L'Oiseau Bleu (train)

Route map
	PBA routes; Oiseau Bleu red, Thalys blue

Oiseau Bleu
	The TEE Oiseau Bleu at; Brussels-South station in 1979
Overview
Service type	CIWL; (1929-1939); Express train; (1947-1957); Trans Europ Express (TEE); (1957–1984)
Locale	Belgium ; France
First service	16 May 1929
Last service	3 June 1984
Former operator(s)	CIWL ; SBB-CFF-FFS ; SNCF ; NMBS/SNCB
Route
Start	Antwerp
End	Paris
Distance travelled	363 km
Service frequency	Daily
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	3 kV DC (Belgium); 25 kV 50 Hz AC (France)
Route map
	PBA routes; Oiseau Bleu red, Thalys blue

Last updated April 16, 2019

L'Oiseau Bleu (or the Oiseau Bleu) was an international express train linking Antwerp with Paris. The train was named after the play L'Oiseau Bleu as a tribute to its author, the Belgian Nobel prize laureate Maurice Maeterlinck.^[1]

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.

Antwerp Municipality in Flemish Community, Belgium

Antwerp is a city in Belgium, and is the capital of Antwerp province in Flanders. With a population of 520,504, it is the most populous city proper in Belgium, and with 1,200,000 the second largest metropolitan region after Brussels.

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.

Wagon-Lits Pullman train

The Oiseau Bleu started as a luxury train operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits as their second Pullman service between Belgium and France.^[2]

Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, also CIWL, Compagnie des Wagons-Lits, or just Wagons-Lits, is an international hotel and travel logistics company, particularly known for its on-train catering and sleeping car services, as well as being the historical operator of the Orient Express.

Pullman (car or coach) passenger car built or operated by Pullman Company

In the United States, Pullman was used to refer to railroad sleeping cars that were built and operated on most U.S. railroads by the Pullman Company from 1867 to December 31, 1968.

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,688 square kilometres (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.4 million. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.

Timetable of 1929:^[3]

AP	country	station	km	PA
09:30	Belgium	Antwerpen Centraal	0	22:36
10:29	Belgium	Brussels-South (Midi/Zuid)	53	21:38
14:00	France	Paris Nord	363	18:05

Due to good loading figures the service was extended to Amsterdam on 15 May 1935,^[4] making the Oiseau Bleu the "mirror" of the Étoile du Nord . The outbreak of World War II interrupted the service. On 1 June 1947 the train service was restarted on the Paris – Brussels portion,^[5] conveying two through coaches from and to Antwerp and Amsterdam. However, by at least 1949, the through coaches to points north of Brussels had been discontinued and the Oiseau Bleu – also called the Blue Bird Express during that era – was again running only Brussels–Paris and return, with first- and second-class Pullman cars.^[6]

Amsterdam Capital city of the Netherlands and municipality

Amsterdam is the capital city and most populous municipality of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 854,047 within the city proper, 1,357,675 in the urban area and 2,410,960 in the metropolitan area. The city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country but is not its capital, which is Haarlem. The Amsterdam metropolitan area comprises much of the northern part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe, which has a population of approximately 8.1 million.

The Étoile du Nord was an international express train. It linked Paris Nord in Paris, France, with Brussels, Belgium, and, for most of its existence, also with Amsterdam CS in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Its name meant literally "Star of the North", and alluded not only to its route heading north from Paris, but also to one of its original operators, the Chemin de Fer du Nord.

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Trans Europ Express

On 2 June 1957 the Oiseau Bleu was one of the initial services at the start of the Trans Europ Express (TEE) network. Until 31 May 1964 the Oiseau Bleu was part of the joint Dutch–Swiss TEE service provided by RAm-type diesel multiple unit trainsets. The Dutch and Swiss railways scheduled the use of each TEE trainset on a five-day cycle:^[7]
Day 1 Zürich–Amsterdam (TEE Edelweiss ), Day 2 Amsterdam–Paris (TEE Étoile du Nord) in the morning and Paris–Brussels (TEE Oiseau Bleu) in the evening, Day 3 Brussels – Paris (TEE Oiseau Bleu) in the morning and Paris–Amsterdam (TEE Étoile du Nord) in the evening, Day 4 Amsterdam–Zürich (TEE Edelweiss), Day 5 maintenance in Zürich.

The Trans Europ Express, or Trans-Europe Express (TEE), is a former international first-class railway service in western and central Europe that was founded in 1957 and ceased in 1995. At the height of its operations, in 1974, the TEE network comprised 45 trains, connecting 130 different cities, from Spain in the west to Austria in the east, and from Denmark to Southern Italy.

A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also generally classed as DMUs. Diesel-powered units may be further classified by their transmission type: diesel–electric (DEMU), diesel–mechanical (DMMU) or diesel–hydraulic (DHMU).

The Edelweiss was an international express train. For most of its existence, it linked the Netherlands with Switzerland, via Belgium, Luxembourg and France. Introduced in 1928, it was named after a mountain flower, the Edelweiss, which is associated with alpinism and the Alps, and regarded as a symbol of Switzerland.

On 31 May 1964 the RAm trainsets were withdrawn from the PBA (Paris–Brussels–Amsterdam) route, and the train became locomotive-hauled. However, the Inox-PBA-class coaches planned for use on the Oiseau Bleu were not available until 2 August 1964, so for two months the train was operated with ordinary French first-class coaches and a Wagon-Lits dining car, and then converted to Inox-PBA coaches,^[8] which included Wagon-Lits meal service direct to passengers' seats.^[9] The Oiseau Bleu operated by French and Belgian railways stayed in service until the reorganisation of 1984. On 3 June 1984 the Oiseau Bleu was discontinued.^[10]

Timetable of 1971:^[11]

TEE 80	country	station	km	TEE 87
07:13	Belgium	Brussels-Nord	0	23:30
07:19	Belgium	Brussels-South (Midi/Zuid)	6	10:23
08:01	Belgium	Mons	61	22:50
08:46	France	St Quentin	162	22:04
09:57	France	Paris Nord	316	20:54

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References

↑ TEE, p. 9.
↑ 125 Jahre/Ans/Years CIWL, p. 268.
↑ La Légende des TEE, p. 176.
↑ Das grosse TEE Buch, p. 98
↑ Nederlands-Zwitserse TEE, p. 139.
↑ "Table 23: Blue Bird Express (Oiseau Bleu)". Cook's Continental Timetable (April 3–May 14, 1949 edition), p. 94. London: Thomas Cook Publishing.
↑ Nederlands-Zwitserse TEE, p. 123.
↑ Nederlands-Zwitserse TEE, p. 140.
↑ "Table 10: Trans-Europe Express Services", Cooks Continental Timetable (February 1967 edition), p. 61. London: Thomas Cook & Son, Ltd.
↑ La Légende des TEE, p. 179.
↑ Vorfahrt in Europa, table. 13

Works cited

Werbeamt der DB (1971). Vorfahrt in Europa, TEE 1971/72 (in German). Frankfurt am Main: Deutsche Bundesbahn.
Centre for publicrelations UIC (1972). TEE (in Dutch). Paris: Union International des Chemins de Fer.
Van Oostrom, Martin (1997). De Nederlands-Zwitserse TEE (in Dutch). Utrecht: Uquilair. ISBN 90-71513-28-9.
Mühl, Albert; Klein, Jürgen (1998). 125 Jahre/Ans/Years Internationale Schlafwagengesellschaft/Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (in German and French). Freiburg: EK-Verlag. ISBN 3-88255-684-6.
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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[1] TEE, p. 9.

[2] 125 Jahre/Ans/Years CIWL, p. 268.

[3] La Légende des TEE, p. 176.

[4] Das grosse TEE Buch, p. 98

[5] Nederlands-Zwitserse TEE, p. 139.

[cooks1949apr-6] "Table 23: Blue Bird Express (Oiseau Bleu)". Cook's Continental Timetable (April 3–May 14, 1949 edition), p. 94. London: Thomas Cook Publishing.

[7] Nederlands-Zwitserse TEE, p. 123.

[8] Nederlands-Zwitserse TEE, p. 140.

[cooks1967feb-9] "Table 10: Trans-Europe Express Services", Cooks Continental Timetable (February 1967 edition), p. 61. London: Thomas Cook & Son, Ltd.

[10] La Légende des TEE, p. 179.

[11] Vorfahrt in Europa, table. 13