On the evening of October 5, 1955, the members of the European Timetable Conference accepted an invitation from the Hessian state government and the city administration to a reception in the Great Hall of the Kurhaus.

Contrary to the six representatives of international railroad companies, as planned in a memo dated October 5, 1955, representatives from all European participating states signed the Golden Book.

Across political and ideological boundaries, the Swiss railroad president Wichser, the West German president of the Bundesbahn Frohne, his East German colleague Freitag, who was still referred to as the representative of the Soviet zone in a press release at the time, and the Soviet railroad president Zaporozhev all signed the book that evening. Also present were representatives of southern and northern European countries such as Canelopoulus from Greece and Stokke from Norway. The signatures of Soulard from France and Olsar from Czechoslovakia framed Europe from West to East. With Yalcuk from Turkey, a representative of a country not located in core Europe also signed.

This and the cross-border cooperation at the conference underscored the unity between nations that was made possible by the railroad.