Catalan Talgo

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TEE Catalan Talgo 1979 in Geneva-Cornavin

The Catalan Talgo was an international passenger train that connected Geneva with Barcelona . The train owes its name to the Spanish region of Catalonia and the Talgo rolling stock used . It was the successor to a broken connection in which travelers at the Spanish / French border had to change because of the different gauges . Spain was not involved in the introduction of the Trans-Europ-Express (TEE) network because of the different gauge . In 1968 this problem was resolved with Talgo III RD sets that could change lanes. The lane change happened automatically when slowly driving through the gauge change facility at Portbou , so that travelers no longer had to change at the border. After successful test drives, the Talgo RD went into regular operation in 1969.

Trans Europ Express

Rolling stock

Locomotives

The Spanish series 3000

The Spanish series 3000 initially took over the covering . This series of only five locomotives was specially built for the Catalan Talgo. As the state of the art at the time made it impossible to build drives that could change gauges, three locomotives were given bogies with standard and two with Iberian broad gauge. Locomotives 3003 and 3004 ran between Barcelona and Portbou, while the other three ran between Geneva and Portbou. As early as September 1971, the locomotives on the French section of the route were replaced by the SNCF series BB 67400. In October 1971, the RENFE replaced the class 3000 with electric locomotives of the class 276 . From 1975 the train ran via Lyon instead of Grenoble . This meant that the entire Geneva - Narbonne route could be served with electric locomotives of the SNCF series BB 9300. After the electrification of the Narbonne - Portbou line, the BB 9300 series was replaced by the BB 7200 series.

Passenger coaches

Talgo III RD set in Perpignan , 2003

All passenger coaches were versions of the Talgo III RD coach type . RD is called Rodadura Desplazable (Spanish for adjustable wheels , i.e. able to change lanes ). A machine car with generators for the train power supply ran at both ends of the car set. In addition, these machine cars were used for coupling with other rail vehicles. In the end car on the Spanish side of the train (TG2z-211) there was a luggage compartment, while on the Swiss side (TG2-212) there was a compartment for the driver. Between the two end cars there were nine (initially eight) open seating cars (TA2-201) as well as two dining cars (TR2-210) and a kitchen car with bar (TC2-206). The TC2-206 ran in the middle of the train between the two TR2-210. If necessary, up to seven additional TA2-201s could be added. This formed a train of up to 21 cars. The 2nd class open-plan carriages (TB2-202) that were lined up in 1982 were placed between the TC2-206 and TG2-212, with the TR2-210 being lined up on this side of the RT 206. In the last few years of use, the TR2-210 was completely dispensed with.

Route and timetable

In 1969 the Catalan Talgo got the designation CG, GC (Catalunya – Genève and back) and the train numbers TEE 83 and 84. The route was: Barcelona - Gerona - Portbou - Cerbère - Perpignan - Narbonne - Béziers - Sète - Montpellier - Nîmes - Avignon - Valence - Romans Bourg de Péage - Grenoble - Challes les Eaux - Chambery - Aix les Bains Le Revard - Culoz - Bellegarde - Genève-Cornavin . On May 31, 1970, the traffic stops in Romans Bourg de Péage and Sète ceased. On May 23, 1971, the train numbers were changed to TEE 70/71 and 72/73. Spain used the numbers TEE 73 and 70, from May 26th 1974 TEE 5073 and 5070. This double numbering was the result of the custom at both ends of the line to assign odd train numbers to trains starting in their own network and even trains coming from other countries.

TEE Catalan Talgo (blue) and TEE Ligure (red)
GC (70/71) country railway station km CG (72/73)
10.40 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland Genève Cornavin 0 19.38
11.09 FranceFrance France Bellegarde 33 08/19
11.33 FranceFrance France Culoz 66 18.39
11.55 FranceFrance France Aix-les-Bains 88 18.21
12.09 FranceFrance France Chambery 102 08/18
12.52 FranceFrance France Grenoble 165 17.28
13.55 FranceFrance France Valence 262 16.21
15.03 FranceFrance France Avignon 387 15.15
15.32 FranceFrance France Nîmes 436 14.45
15.59 FranceFrance France Montpellier 486 14.15
16.42 FranceFrance France Beziers 557 13.33
17.00 FranceFrance France Narbonne 583 13.16
January 18 FranceFrance France Cerbère 688 12.14
18.25 SpainSpain Spain Portbou 690 11.49
20.39 SpainSpain Spain Barcelona 864 9.45

The timetable enabled a direct connection to the TEE Ligure in Avignon and thus a TEE connection between Milan and Barcelona . The TEE Catalan Talgo stopped in Avignon at around 3 p.m. in both directions. The TEE Ligure arrived a quarter of an hour earlier and departed for Milan a quarter of an hour after the TEE Catalan Talgo in the direction of Geneva. At the insistence of SBB and RENFE , the route was changed from September 28, 1975 so that it was possible to drive electrically from Geneva to Narbonne. Between Bellegarde and Valence, the Catalan Talgo only stopped for a service stop in Lyon-Brotteaux (now Lyon Part-Dieu). Although the route was one kilometer longer, the travel time was reduced by 40 minutes. An expensive side effect was the need for an additional train between Geneva and Grenoble. In 1982, the railway administrations involved hoped for better capacity utilization through renewed routing via Grenoble and adding second class cars (RT 202). Because the TEE criteria were no longer met, the Catalan Talgo operated as an Intercity from then on.

Succession

In 1987 the Catalan Talgo was integrated into the new EuroCity network. In autumn 1994, TGV connections between Paris and Geneva and Montpellier were introduced and the route of the Catalan Talgo to Montpellier – Barcelona was shortened. After the Perpignan – Figueras high-speed line went into operation in December 2010, the cross-border Talgos were discontinued and travelers had to change in Figueres-Vilafant between TGV and broad gauge connecting trains to and from Barcelona. Since December 15, 2013, the trains have been running continuously on the regular track. However, a free connection between Geneva and Barcelona was not re-established.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ TEE, UIC public relations, Paris 1972, page 18.
  2. ^ M. Mertens & JP Malaspina, La Légende des Trans Europ Express, Vannes 2007 ISBN 978-29-036514-5-9 page 274.
  3. ↑ MG Eruste & MC López-Luzzatti, De un sueño a la alta velocidad, Las Matas 2010, ISBN 978-8493286-1-87 page 74th
  4. ↑ MG Eruste & MC López-Luzzatti, De un sueño a la alta velocidad, Las Matas 2010, ISBN 978-8493286-1-87 pages 81-82.
  5. ↑ MG Eruste & MC López-Luzzatti, De un sueño a la alta velocidad, Las Matas 2010, ISBN 978-8493286-1-87 page 120th
  6. ↑ J. Hajt, Das große TEE Buch, Königswinter 2001, ISBN 3-89365-948-X page 122.
  7. ↑ J. Hajt, Das große TEE Buch, Königswinter 2001, ISBN 3-89365-948-X page 124.
  8. ^ P. Goette & P. ​​Willen, TEE trains in Switzerland and Swiss TEE trains abroad, Freiburg 2006, ISBN 978-3-88255-697-1 page 128.
  9. ^ P. Goette & P. ​​Willen, TEE trains in Switzerland and Swiss TEE trains abroad, Freiburg 2006, ISBN 978-3-88255-697-1, page 127.
  10. ↑ J. Hajt, Das große TEE Buch, Königswinter 2001, ISBN 3-89365-948-X page 122.
  11. ^ P. Goette & P. ​​Willen, TEE trains in Switzerland and Swiss TEE trains abroad, Freiburg 2006, ISBN 978-3-88255-697-1, page 89.
  12. ^ Right of way in Europe, TEE 1971/72, Frankfurt am Main 1971 plate. 19th
  13. ↑ F. Dell'Amico, Il TEE Breda, Savona 2005 Page 36th
  14. ↑ M. Mertens & JP Malaspina, La Légende des Trans Europ Express, Vannes 2007 ISBN 978-29-036514-5-9 page 276.
  15. ↑ M. Mertens & JP Malaspina, La Légende des Trans Europ Express, Vannes 2007 ISBN 978-29-036514-5-9 page 278.
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