Komet (train)

Last updated
Komet
VT10551i.jpg
VT 10.5 car stored in Nürnberg
Overview
Service type
  • F-Zug (1954–1987)
  • EuroCity (EC) (1987–1991)
  • D-Zug (express) (1991–1995)
  • EN/CNL (1995–2016)
Statusdiscontinued
LocaleFlag of Germany.svg  Germany
Flag of Switzerland.svg   Switzerland
First service15 May 1954 (1954-05-15)
Last service11 December 2016 (2016-12-11)
Successor nightjet
Former operator(s)
Route
Termini Hamburg
Zürich
Technical
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
Electrification 15 kV AC

The Komet (German for The Comet) was an international overnight express train service between Germany and Switzerland, which was in operation from 1954 to 2016. Its name reflected the notion that the Comet train and an actual comet can both be described as travelling through the night at high speed. It was introduced in 1954. It became a EuroCity (EC) service upon the launch of the EC network in 1987. It became categorised as CityNightLine (CNL) service in the mid-1990s. With the decision by Deutsche Bahn to terminate all CNL services in December 2016, the Komet ran for the last time on 10–11 December 2016.

Contents

Preparation and first era

After the creation of the Deutsche Bundesbahn (German Federal Railway) on 13 December 1951, the new railway company set up a long-distance network (F-Zug). Between Hamburg and Switzerland two services were planned: the day service Senator and the night service Komet. The new services needed rolling stock as well, and at that time experiments were carried out to develop new trainsets for the new services. Railway engineer Franz Kruckenberg, who already had experimented with new trains, e.g. the Railzeppelin, before the Second World War, designed a lightweight train, the VT 10.5. [1] Two diesel multiple-units (DMUs) were built. The day-service version, 10.501, was ordered by Deutsche Bundesbahn from manufacturer Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB). The night-service version, 10.551, was ordered by the German Sleeper and Dining Car Company (DSG) from Wegmann & Co.

DSG introduced the Komet on 15 May 1954, using their VT 10.5 DMU, [2] operating between Hamburg and Basel. [3] It operated three days a week and carried only first- and second-class sleeping cars and a dining car. [3] The Deutsche Bundesbahn took over the operation by 1 January 1955. The VT 10.5 was withdrawn from service on 20 December 1960 [4] and replaced by locomotive-hauled coaches. By at least the early 1960s, the Komet was operating seven days a week, and its route had been extended from Basel to Chur, Switzerland. [5]

EuroCity era

On 31 May 1987, the Komet was one of the eight initial night services in the then-new EuroCity (EC) network. [6] Its route continued to be Hamburg – Chur, and it operated seven days a week on this route, carrying sleeping cars and couchette cars only. One day a week, in summer and winter only, the EC Komet also carried through coaches (sleeping cars and couchettes) from Hamburg to Brig; these were carried southbound on Fridays and northbound on Saturdays. [6] On the portion within Switzerland, the train was not designated as an EC.

On 2 June 1991, the Komet lost its EuroCity status and was reclassified as a German D-Zug (ordinary express train). Its main, daily route was shortened, to Hamburg–Zurich, and both the Chur and Brig through cars ran only on Fridays (returning on Saturdays, northbound). [7]

CityNightLine

In winter 1995/96, the Komet was reclassified as a CityNightLine service, with train numbers EN 470/471. At that time, CityNightLine was a brand name for EuroNight trains operated by DACH Hotelzug A.G.; [8] that company later changed its name to CityNightLine AG. At the start of the summer 1998 timetable period, on 24 May, the Komet's train number classification was changed from EN 470/471 to CNL 470/471, but its status as a CityNightLine category of train did not change. [9] The CityNightLine Komet was continuing to operate as of March 2013. [10] Deutsche Bahn discontinued all of its CityNightLine services effective 11 December 2016. The Komet operated for the last time on the night of 10–11 December 2016, and from 11 December it was replaced by an unnamed Nightjet service running from Hamburg to Zürich via Berlin. [11]

Related Research Articles

EuroCity Network of train services in Europe

EuroCity, abbreviated as EC, is a cross-border train category within the European inter-city rail network. In contrast to trains allocated to the lower-level "IC" (InterCity) category, EC trains are international services that meet 20 criteria covering comfort, speed, food service, and cleanliness. Each EC train is operated by more than one European Union or Swiss rail company, under a multilateral co-operative arrangement, and all EC trains link important European cities with each other.

City Night Line, abbreviated CNL, was a train category of German railway company Deutsche Bahn for overnight passenger train services between Germany and neighbouring European countries. In late 2015, Deutsche Bahn announced that it planned to terminate all night train services in December 2016, and this plan was implemented on 11 December 2016. The service on some CNL routes was replaced by ÖBB Nightjet services.

DB Class VT 10.5

The VT 10.5 was a diesel multiple unit that was developed by the Deutsche Bundesbahn in the early 1950s. It was first displayed in public at the International Transport Exhibition in Munich in 1953.

DB Class VT 11.5

The trainsets of Class VT 11.5 were diesel multiple units built by Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) in 1957 and used for Trans Europ Express (TEE) services. Perceived as flagships of the DB rolling stock, they carried first-class seating only. When the UIC numbering scheme became effective on 1 January 1968, the power heads of the trainsets were renamed to Class 601 whilst the middle cars became Class 901 according to the DB locomotive classification. They were used for TEE service from 1957 until 1972 and thereafter on German InterCity services.

<i>Transalpin</i>

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<i>Goethe</i> (train)

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<i>Catalan Talgo</i>

The Catalan Talgo was an international express train that linked Geneva, Switzerland, with Barcelona, Spain from 1969 to 2010. It was named after the Spanish region Catalonia and the Talgo equipment it used. It was an extension and upgrading of a predecessor train, Le Catalan, a first-class-only French (SNCF) Rapide train that had been in operation since 1955 but running only between Geneva and the stations nearest the Spanish-French border, connecting with a second-class-only "autorail" trainset to and from Barcelona. The national railway network of Spain, Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Españoles (RENFE), was using Iberian gauge for all of its main lines, while those of France and Switzerland use standard gauge. As a result of this break-of-gauge, train journeys between Geneva and Barcelona consisted of two separate parts, with travelers having to change from a French to a Spanish train or vice versa at the border—at Portbou on southbound trains and at Cerbère on northbound trains. In 1968, this was resolved with the introduction of the Talgo III RD trainsets, which featured variable gauge wheelsets. At Portbou station, the wheel spacing of each passenger carriage was adjusted by a gauge changer for the difference in gauge, and passengers no longer had to change trains. After successful test runs, the Catalan was extended from Port Bou to Barcelona as a through train on 1 June 1969, becoming the Catalan Talgo and upgraded to a Trans Europ Express (TEE). Most other rail journeys through this border crossing continued to require a change of train at Cerbère station or at Port Bou, as most trains did not use Talgo III RD trainsets.

<i>Blauer Enzian</i>

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<i>Rembrandt</i> (train)

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References

  1. Reisen 1. Klasse, p. 16.
  2. Das grosse TEE Buch, p. 31
  3. 1 2 Cook's Continental Timetable (May 23–June 17, 1954 edition), pp. 293, 301–302. London: Thomas Cook & Son, Ltd.
  4. Das grosse TEE Buch, p. 34
  5. "Table 45: Komet". Cooks Continental Timetable (February 1963 edition), p. 67. London: Thomas Cook & Son, Ltd.
  6. 1 2 "Table 11 (Summer): EuroCity Night Services". Thomas Cook Continental Timetable (May 1–30, 1987 edition), p. 476; also pp. 472, 511. Peterborough, UK: Thomas Cook Publishing.
  7. Thomas Cook European Timetable (April 1991 edition), pp. 91, 523–524. Peterborough, UK: Thomas Cook Publishing.
  8. "Travel Information: Hotel Trains". Thomas Cook European Timetable (May 1996 edition), p. 10; also p. 348. Thomas Cook Publishing.
  9. Thomas Cook European Timetable (May 1–23, 1998 edition), pp. 81, 83, 543, 545.
  10. Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable (March 2013 edition), pp. 85, 87.
  11. "What's new this month". European Rail Timetable (Winter 2016/2017 edition), p. 3. UK: European Rail Timetable Ltd.

Works cited