Trans-Europ-Express-Marchandises
The Trans-Europ-Express Marchandises (to German Trans-Europe Express freight trains , acronym TEEM ) was a kind of cross-border European freight trains , which based on the Trans-Europ-Express of the cross-border movement of people has been created.
The trains were introduced with the timetable change in 1961 as the first European, cross-border freight trains for express goods. With the introduction of the " Europ Unit Cargo " (EUC) system, the TEEM train type was discontinued in 1995.
history
In 1957, the modernization of international freight transport was included in the work program of the International Union of Railways (UIC) and then examined by UIC Committee 4 chaired by SBB . In June 1959 the committee recommended setting up cross-border freight trains with particularly short journey times. In the spring of 1960 he submitted a detailed final report. This recommended connecting the most important European production and consumption centers in two-country and multi-country transport with through freight trains with a uniform maximum speed of 100 km / h in order to strengthen the competitiveness of the rail in cross-border freight transport. At its spring meeting in the same year, the European Freight Train Timetable Conference ( LIM conference ) emphasized the need to design a TEEM network for the 1961 timetable. A LIM working group called the TEEM group , also under the leadership of SBB, was commissioned to implement such a network of high- speed freight trains.
18 railway administrations finally agreed to collaborate on the TEEM concept. The concept was based on a number of goals: a travel speed of at least 45 km / h and short stops at the border, the use of special wagons suitable for 100 km / h, simple train formation and high priority in operations, as well as a maximum load of 1,000 t and a maximum of 100 axes. In addition, the railways involved undertook to forego minimum occupancy and to advertise the TEEM offer “actively”.
When the timetable changed in 1961, 31 TEEM trains were initially set up, 16 of which ran on the network of what was then the Deutsche Bundesbahn . The number of trains increased steadily in the following years and was 66 in 1962, 84 in 1965 and 110 in 1970. Over the years, the Deutsche Reichsbahn served more than 20 TEEM lines. The total length of all TEEM connections increased from 32,239 km (1961) to 141,141 km (1971). The longest running routes were 2,666 km in 1961 (TEE 37, Bologna - Oslo ) and 2,790 km in 1971 (TEE 302 Rotterdam - Basel ). In the area of the DB, the number of train kilometers of the TEEM increased from 863,000 (1961) to 5,833,000 (1970). The average capacity utilization rose from 587 gross or 239 net tonnes in 1961 to 694 or 318 net tonnes in 1970.
literature
- Ulrich Hassel: Quickly through the GDR . In Eisenbahn Geschichte 76 (June / July 2016), pp. 4–13.