''Kléber'' was an

express train An express train is a type of passenger train that makes a small number of stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, allowing faster service than Local train, local trains that stop at most or all of the s ...

that linked

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France, between 1971 and 1988. It was a first-class-only

Trans Europ Express The Trans Europ Express, or Trans-Europe Express (TEE), was an international first-class railway service in western and central Europe that was founded in 1957 and ceased in 1995. At the height of its operations, in 1974, the TEE network compri ...

(TEE) operated by the ''Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français'' (

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

). The train was named after

Jean Baptiste Kléber Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

, a Strasbourg-born French general during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

Route

The ''Klébers route was the Paris–Strasbourg railway, with just the following stops: * Strasbourg-Ville – Nancy-Ville –

Paris-Est The Gare de l'Est (; English: "Station of the East" or "East station"), officially Paris-Est, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It is located in the 10th arrondissement, not far southeast from the Gare ...

History

The ''Kléber'' was introduced on 23 May 1971. Initially, it departed from Strasbourg as TEE 60 at 07:50 and arrived in Paris at 11:40. The return train, TEE 61, left Paris at 17:20 and reached Strasbourg at 21:10. Between the Winter 1973/74 timetable and its 1980/81 counterpart, the train ran 15 minutes later in each direction. On 26 September 1982, the morning TEE 60 service was discontinued. Its name was transferred to the evening TEE 62 Strasbourg–Paris service, which had previously been the TEE '' Stanislas''. The latter became the ''Rapide Stanislas'', keeping its same late morning departure time from Paris and taking over ''Kléber'' morning schedule from Strasbourg. The TEE 62, now renamed ''Kléber'' (ex-TEE ''Stanislas''), continued to leave Strasbourg at 17:10 and arrive in Paris at 21:00. The TEE 62 / TEE 61 ceased to exist as separate trains on 23 September 1988, when they were integrated into an international train between Paris and

Stuttgart Hbf Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (; en, Stuttgart central station) is the primary railway station in the city of Stuttgart, the state capital of Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany. It is the largest regional and long-distance railway station in ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, Germany.

Formation (consist)

The ''Kléber'' was hauled by the SNCF Class BB 15000, a class of 25 kV 50 Hz AC electric locomotives. Its inaugural formation of rolling stock was a rake of SNCF painted in a distinctive red, orange, light grey and slate grey livery. Originally, the coaches were arranged as an A4Dtux, two A6u, three A8tu, an Vru and an A3rtu. On 28 September 1975, the train was lengthened to a total of 13 coaches. Due to the limited availability of the Grand Confort coaches, they were occasionally replaced by

Mistral Mistral may refer to: * Mistral (wind) in southern France and Sardinia Automobiles * Maserati Mistral, a Maserati grand tourer produced from 1963 until 1970 * Nissan Mistral, or Terrano II, a Nissan 4×4 produced from 1993 until 2006 * Microp ...

56-type . In 1982, the train's formation was changed to Mistral 69-type DEV Inoxes. Throughout the ''Kléber'' existence, its

restaurant car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that do ...

was staffed by the ''

Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits Newrest Wagons-Lits, formerly (lit. ''International Sleeping-Car Company''), also CIWL, Compagnie des Wagons-Lits, or just Wagons-Lits, is a division of particularly known for its on-train catering and sleeping car services, as well as being ...

'' (CIWL).

References

Notes

Bibliography