Apparently this is the name of the “famous” train that run from Germany to Greece from the 50s onwards. German wikipedia has the goods, and basically noone else has any info: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellas-Express

I put “famous” in quotes there, because I knew this train existed somehow, but had no idea about the specifics. This is the train that my grandparents boarded on, from Athens, at separate times, to go to Germany where they would eventually meet. And it’s the same train that they came back on.

Eleftheria Panousi Koufidou remembered how terrifying it was to go through Yugoslavia in pitch darkness, especially as political and social tensions worsened. Robberies on the train were common in many stops.