The Trans Europ Express, or TEE, is a magical name when it comes to railroading and pioneer in high speed, and international and luxury travel. Today we dive into the history around this concept and the train which made this concept a reality. We’ll look at not one but two LEGO versions of the TEE, in this collaboration article between Holger Matthes and myself.

VT 11.5 – A star is born.

In the mid-1950s, the European economy picked up speed again, and the western European countries began to establish new relationships after the devastation of the Second World War. In this context, eight European rail companies decided to introduce a joint train offer: the Trans-Europ-Express, TEE for short. The modern express train network was intended to connect the European metropolises with one another and, in particular, offer the wealthy business travelers of the economic miracle an alternative to car and air transport. For this new type of traffic system, the Deutsche Bundesbahn procured several multiple units with type VT 11.5 railcars, which were put into operation in June 1957, later also locomotive-covered trains were used. With this decision, DB made history. For 15 years the German diesel multiple units were used as TEE and shaped the image of international express train traffic like no other train set.

Symbol of a Europe without borders

Close cooperation with its European neighbors was of great importance to the Deutsche Bundesbahn right from the start. An example of this is the European freight wagon community “EUROP”, which was initially founded in 1951 with the French State Railways, creating an extensive, freely available European freight wagon pool. Three years later, the DB agreed with most of the European railway companies that in future only two wagon classes would be used, which would be comfortably adjusted.

Another result of the growing (western) European cooperation was the establishment of the European express train network TEE. Development began in 1954 with the founding of the Trans-Europ-Express Commission based in The Hague. The founding members were the State Railways of Belgium (NMBS / SNCB), the Netherlands (NS), the Federal Republic of Germany (DB), France (SNCF), Italy (FS), Luxembourg (CFL) and Switzerland (SBB); later the Spanish State Railways (RENFE) also joined.

Since the railway administrations were unable to agree on the introduction of a standard vehicle, they were limited to introducing the trains under the common name and logo TEE and defining several binding criteria:

• Due to the low degree of electrification in the individual countries, the TEE trains should initially run as diesel multiple units.
• They should reach a top speed of 140 km/h.
• Only the 1st car class should be offered (at least 120 seats and no more than three seats per row).
• The trains should have exclusive on-board catering.
• There should be spaces for passport and customs control while driving.
• The trains should be painted uniformly in a wine red / beige color dress (in Germany RAL 3005 / RAL 1001).

Some countries did not have their own vehicles built for TEE traffic. In DB’s opinion, the requirements set by the TEE Commission could only be met with a new development. That was the birth of one of the most striking rail vehicles of its time, the VT 11.5.

Continue reading The Trans Europ Express, Two Versions of the Iconic Train in LEGO →