Introduced in 1971, it was operated by the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français (SNCF).

The train was named after Stanisław I Leszczyński (French: Stanislas Leszczynski), King of Poland, Duke of Lorraine and a count of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Stanislas's route was the 502 km (312 mi) long Paris–Strasbourg railway, with just the following stops: The Stanislas was introduced on 26 September 1971, to complement an existing TEE service, the Kléber, which, since 23 May 1971, had run from Strasbourg to Paris in the morning and had returned to Strasbourg in the evening.

[1] In autumn 1984, the westbound trip's schededule was moved about one hour earlier, from 7:47 to 6:59 (later 6:52), and otherwise the schedule and classification of Stanislas remained unchanged until at least summer 1988,[2] but the train was discontinued by at least 1991—and possibly as early as September 1988.

Throughout the Stanislas's existence, its restaurant car was staffed by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL).