Simplon Express (1962-2001)
| Simplon Express | |
|---|---|
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| Train type: | international long-distance train |
| Was standing: | Out of service |
| Countries: |
 France Switzerland Italy Yugoslavia  .svg){kind=small}
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| Predecessor: | Simplon Orient Express |
| First drive: | 1962 |
| Last drive: | 2001 |
| Former operator: | SNCF , SBB , FS , JŽ |
| route | |
| Departure station: |
until 1992: Paris from 1992: Geneva |
| Intermediate stops: | Dijon , Vallorbe , Lausanne , Milan , Verona , Venice , Monfalcone , Trieste , Sezana , Ljubljana , Zagreb , Vinkovci |
| Destination station: | Belgrade |
| Cycle: | Every day |
| Train numbers: | Ex 220 / Ex 221 |
| Technical specifications | |
| Rolling stock: | Sleeping , couchette and seating carriages |
| Train run | |
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The Simplon Express was an international long-distance train that ran from 1962 to 1992 on the Paris - Venice - Belgrade route. From 1992 the train only ran on the Geneva - Zagreb section , from 1997 to 2000 again to Vinkovci , then only to Venice before the train was completely adjusted to the 2001 summer schedule.
history
After the First World War , the Simplon Orient Express was introduced in 1919 - a connection from Paris to Istanbul, which bypassed Germany , Austria and Hungary , which had been defeated in the war . The Hungarian uprising and the construction of the Berlin Wall cooled the relations between Western and Eastern Europe, so that the passengers traveling from Western to Eastern Europe stayed away and the train route of the Simplon-Orient-Express was shortened in 1962 from Istanbul to Belgrade. The train lost the Orient in its name and became the Simplon Express . From now on, the connections from Paris to Istanbul were only offered with the Direct-Orient-Express , which ran through Germany, until it was completely discontinued in 1977.
Because of the war in Yugoslavia, the train temporarily ended in 1991 in Vinkovci on the new border between Croatia and Serbia , in Zagreb, in Ljubljana and in July during the Slovenian War in Trieste .
The Simplon Express operated officially on the Paris – Belgrade route until the 1992 summer schedule and was then shortened to the Geneva – Zagreb route because the French part of the train route was replaced by a TGV connection from Paris to Lausanne and the Yugoslav part due to the Croatian war was no longer served.
From 1997 the train ran back to Vinkovci. In the post-war years, the train was used by many people who helped the local population or returned from exile. The stop in Slavonski Brod on the border between Croatia and Bosnia provided direct access to central Bosnia , Doboj and Sarajevo . In 2000 the train only ran as far as Trieste and was completely discontinued on the 2001 summer timetable.
Train formation
In the 1970s, the train consisted of cars from the French National Railway Company (SNCF) and the Yugoslav State Railways (JŽ), and the CIWLT provided the two sleeping cars . About half of the cars from Paris only ran as far as Venice, and the sleeping cars were also left there. Most of the rest continued to Belgrade. Two cars were left behind in Trieste , but one was given from Rome to Belgrade. Another car remained in Zagreb, but the through cars from Maribor and Hamburg to Belgrade were added.
Locomotives
In Switzerland one Re 4/4 II was pre-tensioned in the south and two Re 4/4 II in the north in double traction . In Yugoslavia, the train was pulled by the class 442 locomotives manufactured by Končar .
Train run
The train left the Gare de Lyon in Paris in the evening and drove via Dijon to Vallorbe , the border station in Switzerland. Via the Simplon route , the train reached Domodossola , the border station in Italy. In Milan, the train stopped in the early hours of the morning at the Milano Lambrate station on the Milan Belt Railway , which made it possible to avoid the headache in the Milano Centrale station . The journey continued through the Po Valley , with stops in Verona and Padua . In Venice, the train did not stop at the Venezia Santa Lucia terminus , but at the Venezia Mestre through station on the mainland. At Trieste Centrale station , which was reached late in the morning, the train reversed the direction of travel. After stopping at Villa Opicina , the train crossed the border into Yugoslavia, where the first stop was in Sežana . Belgrade was reached via Ljubljana , Zagreb , Slavonski Brod, Vinkovci , Šid and Ruma .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d il "Simplon express" è stato soppresso. In: Treni Internazionali. Retrieved June 19, 2019 .
- ↑ a b SBB (ed.): Train formation plan . May 23, 1971 to June 2, 1973. ( e-train.fr ).
- ^ Ex 220 Simplon Express. vagonWEB, 1987 .
- ↑ Ex 220/221 Simplon Express Paris-Belgrade. Timetable 1991. In: Treni Internazionali. Retrieved June 19, 2019 (Italian).