It saw the group refine their melodic electronic style, with a focus on sequenced rhythms, minimalism, and occasionally manipulated vocals.

The themes include celebrations of the titular European railway service and Europe as a whole, and meditations on the disparities between reality and appearance.

[6] After the release and tour for the album Radio-Activity, Kraftwerk continued to move further away from their earlier krautrock style of improvised instrumental music, refining their work more into the format of melodic electronic songs.

Karl Bartos wrote about these rules, stating that "it's not easy to turn knobs on a synthesizer if you are drunk or full of drugs.

[9][10] Paul Alessandrini suggested that Kraftwerk write a song about the Trans Europ Express to reflect their electronic music style.

Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider met with musicians David Bowie and Iggy Pop prior to the recording, which influenced song lyrics.

[10] Artistic control over the songs was strictly in the hands of members Hütter and Schneider, with Bartos and Wolfgang Flür contributing sequenced electronic percussion.

[12] An important piece of new equipment used on the album was the Synthanorma Sequenzer, a customized 32-step 16-channel analog sequencer made for the band by Matten & Wiechers.

[20][21] The artwork for the album cover of Trans-Europe Express was originally going to be a monochrome picture of the group reflected in a series of mirrors.

This idea was dropped for a photo by New York-based celebrity photographer Maurice Seymour, with the group dressed in suits to resemble mannequins.

[22] J. Stara's image of the group was taken in Paris and is a highly retouched photo-montage of Kraftwerk from their shoulders up again posed as mannequins which are shown on the cover of the English version of the album.

At the same time, the band were keen to move away from their German heritage towards a new sense of European identity and felt that the Trans-Europe Express could be used to symbolize this.

[27] The musical style of Trans-Europe Express was described by AllMusic as melodic themes which are "repeated often and occasionally interwoven over deliberate, chugging beats, sometimes with manipulated vocals" and "minimalism, mechanized rhythms, and crafted, catchy melodies".

[9] The third track "Showroom Dummies" was described by AllMusic as "bouncily melodic in a way that most of Trans-Europe Express isn't" and with lyrics which are "slightly paranoid".

[31] AllMusic described the musical elements of the suite as having a haunting theme with "deadpan chanting of the title phrase" which is "slowly layered over that rhythmic base in much the same way that the earlier "Autobahn" was constructed".

[11] In October 2009, a remastered edition of the album was released by EMI in Germany, Mute Records in the European Union and Astralwerks in the United States.

Trans-Europe Express has the highest possible ratings from publications including AllMusic, Drowned in Sound, Mojo, Rolling Stone and Slant Magazine.

Overall, Trans-Europe Express offers the best blend of minimalism, mechanized rhythms, and crafted, catchy melodies in the group's catalog".

Its status as modern electronic music's birth certificate is well-earned, but its hallowed reputation should never be allowed to disguise its true value and power as a work of art.

[62] 2014, pop music critic Randall Roberts wrote in the Los Angeles Times that the record was the most important of the last forty years.

[63] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the album's influence as "unprecedented, reaching as wide as rock (Radiohead's Kid A), hip-hop (Afrika Bambaataa's classic 'Planet Rock', Jay Dee's recent 'Big Booty Express') and pop (Madonna's Drowned World Tour, which incorporated samples of 'Metal on Metal')".

[27] In the late 1970s, the album influenced post-punk band Joy Division; bassist Peter Hook related: "We were introduced to Kraftwerk by [singer] Ian Curtis, who insisted we play Trans Europe Express before we went on stage every time.

"[65] In the mid-1980s, Siouxsie and the Banshees' rendition of "The Hall of Mirrors", on their album Through the Looking Glass, was one of the few cover versions that Ralf Hütter hailed in glowing terms as "extraordinary".