Jules Verne (train)

Jules Verne
	A preserved Class CC 72000 (fr ) locomotive.
Overview
Service type	Trans Europ Express (TEE)
Status	Replaced by a TGV
Locale	France
First service	29 September 1980
Last service	22 September 1989
Former operator(s)	SNCF
Route
Start	Paris-Montparnasse
Stops	1
End	Nantes
Distance travelled	395.1 km (245.5 mi)
Train number(s)	TEE 31, 30
Line used	Paris–Brest ; Le Mans-Angers ; Tours–Saint-Nazaire.
On-board services
Class(es)	First-class-only
Technical
Rolling stock	SNCF Class CC 72000 / ; SNCF Class BB 22200 ; DEV Inox coaches (fr ) /; Grand Confort coaches (fr )
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	1.5 kV DC ; 25 kV AC

Last updated April 13, 2019

The Jules Verne was an express train that linked Paris and Nantes in France. Operated by the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français (SNCF), it was the last new Trans Europ Express (TEE) to be introduced, in 1980.

Express trains are a form of rail service. Express trains make only a small number of stops, instead of stopping locally. In some cases, trains run express where there is overlapping local train service available, and run local at the tail ends of the line, where there is no supplemental local service. During overnight hours, or other times where it is practical, express trains may become local, but still running to where an express train would terminate.

Paris is the capital and most populous city of France, with an area of 105 square kilometres and an official estimated population of 2,140,526 residents as of 1 January 2019. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of Europe's major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts.

Nantes is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, 50 km (31 mi) from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth-largest in France, with a population of 303,382 in Nantes and a metropolitan area of nearly 950,000 inhabitants. With Saint-Nazaire, a seaport on the Loire estuary, Nantes forms the main north-western French metropolis.

Route

The Jules Verne's route was via the Paris–Brest railway as far as Le Mans, then via the Le Mans–Angers railway and finally via the Tours–Saint-Nazaire railway. The train had the following stops:

The railway from Paris to Brest is a 622-kilometre long railway line in France that connects Paris and the western port city Brest, via Le Mans and Rennes. It is used for passenger and freight traffic.

Le Mans is a city in France, on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.

The railway from Le Mans to Angers is an important French 132-kilometre long railway line. It is used for passenger and freight traffic. The railway was opened in 2 stages in 1863.

Paris-Montparnasse – Angers-Saint-Laud – Nantes

The train operated on weekdays only. Starting in autumn 1983 the westbound train ran as a TEE on Mondays through Thursdays only and was replaced by a two-class Rapide on Fridays.^[1]

Formation (consist)

Initially, Jules Verne was usually hauled by one of SNCF's Class CC 72000 (fr ) diesel-electric locomotives. This class was later replaced by SNCF dual voltage, Class BB 22200 electric locomotives. Prior to that change, made in autumn 1983, the Jules Verne had been the last train in the TEE network to be regularly diesel-hauled.^[1] However, Belgian diesel locomotives continued to be used occasionally on TEE trains between Brussels and Amsterdam.^[1]

The SNCF Class CC 72000 was a class of C′C′ diesel-electric locomotives. Ninety-two locomotives were built by Alsthom between 1967 and 1974. They were numbered CC 72001 to 72092.

SNCF Class BB 22200 class of 205 French electric locomotives

The BB 22200 is a class of electric locomotives in service with the French railways SNCF, built by Alstom between 1976 and 1986. They are a dual voltage version of the BB 7200 and BB 15000 classes.

The train's original formation of rolling stock was a rake of SNCF Mistral 69-type DEV Inox coaches (fr ), being an A4Dtux, two A8u, two A8tu, one A3rtu and one Vru.

On 10 May 1982, the train's rolling stock was replaced by SNCF Grand Confort coaches (fr ), which were otherwise in the same formation. The Grand Confort coaches were painted in a distinctive red, orange, light grey and slate grey livery.^[2]

Throughout the Jules Verne's existence, its dining car was staffed by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL).

Related Research Articles

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The Bavaria was an express train that linked München Hbf in Munich, Germany, with Zürich HB in Zurich, Switzerland. Introduced in the 1950s, it ran through to Geneva until 1969, when it was cut back to Zurich. The train was named on the basis that Bavaria is the Latin equivalent to the German word Bayern, the official name of the federal state of Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital. It was operated by the Deutsche Bundesbahn / Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB-CFF-FFS). The route also included a single stop in Austria, at Bregenz. The 24 km (15 mi) section between Lindau, Germany, and St. Margrethen, Switzerland, is located mostly in Austria, but Swiss locomotives hauled the train over this section, most of which is part of the Vorarlberg line of Austrian Federal Railways.

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References

Notes

1 2 3 "Editorial" (service changes). Thomas Cook Continental Timetable (November 1983 edition), p. 8; also p. 65. Peterborough, UK: Thomas Cook Publishing.
↑ "The Platforms of History: Passenger Buffet Car A 3RTU Grand Confort". Cité du Train website . Cité du Train, Culturespaces (fr ). Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013. External link in |work= (help)

Bibliography

Malaspina, Jean-Pierre; Mertens, Maurice (2007). TEE: la légende des Trans-Europ-Express[TEE: The Legend of the Trans Europ Express]. Auray: LR Presse. ISBN 978-29-03651-45-9. (in French)
Malaspina, Jean-Pierre; Mertens, Maurice (2008). TEE: la leggenda dei Trans-Europ-Express[TEE: The Legend of the Trans Europ Express]. Salò: ETR – Editrice Trasporti su Rotaie. ISBN 978-88-85068-31-5. (in Italian)
Mertens, Maurice; Malaspina, Jean-Pierre; von Mitzlaff, Berndt (2009). TEE - Die Geschichte des Trans-Europ-Express[TEE - The History of the Trans Europ Express]. Düsseldorf: Alba Publikation. ISBN 978-3-87094-199-4. (in German)

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[cooks1983nov-1] 1 2 3 "Editorial" (service changes). Thomas Cook Continental Timetable (November 1983 edition), p. 8; also p. 65. Peterborough, UK: Thomas Cook Publishing.

[3rtu-2] "The Platforms of History: Passenger Buffet Car A 3RTU Grand Confort". Cité du Train website . Cité du Train, Culturespaces (fr ). Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013. External link in |work= (help)