to Prague but on 27 May 1997 it was shortened to the original EuroCity service Frankfurt -Paris. On 14 December 2003 the German EuroCitys were anonimized, so was the Heinrich Heine and on 10 June 2007 the EuroCity was replaced by a highspeed service using the LGV-est.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ La Légende des TEE p. 388.
  2. ↑ TEE Züge in Deutschland p. 132.
  3. ↑ TEE Züge in Deutschland p. 130.
  4. ↑ Das grosse TEE Buch p. 92
  5. ↑ La Légende des TEE p. 388.
  6. ↑ La Légende des TEE p. 389.

Works cited

  • Hajt, Jörg (2001). Das grosse TEE Buch (in German). Bonn/Königswinter: Heel Verlag. ISBN 3-89365-948-X.
  • Mertens, Maurice; Malaspina, Jean-Pierre (2007). La Légende des Trans Europ Express (in French). Vannes: LR Presse. ISBN 978-29-036514-5-9.
  • Goette, Peter (2008). TEE-Züge in Deutschland (in German). Freiburg: EK-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-88255-698-8.