In 1956, the GDR travel agency introduced a night train on the connection between Dresden and Varna on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. On the initiative of the FDJ, the "Touristenexpress" (abbreviated "TOUREX") night train was created in 1961, which it was used as a special train for travel agencies from the summer of 1963.

The "TOUREX" consisted of sleeping and eating carriages, plus a few special cars, which initially came in a blue color scheme with the cursive "Tourist Express" lettering. Later, however, more and more red-painted Mitropa cars were used.

From the seventies, the "TOUREX" also began to transport DDm car transport wagons. The train departed from Dresden-Neustadt and carried via Bad Schandau, Decin, Olomouc (or Brno), Sturovo, Szob, Budapest, Szolnok, Biharkeresztes, Episkopia Bihor, Cluj, Brasov, Bucharest, Giurgiu Nord and Ruse (or Negru Voda and Kardam ) in Varna. Most of the time it was driven with no scheduled stays. For city trips, however, there were also day stays in Budapest or other places along the way.

The Gran Confort carriages of the FS of the 1985 and 1988 orders, immediately recognizable from the previous ones due to the presence of reinforcement ribs on the roof, were divided almost equally between the compartment and saloon types, with the same capacity (48 seats, all first class ) but different internal arrangement.

Among the saloon carriages, two units have been equipped since construction for the transport of the disabled and classified AH, with a small reduction in seats due to the greater space required for wheelchairs and with one end equipped with a specially equipped retreat.