The train was named after the Roman God of wine, although for most of its existence it linked two cities famous for producing beer.
[1] In 1971 the Deutsche Bundesbahn started an inner German network of first-class only InterCity services modeled after the Trans Europ Express (TEE) criteria, but more frequent than the TEE, one train per hour instead of one train a day.
During the 1970s the introduction of second-class coaches in the Intercities was proposed and tested on some routes, resulting in the IC79 project.
[2] The IC79 project was implemented at 28 May 1979, but seven inner German services, including a new train, the Bacchus, stayed first-class-only and were classed as TEE to distinguish them from the two-class InterCity.
As it had run only on weekdays, Bacchus earned itself a record as the shortest-lived TEE, with 254 days of service.