Montan-Express
The Montan-Express was the first international long-distance train after the Second World War with a high standard that connected Frankfurt with Luxembourg .
history
Started in 1953
The long distance express Montan Express went two years after the establishment of the Coal and Steel Community , a forerunner of the European Union , to the summer timetable 1953 in operation. Germany and Luxembourg were founding members. Such a connection between Luxembourg and the Rhine-Main area as a West German economic center seemed only logical. The connection was initially driven with two railcars of the class VT 04 of the Deutsche Bundesbahn . They only ran the (old) 2nd class. In order to save train paths in Frankfurt Central Station in the heavy traffic around 7 am, the train drove from Frankfurt to Koblenz coupled with the railcar of the long-distance express train Rhein-Main (Ft 31). In the opposite direction, the trains ran separately. In Koblenz there was a connection to the trains of the Rheinblitz Group in both directions , so that Cologne and the Ruhr area were also connected to Luxembourg with a high-quality connection.
Further development
From the winter timetable 1953/54, the Montan-Express operated in the direction of Luxembourg via Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof , which, together with the adapted transfer option in Koblenz, created a fast connection from the Hessian capital to Luxembourg and the Ruhr area. Since Wiesbaden Central Station is somewhat remote from the right-hand Rhine route and is a terminal station , it had to be "bought" with an earlier departure in Frankfurt. The return trip was driven over the left Rhine route and Mainz main station. The new vehicles from the VT 08 series were also used more and more frequently .
The End
The Montan-Express was abandoned for the winter timetable in 1955 . The connection was secured - now with a change in Koblenz - by the nameless D-Zug pair 277/278 Luxembourg – Koblenz, which ensured the connection to the Rheinblitz group.
literature
- Peter Goette: Light F-Trains of the Deutsche Bundesbahn . EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-88255-729-9 .