Rubens (train)

4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)Electrification25 kV AC (France)
3000 V DC (Belgium)

The Rubens was an express train that linked Gare du Nord in Paris, France, with Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel-Zuid in Brussels, Belgium. The train was named after Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens.^[1]

The Rubens was introduced together with the TEE Memling in the TEE-network to cope with the raising number of passengers between Paris and Brussels.^[2] Both services were the first in the morning, the Rubens departed from Brussels at 6:42 in the morning, while the Memling departed from the Gare du Nord in Paris at 6:45. The return services were scheduled as the fifth of the six daily TEEs in both directions, departing around 6:45 p.m.^[3]

In 1987 the Rubens was, like the other Paris-Brussels TEE services, integrated into the new EuroCity network.^[4] On 23 May 1993 the EuroCity services between Paris and Brussels were classified as TEE again.^[5] After the opening of the LGV-Nord on 23 January 1995 the Rubens was withdrawn.^[6]