Aquitaine (train)

Aquitaine

Preserved Class CC 6500 locomotive at the Cité du Train museum, with "Aquitaine" headboard.
Overview
Service type	Trans Europ Express (TEE) (1971–1984) Rapide (1984–c.1990)
Status	Discontinued
Locale	France
First service	23 May 1971 (1971-05-23)
Last service	ca. 1990
Former operator(s)	SNCF
Route
Start	Bordeaux-Saint-Jean
Stops	See text
End	Paris-Austerlitz
Distance travelled	579.3 km (360.0 mi)
Average journey time	See text
Service frequency	Sun–Fri (1971–1983) See text (1983/84–ca. 1990)
Train number(s)	TEE 2, 1 (1971–1984)
Line used	Paris–Bordeaux
On-board services
Class(es)	First-class-only (1971–1984) First and second class (1984–1990)
Catering facilities	Dining car Buffet car
Technical
	SNCF Class CC 6500 Grand Confort ()
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	1.5 kV DC

The Aquitaine was an express train that linked Bordeaux and Paris, France, between 1971 and about 1990. Operated by the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français (SNCF), it was a first-class-only Trans Europ Express (TEE) until 1984 and then a two-class Rapide until discontinued, circa 1990.

The train was named after the region of Aquitaine, of which Bordeaux is the capital.

The Aquitaine's core route was the 584 km (363 mi) long Paris–Bordeaux railway. Initially, the train ran non-stop, but by the time it was discontinued, it had the following stops:

Starting in late 1984, the Aquitaine's northbound route was extended to start in Hendaye on Mondays only (except holidays). On other operating days, Tuesdays through Fridays, the train still started in Bordeaux. Southbound trips continued to terminate in Bordeaux on Mondays through Thursdays, but on Fridays (except holidays) were extended to Pau, and in autumn 1986 extended farther, to Tarbes (still on Fridays only).

The train was introduced on 23 May 1971, as a counterpart to another named train, the Étendard, a Rapide that had been running on the same route, in the opposite direction (i.e. Paris–Bordeaux–Paris), since 1968.

In its first two years of operation, the Aquitaine departed from Bordeaux-Saint-Jean as TEE 2 at 07:15 and reached Paris-Austerlitz at 11:25; the return Aquitaine, TEE 1, left Paris at 17:55 and arrived in Bordeaux at 21:55.

The Aquitaine was aimed at business travellers, and therefore did not run on Saturdays, nor during the high season.

At the start of the winter 1971/72 timetable, the Étendard was upgraded to TEE status, as TEE 5/4. This meant that on weekdays two TEE trains, the Aquitaine and the Étendard, served the same route in each direction.