Le Capitole (train)
| Le Capitole | |
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| Train type: |
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| Countries: |
 France
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| First drive: | November 15, 1960 |
| Last drive: | September 28, 1991 |
| Former operator: | SNCF |
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| Departure station: | Paris Austerlitz |
| Destination station: | Toulouse Matabiau |
| Route length: | 713 km |
| Technical specifications | |
| Rolling stock: | |
| Gauge (s) : | 1435 mm |
| Power system (s): | 1500 V = |
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Le Capitole (also known as Capitole for short ) was a top long-distance train of the French State Railways (SNCF), which connected Paris with Toulouse via Limoges .
Fast
Introduction: 1960
The Capitole was introduced as a counterpart to the Rapide Mistral . This has operated since 1947 between Paris and the Mediterranean coast on the main route of the former Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM).
The Capitole went from 15 November 1960 as Rapide in connection Paris, Orléans , Limoges, Brive-la-Gaillarde , Cahors , Montauban , Toulouse on the former main thoroughfare of the Chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans (PO). He was initially made up of four or five cars, 1st class type INOX-DEV (silver), a blue CIWL - dining car and a green luggage carts together and with a electric locomotive of the BB series 9200 covered, which was also painted green. The train ran at a top speed of 160 km / h. He needed 7 hours for the 713 km route from Paris to Toulouse.
Fastest train in Europe: 1967
From May 28, 1967, the route on the 100 km long section between Fleury-les-Aubrais near Orléans and Vierzon was approved for a maximum speed of 200 km / h. In order to actually be able to drive these, the train was equipped with new type UIC-Y cars (1st class, half baggage car and dining car). Four electric locomotives of the BB 9200 series (BB 9278, 9281, 9289 and 9288) were upgraded with modified bogies and new single-arm pantographs for speeds of 200 km / h, and the two most recently produced locomotives of the BB 9200 series (BB 9291 and 9292) also Driver's cab signaling, bogies for 250 km / h, and special pantographs built directly for a top speed of 250 km / h. The travel time was reduced to 6 hours and the Capitole was the first European train to reach 200 km / h on schedule . Locomotives and wagons were painted red with white stripes under the windows, the name Capitole was written on each wagon and on a board at the Zugspitze .
Train composition from 1967–1970:
- 1st class compartment car type A9 UIC-Y with 9 compartments
- 1st Class
- 1st class / luggage compartment car type A7D UIC-Y with 7 compartments and a luggage compartment
- 1st Class
- Dining car Type Vru UIC-Y dining car
- 1st Class
- 1st Class
- 1st Class
- 1st Class
A second pair of Capitole trains was set up in the opposite direction to the 1968 winter timetable , creating both a morning and an evening connection in both directions. The trains were distinguished as Le Capitole du Matin and Le Capitole du Soir .
Trans Europ Express
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On September 27, 1970, the Capitole was upgraded to the Inland Trans-Europ-Express (TEE). For this purpose, the train was equipped with new Grand Confort cars .
As usual, these were compartment cars, dining cars and half-luggage cars with a generator, with new open seating cars and bar cars, still exclusively in the first class. The train was now run by new locomotives of the CC 6500 series .
Locomotives and wagons were given a metal-gray paintwork with a red ribbon and orange stripes. Each car had a plaque reading Trans Europ Express over the windows. The locomotives carried a plaque on the Zugspitze with the inscription Capitole .
| Distance (in km ) |
TEA 75 ↓ ( "du Matin" ) |
TEE 76 ↑ ( "du Soir" ) |
railway station | TEE 74 ↑ ( "du Matin" ) |
TEE 77 ↓ ( "du Soir" ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 07:45 | 23:45 | Paris Austerlitz | 13:45 | 18:00 |
| 400 | 10:39 | 20:48 | Limoges | 10:48 | 20:54 |
| 499 | 11:39 | 19:48 | Brive-la-Gaillarde | 09:48 | 21:54 |
| 600 | 12:40 | 18:48 | Cahors | 08:48 | 22:55 |
| 662 | 13:16 | 18:12 | Montauban | 08:12 | 23:31 |
| 713 | 13:45 | 17:45 | Toulouse Matabiau | 07:45 | 24:00 |
Decline and replacement
Since May 23, 1982, the pair of trains TEE 75/76 ran both the first and the second class. For this purpose, some Grand Confort cars were rearranged: The compartment cars were given eight places per compartment with the same compartment size, and the open plan cars were given new, narrower 2 + 2 seating regardless of the window division. The TEE signs have been removed and the 2nd class cars have been marked with a green stripe. On September 29, 1984 the Capitole no longer ran as a TEE, but as an express train (Rapide). With the introduction of the second TGV connection between Paris and Toulouse in September 1991, it was removed from the timetable.
The term “Le Capitole” was used colloquially to distinguish this direct high-speed connection from Paris to Limoges and Toulouse from the TGV Atlantique , which was once perceived as exemplary throughout Europe , and which runs not via Limoges but via Bordeaux .
In 2017 there were six daily connections between Paris and Toulouse:
- a night train Intercités de Nuit from Paris Austerlitz via Limoges, as well
- five TGVs from Paris Montparnasse via Bordeaux .
The night train from Paris to Toulouse takes 9:27 hours, in the opposite direction 8:22 hours, while the TGV covers the distance via LGV Atlantique in 4:56 hours.
With the opening of LGV Sud Europe Atlantique in 2017, a further reduction in travel time was made possible and the night train was discontinued. Currently (2020) the fastest TGV covers the distance in 4:11 hours, but without stopping on the way. Depending on the day of the week, there are three to five connections that usually take around 4:30 hours.
A free day train connection via Limoges still operates daily. It takes 6:41 hours, but also stops on the way at twice as many stations as the Capitole once did .
Movies
- SNCF advertising film “Le Capitole”, Center Audiovisuel SNCF, 1969
- Feature film “The Jackal”, running time: 145 ', director: Fred Zinnemann, production: France / Great Britain 1973.
literature
- Fritz Stöckl : Trans-Europe-Express - The development of the TEE company . Augsburg 1971.
- Stefan Vockrodt: Mistral, Capitol and other legends. Famous trains to, from and via Paris . In: Railways in Paris = Railway History Special 2 (2015). ISBN 978-3-937189-94-9 , pp. 60-67.
Web links
- Manuel Gurtner and Joachim Biemann: The Day of the Jackal . (Film review).
Individual evidence
- ^ Brive-la-Gaillarde historical station
- ↑ Vockrodt: Mistral , S. 65th
- ^ After Gurtner and Biemann.
- ↑ Railway in France - Class BB 9200 ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Railways in France - "Le Capitole" ( Memento des original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Vockrodt: Mistral , S. 65th
- ↑ Gurtner and Biemann.
