Rail is reserved for Scheuer's Trans-Europ-Express 2.0

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Federal Minister of Transport Andreas Scheuer (CSU) at the presentation of his "Trans Europa Express TEE 2.0" before a meeting with his EU ministerial colleagues

Photo: Christophe Gateau / dpa

Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) looked satisfied when he appeared in front of the press on Monday in Berlin.

At the weekend he saw a picture in the media with an old locomotive on it, which "has been discussed well," as he proudly remarked.

It showed the Trans-Europ-Express as it looked at the time.

He has taken up this name again, he calls it TEE 2.0, namely "in the context of a Europe that has grown and grown together".

The TEE is Scheuer's new favorite topic.

The legendary luxury train from bygone times of the economic boom, which was discontinued in 1987, is supposed to throw a little shine on the badly ailing minister.

He also focused on the revival of the TEE at a meeting during the EU Council Presidency with his European counterparts.

One now has to "fill this idea with life" again.

Modern, international trains should rush through the continent again, at high speed, by day and also by night.

In about 13 hours from Amsterdam to Rome, from Paris to Warsaw and Berlin to Barcelona.

"The technology is there," he said and announced that the transport ministers would sign a declaration of intent by the end of the council presidency at the end of the year.

His hymn of praise for the TEE is also a nicely packaged criticism of Deutsche Bahn, whose main owner is the German state.

Because the railway already offers a whole range of European connections.

Not enough, as one could see from Scheuer's words at the press conference.

When asked whether his TEE was a kind of wake-up call for the railways, Scheuer replied: "Whether slap, pressure or initiative, I'll leave it open. Politicians want it."

The unmistakable message from Scheuer at the press conference should have been clearly heard by the representative of Deutsche Bahn, also present, Infrastructure Director Ronald Pofalla.

Scheuer wants his prestige project, and he is also making it very clear who is in charge of the Deutsche Bahn: he, the minister himself.

According to SPIEGEL information about Scheuer's TEA zeal, the Bahn Tower is not at all happy.

They discreetly refer to the ministry that there are a number of European connections.

"They are already enjoying great popularity with customers," says the Deutsche Bahn headquarters, and they are also being expanded.

The train connections to France and Switzerland would be well received and accordingly strengthened.

The Vindobona Express between Berlin, Prague and Vienna has been running again for several years.

The night train service that Deutsche Bahn had discontinued is also to be revived with a cooperation between the Austrian ÖBB and the Swiss SBB.

Rail boss Richard Lutz presented himself in a post published on LinkedIn last week as a fiery European who criticized the fact that the European idea was not being propagated enough these days.

"So that the European idea gets more entangled again, we are all asked," he wrote: "The railways can also help Europe move forward."

He recalled having sent an ICE with blue stripes and the name "Europa" on its way last year.

And then he lists all the connections that already exist: So you could "get to Marseille on the Mediterranean in one day".

London is just over six hours by train from Frankfurt.

"Even Stockholm in the far north of Europe can be reached in ten or eleven hours from Hamburg," writes the rail boss: "You can get to around 150 European cities by rail directly from Germany."

But if you look at old course books from the pre-Easyjet era, there was significantly more international rail traffic than the little that Lutz now provides in his LinkedIn post.

At that time the terminus was not Graz, Vienna or Marseille, but Brindisi, Rome, Rijeka, Split, Athens or Istanbul.

Day and night trains once ran from Germany to the Spanish border, to Narbonne.

The Hispania Express from Hamburg to Narbonne was the first train that was allowed to travel 160 kilometers per hour.

Stockholm and Oslo could also be reached in the sleeping car.

At times Athens had two trains a day from Munich, including one with car transport and air-conditioned cars, the Akropolis Express.

And it was also better for closer destinations: From Munich, North Rhine-Westphalia or Stuttgart there were connections to Ancona, Milan and Nice - day and night.

European funding for the TEE 2.0

Railway connoisseurs do not believe in coincidence that Lutz just happened to post on LinkedIn shortly before the TEE break of his top boss and Minister of Transport Scheuer.

However, he should also like the fact that Scheuer is now demanding European funding for the TEE offer.

At the same time, he also issued his further support for the expansion of the Fehmarnbelt link.

Then, said Scheuer, one could also taxi from Stockholm overnight to Germany and on to other European metropolises - and not use the plane.

"Traveling by train is active climate protection", Scheuer put it off like a mantra at the EU ministerial meeting, and for this the federal government is currently ready to shower the railways with billions in taxpayers' money. 

Some observers suspect that the project could also be a lever to push through construction projects that are controversial in terms of their benefits, both financially and ecologically.

In terms of content, the project presented does not go very far.

Given the presentation, it was unlikely that the TEE 2.0 would really compete with the aircraft.

In the case of European connections, there is only talk of one pair of trains per day and not of a train system with a tight frequency.

Incidentally, the rights for the name TEE are owned by Deutsche Bahn.

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