Watteau (train)

French express train

Watteau

The TEE Watteau at
Gare de Lille Flandres in 1989

Overview
Service type| Trans Europ Express (TEE)
(1978–1991)
Trans Europ Express (TEE)
(1993–1995)
Locale| France
Belgium
First service| 8 October 1978 (1978-10-08)
Last service| 26 May 1995 (1995-05-26)
Former operator(s)| SNCF
Route
Termini| Gare du Nord, Paris
Tourcoing / Brussels
Service frequency| Weekdays
Technical
Track gauge| 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Electrification| 25 kV AC (France)
3000 V DC (Belgium)

The Watteau was an express train that linked Gare du Nord in Paris, France, with Tourcoing in the North of France. The train was named after the French painter Antoine Watteau. [1]

One year before the creating of the TEE-network the French railway SNCF introduced three Trains d'affaires to link Paris with the industrial area in the North near the Belgian border. This trains were scheduled with a morning, midday and evening service in both directions. Initially the service was operated with RGP 600 DMUs. In 1959 these were replaced by locomotive hauled trains consisting of Corail coaches. Although domestic TEE-services were allowed from 1965 the Trains d'affaires were not upgraded until 1978.[2] Together with the upgrading to TEE the trains were named. The evening service pair was named Watteau. In 1991 the service between Tourcoing and Paris was converted to a two-class Rapide. The Watteau revived in the Paris- Brussels service on 23 May 1993 for two years. On 26 May 1995 the Watteau was the last TEE service.[3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ La Légende des TEE p. 378.
2. ^ Das grosse TEE Buch p. 114
3. ^ La Légende des TEE p. 409.

## Works cited

[edit]

* 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.

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Trans Europ Express trains

International|

* Albert Schweitzer
* Arbalète
* Bavaria
* Blauer Enzian
* Brabant
* Catalan Talgo
* Cisalpin
* Diamant
* Edelweiss
* Erasmus
* Étendard
* Étoile du Nord
* Goethe
* Gottardo
* Helvetia
* Île de France
* Iris
* Lemano
* Ligure
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* Memling
* Merkur
* Molière
* Mont Cenis
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* Parsifal
* Prinz Eugen
* Rembrandt
* Rheingold
* Rhein–Main
* Roland
* Rubens
* Saphir
* Ticino
* Van Beethoven
* Watteau

Domestic|

| France|

* Aquitaine
* Le Capitole
* Étendard
* Faidherbe
* Gayant
* Jules Verne
* Kléber
* Le Lyonnais
* Le Mistral
* Le Rhodanien
* Stanislas
* Watteau

|

Germany|

* Bacchus
* Diamant
* Friedrich Schiller
* Gambrinus
* Goethe
* Heinrich Heine
* Rheinpfeil
* Roland

Italy|

* Adriatico
* Ambrosiano
* Aurora
* Cycnus
* Colosseum
* Settebello
* Vesuvio

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