Release
Trans-Europe Express was originally released in March 1977. With the help of Günther Fröhling, Kraftwerk made a promotional music video for the song "Trans-Europe Express". The video features the group wearing long coats on a train trip from Düsseldorf to nearby Duisburg. Photo stills from this video were later used on the single sleeve for "Showroom Dummies". Fröhling would work with Kraftwerk again on their album The Man-Machine doing the photography for the album cover. To promote the album to the press in France, EMI Records hired a train with old fashioned carriages from the 1930s to travel from Paris to Rheims while the songs from the album were played over the train's announcement system for the critics.
Trans-Europe Express charted higher in the United States than Kraftwerk's previous album Radio-Activity by peaking at number 117 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart. "Trans-Europe Express" and "Showroom Dummies" were released as singles from the album. "Trans-Europe Express" charted in the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977 where it peaked at number 67. Trans-Europe Express began charting in the United Kingdom in the 1980s. The album entered the charts on February 6, 1982, staying in the charts for seven weeks and peaking at number 49. The single for "Showroom Dummies" entered the charts on February 20, 1982, staying in the charts for five weeks and peaking at number 25. In October 2009, a remastered edition of the album was released by EMI Records in Germany, Mute Records in the European Union and Astralwerks Records in the United States. This re-release was available on compact disc, digital download and vinyl and features a different album cover from previous versions of the album. This new version features a black background with white Trans Europe Express train in the center. The track listing on the 2009 re-release amends the titles of the songs to match the original German release. This change has "Metal on Metal" being credited for two minutes of the music with the remainder being a track titled "Abzug" (English: "Departure").
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