Blauer Enzian

Observation car of one of a 1953 pair of Blauer Enzian trains

In 1951, the West German Deutsche Bundesbahn announced the introduction of the Blauer Enzian as part of the then-new Fernzug network.[3] It originally was planned that the North-South train would begin service on 1 July 1951, as FT 55/56. However, the FernTriebwagen (long-distance multiple unit) trainsets planned for the new service were not yet available by then, and the train instead entered service in autumn 1951 or later with normal carriages.[4]

The route of the F 55/56 express train, from Hamburg-Altona station to München Hauptbahnhof, included that of the first German high-speed railway, built later. Initially the train consisted of pre-war streamlined Reichsbahn Schürzenwagen carriages and a UIC-X prototype, hauled by steam locomotives of class 01 and diesel locomotives of class V 200,[3] on electrified sections also by E 10 and pre-war DRG E 18 locomotives. In 1953 Deutsche Bundesbahn also performed extensive practical trials using a US EMD MRS-1 diesel-electric locomotive.

From December 1953 until 1959 the former Henschel-Wegmann Train was used,[5] which was extensively restored including an observation car and former Rheingold 1928 diners. A second adjusted Blauer Enzian train was specifically built for the service running in the opposite direction.

After the electrification of the railway lines around Hamburg in 1965, the Blauer Enzian was upgraded to a domestic Trans Europ Express.[6] The train began using TEE coaches hauled by the prototypes of the class E 03 (later class 103) high-speed locomotives. In 1968, the Blauer Enzian was the first German train with a scheduled operating speed of 200 km/h.

In 1969, through coaches to Austria were introduced,[7] with a final destination of Klagenfurt Hauptbahnhof via Salzburg and the Tauern Railway line. These cars were hauled by an ordinary express train south of Munich, still called Blauer Enzian and first-class-only, but not designated as a TEE.[8]

In 1970, the full Trans Europ Express route renumbered TEE 80/81 was extended to Austria and the train was split in Rosenheim, with one part going to Klagenfurt and the other to Zell am See via Kufstein and Wörgl.[9] Although the Zell am See service had disappointing passenger numbers, it remained[6] in the timetable to serve the expected tourists related to the 1972 Summer Olympics. In 1973, the Zell am See service was withdrawn.

In the late 1970s, the Blauer Enzian was one of only three TEE trains running within Austria, the others being the Mediolanum and the Prinz Eugen.[10] Until 1977, the TEE Bavaria also ran through Austria, but for a distance of less than 20 km.

On 27 May 1979, the Blauer Enzian was downgraded[11] to a two-class Intercity, no longer serving Hamburg, but instead, running southbound as Dortmund – Munich – Klagenfurt and northbound as Klagenfurt – Munich – Dortmund – Braunschweig.[12] The TEE service between Hamburg and Munich was taken over by the TEE Diamant.[12][13] By 1981, the northbound route was also terminating in Dortmund.

On 31 May 1987, the Blauer Enzian became part of the newly introduced international EuroCity network,[11] with train number EC20 northbound and EC21 southbound[14] (later renumbered EC12/13).[15] Interesting was the change of through coaches among EC Blauer Enzian, EXP Dachstein (Lindau-Graz-Lindau), EC Transalpin (Basel-Wien/Graz/Klagenfurt) in summer 1990, in Schwarzach St Veit and Bischofshofen. The EC Blauer Enzian conveyed through coaches Dortmund-Klagenfurt/Graz/Lubljana.

Until the opening of the first German high-speed railway on 2 June 1991, the route remained unchanged. On 2 June 1991, the route between Mainz and Augsburg was changed, to run via Mannheim, Heidelberg, and Stuttgart instead of Frankfurt, Nuremberg, and Würzburg – but still running Dortmund–Klagenfurt overall – and the train was renumbered to EC114 northbound and EC115 southbound.[15] The name Blauer Enzian was abandoned from 14 December 2002.

Revived Blauer Enzian

The name was revived in 2017 for the Frankfurt to Klagenfurt service, EC 112/113. This train meets the EC 212/213 Mimara at Villach and exchanges through coaches for services onwards to Ljubljana and Zagreb.[16][17] The Dortmund to Klagenfurt service, still numbered EC 114/115, was renamed Wörthersee.