Holiday Express

The UrlaubExpress (UEx) and the Urlaub -Express (UEX) were or are brand names for a type of tourist train , which mostly runs to international destinations and is included in the public timetable, which means that (unlike special trains) they can be booked and used by anyone are.

The train4you group of companies has been operating the night and motorail trains of the Urlaubs-Express since May 2017, continuing the tradition of the mostly seasonal tourist trains in the form of night trains and adding the option of transporting motor vehicles (and bicycles ). The original UrlaubsExpress (without a hyphen), in turn, was offered by Deutsche Bahn AG from 1998 to 2007 as a seasonal tourism offer, mostly in the form of relief and day trains.

concept

The UrlaubExpress or Urlaub-Express are regular public trains in long-distance passenger rail transport that are included in the Deutsche Bahn timetable. You head for popular tourist locations and regions from the metropolitan areas . Depending on the season, your departures are limited to a few days, weeks or months of the year, typically at weekly intervals on bed change days ( regular traffic ). They are thus in the tradition of the TUI FerienExpress trains that were successful in the 1980s, and some of the wagons were and are used again by the UrlaubsExpress and the Urlaubs-Express, which has been running since 2017.

The Holiday Express (UEX) from the Train4you group of companies

Multifunctional trains

The Urlaub-Express of the Train4you group of companies has been a private offer since 2017 in the tradition of the TUI FerienExpress trains, some of which are also used again by the Urlaubs-Express.

The trains are night trains as well as motorail trains that run overnight and are equipped with sleeping and couchette cars as well as a catering service. The trains are included in the Deutsche Bahn timetable. Seats on the trains can be booked individually as well as by groups and tour operators in advance and with the provider.

The trains usually run weekly in the summer months, but there are also trains that run bi-seasonally in summer and winter. Connections are offered from Hamburg-Altona and Düsseldorf to destinations in southern Germany, Austria and Italy. The Hamburg – Munich connection is offered as a night train in midsummer, sometimes daily.

List of UEX connection pairs

Connection pairs	Half year	From	To	About 1	Car loading	Remarks 2
UEX 1846 UEX 1847	all year round	Hamburg Altona Munich East	Munich East Hamburg Altona	Hamburg - ( Lüneburg - Bremen ) - Hanover - Göttingen - Würzburg - Augsburg	Hamburg Altona Munich East	Lüneburg in summer 2018 Bremen in winter 2018/19
UEX 1848 UEX 1849	all year round	Hamburg-Altona Loerrach	Loerrach Hamburg Altona	-	Hamburg Altona Loerrach	BTE AutoReiseZug  1794 BTE AutoReiseZug 1796
UEX 13472 UEX 13473	summer	Villach Hamburg Altona	Hamburg Altona Villach	Schwarzach-St. Veit - Bischofshofen - Salzburg - Munich East - Fulda - Göttingen - Hanover - Lüneburg - Hamburg	Villach Hamburg Altona
UEX 13470 + 13474 UEX 13471 + 13475	summer	Verona Hamburg Altona	Hamburg-Altona Verona	Verona - Bozen - Innsbruck - Kufstein - Munich East - Fulda - Göttingen - Hanover - Lüneburg - Hamburg	Hamburg Altona Verona	two trains in each direction
UEX 1374 UEX 1375	winter	St. Anton Hamburg Altona	Hamburg Altona St. Anton	Landeck - Imst-Pitztal - Oetztal -Innsbruck- Jenbach - Wörgl -Kufstein Munich East Augsburg -Göttingen, Hanover and Bremen-Hamburg	Hamburg Altona Munich East	together with UEX 1846/1847
UEX 13476 UEX 13477	summer	Innsbruck Hamburg Altona	Hamburg Altona Innsbruck	Kufstein – Munich East – Fulda – Göttingen – Hanover – Lüneburg – Hamburg	Innsbruck Hamburg Altona
UEX 13480 UEX 13481	summer	Verona Dusseldorf	Dusseldorf Verona	Verona – Bozen – Innsbruck – Kufstein – Munich East – Würzburg– Frankfurt South - Cologne Messe / Deutz	Verona Dusseldorf
UEX 1854 UEX 1855	Summer Winter	Munich East Düsseldorf	Düsseldorf Munich East	Würzburg – Frankfurt Süd – Cologne Messe / Deutz	Munich East Düsseldorf
UEX 1374 UEX 1375	winter	St. Anton Düsseldorf / Münster	Dusseldorf St. Anton	Landeck – Imst-Pitztal – Ötztal – Innsbruck – Jenbach – Wörgl – Kufstein – Munich East – Koblenz – Cologne – Bochum - Essen - Duisburg - ( Dortmund - Münster )	Munich East Düsseldorf
UEX 13174 UEX 13175	winter	Zell am See Düsseldorf / Münster	Dusseldorf Zell am See	Saalfelden - St. Johann in Tirol - Kitzbühel - Kirchberg in Tirol - Hopfgarten - Wörgl - Kufstein - Munich East - Koblenz - Cologne - Bochum - Essen - Duisburg - ( Dortmund - Münster )	Düsseldorf Munich East
from 2019	summer	Villach Düsseldorf	Düsseldorf Villach	Schwarzach-St. Veit – Bischofshofen – Salzburg – Munich East – Würzburg – Frankfurt South – Cologne Messe / Deutz	Villach Düsseldorf

Remarks:

¹ Operating stops are not listed

² Timetable 2017/18 & 2018/19

The Deutsche Bahn Holiday Express (UEx)

Tourist trains

At the 1995 International Tourism Exchange in Berlin, Deutsche Bahn announced that it wanted to revive rail holidays with a new concept. For this purpose, a generous, specially converted fleet was presented to the public under the name of the tourist train . The cars were created after discussions between representatives of the travel industry and Deutsche Bahn. The train was designed as a charter train that could be rented by tourism companies, travel agencies or other tour operators.

Since the utilization of the tourist trains was not satisfactory until 1997, the concept of the Alpen-See-Express was considered and the plan was to use the cars as holiday trains in regular service. This project should start in the summer of 1998.

At the end and at the beginning of the holiday, the UrlaubExpress- relieved the regular trains and, due to the routes that deviated from the regular traffic, allowed passengers to travel more comfortably with luggage to their destination without having to change trains. There were separate fares for them, as well as for night trains, car trains or special trips. Strictly speaking, UrlaubExpress trains were special trips that were noted in the timetable .

At the turn of the millennium, pairs of trains traveled to Lake Balaton , Rimini and Austria, also under the name of UrlaubsExpress . In contrast to the UEx, the trains run overnight and are of the DZ train type .

In the years that followed, international connections to the Mediterranean and South Tyrol operated as a holiday express , now as the UEx train type . This continued to be long-distance night trains . In the meantime, these UEx trains had merged into the DB City Night Line train category. The regular service was largely discontinued a little later, leaving seasonal extensions of individual train runs.

Vehicle fleet

A DB class 103 locomotive in the tourist train design

218 416 in the colors of the tourist train in Munich Hbf

A characteristic of the tourist train, which was used in particular on the “UrlaubsExpress Mecklenburg-Vorpommern”, was its bright color scheme. In addition to the locomotive, the cars were also painted in a colorful mix of sapphire blue, leaf green, traffic yellow, sky blue and white. The cars had been converted from Intercity cars from 1995. The cars were very generously equipped and a lot of space was provided. The wagons bore the DB Touristik logo .

The passenger cars are now used in regular intercity trains. The cars are now painted in ICE colors (traffic red / light gray), the seats were subsequently reupholstered with blue fabric.

Compartment coaches (Bvmkz ⁸⁵⁶ ): The six compartment coaches were created from 1st class Eurofima compartment coaches , three of which were previously on the Lufthansa Airport Express . One of the nine compartments was converted into a galley , one compartment is intended as a luggage compartment. The seven remaining compartments were refurnished with six seats each and an extendable table.

Open seating car (Bpmz ⁸⁵⁷ ): Eight intercity open seating cars were converted for the UrlaubsExpress, four of the donor cars were previously used on the Lufthansa Airport Express . Two small windows on each side of the car were closed to create more space for luggage. In the interior, almost all of the seats were arranged face-to-face. The central aisle meanders through the car, creating seating groups for two to four people. Each of the cars has 51 seats. In 2019, the Czech railway company RegioJet acquired several of the Bpmz ⁸⁵⁷ and has been using them in its long-distance trains ever since.

Club dining car (WRkmz ⁸⁵⁸ ): At the start of the tourist train 1995, two "Bord Restaurant" were - the dining car of the type WRmz ¹³⁷ in club dining car rebuilt. One car has a normal dining area and a children's compartment, the other car has a bistro with bar tables and a lounge was furnished with leather armchairs. In the following year, two Intercity open seating cars were converted into club dining cars, the equipment of which is similar to the first two club dining cars.

Luggage trolleys (Dmsdz ⁸⁵⁹ , Dmsd ^859.1 ): Two luggage trolleys have been adapted to the needs of the tourist train to transport luggage, bicycles or skis .

Kinderland car (WGmz ⁸²⁵ ): With the use of the tourist train in the UEx regular service, a social car was painted in tourist train colors and used as a “Kinderland”.

In contrast to the "UrlaubsExpress Mecklenburg-Vorpommern" which operates during the day, the UrlaubExpress trains which operate at night require a different fleet of vehicles. Sleeping cars , air-conditioned couchette cars and non-air- conditioned compartment seat cars of the Bomz ²³⁶ type typical for night trains were used here .

List of UEx connections

Connection pairs	Surname	From	To	About 1	Succession 2
UEx 1128 UEx 1129	-	Bolzano Dortmund	Dortmund Bolzano	Brixen – Brenner – Innsbruck – Frankfurt (M) South	2005 replaced by UEx 13374 replaced 2005 by UEx 13375
UEx 13374 UEx 13375	-	Bozen Hamburg Altona	Hamburg Altona Bozen	Brixen – Brenner – Innsbruck – Göttingen – Hanover	2009 from Aarhus, hired since 2010. 2009 to Aarhus, hired since 2010
UEx 1124 UEx 1125 3	Dolomites Express	Venice Dortmund	Dortmund Venice	Verona – Bozen – Innsbruck – Wörgl – Kufstein – Rosenheim – Munich East – Frankfurt (M) South – Mainz – Bonn Beuel – Cologne – Düsseldorf – Essen	set set
DZ 13426 DZ 13427	Holiday Express	Fonyód Hamburg Altona	Hamburg Altona Fonyód	Siófok – Budapest – Würzburg – Fulda – Bebra – Hanover	set set

Remarks:

¹Not all intermediate stops are listed here, and the trains also had many operating stops

² Timetable year 2014

³ Successor to the D 1124/5 "Dolomiten-Express"

Holiday Express Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Division of the IC "UrlaubsExpress Mecklenburg-Vorpommern" in Züssow to continue to Heringsdorf on Usedom (July 2016)

The story of the UrlaubsExpress Mecklenburg-Vorpommern began in 1998 with seasonal trains that connected Düsseldorf with Wolgast and Rügen from June 27th to September 12th. In 2000, Cologne was the new departure station, with the opening of the Wolgast Peene Bridge , the connection was also extended to Zinnowitz.

Just a few years after the start of the "UrlaubsExpress Mecklenburg-Vorpommern", it changed its type of train: initially as an Interregio , and until the end as an Intercity. With the conversion, however, the special fleet of cars was largely eliminated; the trains now ran with normal Interregio or Intercity cars. As a special feature, the IC 2422/2423, which has been in service via Berlin since 2012, carried a type Bwmz ²⁰⁷ car in 2nd class until 2013 . These were modernized compartment cars that were previously used as 1st class cars in Switzerland. This last operated in summer 2016 and was discontinued for the 2017 timetable. The train runs will be offered again in 2018.

designation	Surname	From	To	About 1	Succession 2
UEx 1161 UEx 1061 IR 2761 IC 2660 IC 1960 IC 1905 / IC 1915	UEx Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	Wolgast / Zinnowitz / Heringsdorf seaside resort	Düsseldorf Hbf / Cologne Hbf	Greifswald – Stralsund – Rostock – Schwerin – Hamburg-Harburg – Bremen – Osnabrück – Münster– (Dortmund -) Essen – Duisburg	IC 2423 “UrlaubsExpress Mecklenburg-Vorpommern”: Ostseebad Binz – Berlin-Gesundbrunnen – Köln Hbf, through coaches from Seebad Heringsdorf
UEx 1160 UEx 1060 IR 2760 IC 2661 IC 1961 IC 1904 / IC 1914	UEx Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	Düsseldorf Hbf / Cologne Hbf	Wolgast / Zinnowitz / Heringsdorf seaside resort	Essen – Dortmund – Hamm – Münster – Bremen – Hamburg – Harburg – Schwerin – Rostock – Stralsund – Greifswald	IC 2422 “UrlaubsExpress Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania”: Cologne main station – Berlin-Gesundbrunnen – Ostseebad Binz, through car to Seebad Heringsdorf IC 1961: shortened, since 2012 Hamburg-Altona – Stralsund

Remarks:

¹Not all intermediate stops are listed here, and the trains also had many operating stops

² Timetable year 2014

Web links

• Website Train4You
• Photos of the tourist train wagons

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Urlaub-Express Hamburg - Munich started . In: railway magazine . No. 9 , 2017, ISSN  0342-1902 , p. 29 .
2. ^ Rail tourism: the end of a descent? , Die Zeit , March 10, 1995
3. ↑ Courage to color: The new DB AG tourist train, article in the Eisenbahn-Journal, issue 11/1995
4. ^ Bahn-Notizen - Touristikzüge: New concept from 1998, article in the Eisenbahn-Journal, edition 10/1997
5. ↑ Colorful bird of paradise
6. ↑ RegioJet Nasadil ojeté IC vozy first třídy od DB. Prodává je jako Low-cost , i-doprava.com, December 17, 2019
7. ↑ 825 WGmz , deutsche-reisezugwagen.de
8. ↑ Travel as an experience - The DB TouristikZug (sic!)
9. ↑ With the UrlaubsExpress overnight in the Easter holidays ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2013 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. , DB press release, April 2, 2003 
10. ↑ Train composition UEx 1984, timetable year 2003
11. ↑ Sleeping car of the Holiday Express UEx from Dortmund to Verona Porta Nouva. Seen in Dortmund on April 13, 2007 ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2013 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. , Photographer: Kevin Hilgert 
12. ↑ ^{a b} Trains of the class UEx in the privately operated database long-distance traffic
13. ^ In the UrlaubExpress an die Ostsee , Bernd Loppow / Die Zeit, March 12, 1998