Chartres – Bordeaux railway line

Chartres – Bordeaux
Cubzac-les-Ponts, one of the last stops before Bordeaux
Route number (SNCF) :	500,000
Route length:	499 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	z. T. 1.5 kV  =
Power system :	z. T. 25 kV 50 Hz  ~
Minimum radius :	700 m
Top speed:	220 km / h
Dual track :	Saintes – Bordeaux
Legend Paris – Brest railway from Paris-Montparnasse 86.5 old route via Massy-Palaiseau 86.9 Viaduc Saint-Jean 87.1 Chartres 142 m Railway line Chartres – Dreux to Dreux Chartres – Orléans rail line to Orléans Railway Paris – Brest to Brest ~ 90, 0 Route national 123 89.8 Lucé 157 m 96, 0 Yours (26 m) 96.9 La Taye 146 m 102.9 Bailleau-le-Pin 175 m 107.8 Magny 171 m 110, 0 former water scooping point Illiers ▼ 112.1 Illiers-Combray 162 m 112.4 Loir (12 m) 115.5 Thironne (35 m) 116.5 A11 118.0 Montigny 170 m Brou – La Loupe railway from La Loupe 124.4 Brou 153 m 125, 0 Ozanne (20 m) 131.9 Le Bois-Mouchet 173 m Railway line Arrou – Nogent-le-Rotrou to Nogent-le-Rotrou 137.8 Arrou 164 m 139.2 LGV Atlantique 140.5 Yerre (50 m) Thorigné – Courtalain railway from Thorigné-sur-Dué 140.9 Courtalain - Saint-Pellerin 156 m Courtalain – Patay line to Patay ~ 142.6 Eure-et-Loir / Loir-et-Cher department 146.9 Droué 158 m 147.0 Egvonne (9 m) 148.9 LGV Atlantique 155.9 Boursay - Saint-Agil 178 m 159.2 Grenne (180 m) 162.8 Mondoubleau 118 m 163.5 End of concession 170.6 Braye (28 m) 171.7 Sargé-sur-Braye 90 m ~ 170.8 D 357 (former Route nationale 826 ) 174, x Center / Pays de la Loire regional border (2 ×) Sargé-sur-Braye – Vouvray to Vouvray railway line 177.0 Savigny-sur-Braye 83 m Bessé-sur-Braye – Saint-Calais railway from Saint-Calais 181, x Loir-et-Cher / Sarthe / Loir-et-Cher (2 ×) 183.4 End of concession 184.0 Bessé-sur-Braye 71 m ~ 184.2 Route de la Gare (formerly Route nationale 821 ) ~ 188.8 Sarthe / Loir-et-Cher department 189.6 Lavenay 69 m 190.0 Tusson (8 m) ~ 191.5 D 917 (former Route nationale 817 ) ~ 191.5 Loir-et-Cher / Sarthe department Railway Pont-de-Braye – Blois from Blois 192.4 Pont-de-Braye 63 m 196.7 Ruillé - Poncé 58 m 201.4 La Chartre-sur-le-Loir 57 m ~ 202.1 D 304 (formerly Route nationale 823 ) 204.7 Chèvre (9 m) 206.7 Chahaignes 54 m 211.2 Marçon - Vouvray 52 m ~ 215.0 D 338 (former Route nationale 158 ) 216.2 Tours – Le Mans railway from Tours 217.0 Château-du-Loir 50 m Tours – Le Mans line to Le Mans 219.2 Loir (64 m) 220, 0 former water scooping point Château-du-Loir ▼ ~ 220.5 A 28 221.7 Saint-Aubin-La Bruère 52 m 229.1 Chenu 88 m 229.8 Viaduc de Chenu (212 m) ~ 231.5 Sarthe / Indre-et-Loire department 232.7 Cement plant 236.1 Château-la-Vallière 75 m ~ 236.1 D 959 (formerly Route nationale 159 ) 243.1 Le Tanchet - Lublé 74 m ~ 244.8 Indre-et-Loire / Maine-et-Loire department 247.4 Meigné-le-Vicomte 89 m 253.0 Noyant - Méon 83 m ~ 236.1 D 767 (former Route nationale 767 ) 258.8 Linières bouton 59 m 266.3 Vernantes 57 m 273.6 Blou - Saint-Philbert 48 m 276.8 A85 277.4 La Flèche – Vivy railway from La Flèche ~ 277.9 A 85 ~ 276, 0 D 347 (former Route nationale 138 ) ~ 276, 0 Vivy 30 m 280.5 Authion 37 m Tours – Saint-Nazaire railway from Angers, start of electr. ~ 284.8 D 347 (formerly N 138) 285.6 Saumur-Rive-Droite 30 m 287.5 Tours – Saint-Nazaire to Tours railway line 288.0 Access viaduc de Saumur (150 m + 50 m) 288.7 Viaduc de Saumur ( Loire ) (525 m) 289.0 Tunnel de Nantilly (1,056 m) Ab and Saumur-Rive-Gauche 30 m 290.9 Nantilly-Saumur 41 m 293.3 Chacé - Varrains 40 m 297.1 Brézé - Saint-Cyr-en-Bourg 46 m 299.4 Dive (10 m) 307.2 Loudun – Angers-Maître-École of Angers railway line ~ 284.8 Rue de Loudun (formerly N 761 ) 307.2 Montreuil-Bellay 54 m Railway line Loudun-Angers-Maître-École to Loudun ~ 313, 0 Maine-et-Loire / Deux-Sèvres (3 ×) 313.0 Lernay 41 m 317.1 Brion-près-Thouet Les Sables-d'Olonne – Tours railway line from Tours 325.1 Thouar's end of electrification 87 m ~ 325.2 Av. Victor Hugo (formerly N 138) ~ 326.7 D 759 (formerly N 759 ) 327.0 Thouet (191 m) Railway line Les Sables-d'Olonne – Tours to Les Sables-d'Olonne 331.0 Saint-Jean-de-Thouars 336.4 Viaduc de Conquenuche ( Thouaret ) (75 m) 337.5 Saint-Varent 343.5 Pont sur la Cendronne (34 m) 346.0 Viaduc d'Airvault ( Thouet ) (60 m) 347.6 Airvault-Gare-Moncontour railway from Moncontour-de-Poitou 347.6 Airvault-Ville 349.6 Airvault Gare 352.9 Viaduc de Saint-Loup ( Thouaret ) (90 m) 353.6 Saint-Loup-Lamairé 360.0 Gourgé Neuville-de-Poitou – Bressuire railway from Bressuire 369.3 Thouet (Viaduc de Parthenay) (73 m) 370.2 Parthenay Railway line Neuville-de-Poitou – Bressuire to Poitiers Viette (26 m) 381.0 Saint-Pardoux 385.4 Mazières - Verruyes 395.9 Champdeniers-Saint-Christophe 400.0 Cherveux 402.2 A 83 404.5 Viaduc d'Échiré ( Sèvre Niortaise ) (46 m) 405.6 Échiré 412.9 Lambon (6 m) 414.2 Saint-Benoît – La Rochelle-Ville railway from Poitiers 414.9 Niort Railway line La Possonnière – Niort to La Possonnière, railway line Saint-Benoît – La Rochelle-Ville to La Rochelle 420.2 Aiffres 420.2 Aiffres – Ruffec railway to Ruffec 422.3 A10 425.7 Fors 430.1 Marigny (Deux-Sèvres) 434.2 Beauvoir-sur-Niort 437.6 Prissé-la-Charrière 440, 0 former Villeneuve-la-Comtesse water collection point ▼ ~ 443, 0 Deux-Sèvres / Charente-Maritime department 444.1 Villeneuve-la-Comtesse ~ 448.3 D 150 (formerly N 138) 450.6 Loulay 456.7 Saint-Denis-du-Pin 463.0 Saint-Jean-d'Angély ~ 463.2 D 939 E2 (formerly N 150 ) 463.7 Railway line Saint-Jean-d'Angély – Taillebourg to Taillebourg 463.8 Canal Saint-Euthrope (18 m) 464.0 Boutonne (53 m) 464.3 Never (15 m) ~ 466.1 D 150 (formerly N 138) 469.3 Asnières-la-Giraud 473.9 Saint-Hilaire-Brizambourg 478.5 Le Douhet - Écoyeux 480.9 Viaduc de la Thonne (89 m) 483.7 Font envelope 484.0 Viaduc de Fontcouverte (75 m) 485.6 Viaduc de Chaumet (Escambouille) (43 m) 485.9 Jérusalem Tunnel (422 m) Nantes-Orléans – Saintes railway line from Nantes 491.6 Saintes 11 m ~ 491.9 Avenue Gambetta (formerly N 137 ) ~ 492.2 Railway Saintes – Royan to Royan ~ 493.5 N 141 498.0 Chaniers 500.5 Charente (Viaduc de Beillant) (64 m) 501.2 Beillant ( wedge station ) Beillant – Angoulême line to Angoulême 507.3 Montils - Colombiers 510.5 Saint-Seurin-Lijardière ~ 514.9 Route de Cognac (formerly N 732 ) ~ 515.4 D 700 (formerly N 700 ) 515.7 Pons ~ 516.5 D 732 (formerly N 137 ) 517.0 Railway line Pons-Saujon to Royan 521.1 Fléac-sur-Seugne 524.2 Seugne (40 m) 524.6 Mosnac-sur-Seugne 528.3 Clion-sur-Seugne ~ 534.9 D 699 (formerly N 699 ) 535.0 Jonzac 542.9 Fontaines-d'Ozillac 547.5 Tugéras - Chartuzac ~ 534.9 D 730 (formerly N 730 ) 555.9 Montendre 559, 0 Livenne (2 ×) 564, 0 Bussac ~ 565.3 Siding Aerodrome de Bédenac-Bussac 572.0 Châteauneuf-sur-Charente – Saint-Yzan v. Chât. s Ch. 572.3 Charente-Maritime / Gironde department 572.7 Saint-Yzan – Blaye railway from Blaye 572.7 Saint-Mariens-Saint-Yzan 576.5 Cavignac ~ 576.8 N 10 577.5 Railway line Cavignac – Coutras to Coutras 582.7 Gauriaguet 587.3 Aubie-Saint-Antoine 589.0 A 10 ~ 589.6 D 670 (formerly N 670 ) 590.7 Saint-André-de-Cubzac 30 m ~ 591.1 Railway line Mirambeau – Saint-André-de-Cubzac to Mirambeau ( Cdf écon. Gironde ) ~ 591.8 N 10 593.3 Cubzac-les-Ponts 23 m 594.8 Dordogne ( Pont ferroviaire de Cubzac ) (2,318 m) 598.2 La Grave-d'Ambarès 8 m planned LGV Sud Europe Atlantique former route 599.0 Paris – Bordeaux railway line 599.0 Railway line Paris – Bordeaux from Paris-Austerlitz, start of electr. 601 A 10 602.7 Sainte-Eulalie-Carbon-Blanc 20 m 606.6 Tunnel de la Ramade (1,343 m) 608.1 579.6 Abzw. De Saintes from LGV Sud 579.9 Abzw. Du raccordement circulaire 580.0 Cenon formerly Avenue Thiers - Cenon 11 m old route from Paris 581.8 Bordeaux-Benauge 4 m Railway line Bordeaux-Bénauge-La Sauvetat-du-Dropt n. Latresne 583.1 New fore bridge and bridge ( Garonne ) (511 m) 583.8 Bordeaux-Saint-Jean 7 m Railway line Bordeaux – Sète to Sète Railway line Bordeaux – Irun to Irun

The Chartres – Bordeaux line is a French railroad that was completed in 1911 and has been operated by the state railway SNCF since 1938. It is almost 500 km long and has the route number 500,000. It was given the large curve radius of 700 m and had only a few level crossings along its entire length. All other crossroads consisted of concrete bridges, a building material that was rather unusual at the time. The design of the route was one of the most forward-looking in France. The largest single structure was the Cubzac-les-Ponts railway bridge, over 2 km long.

The route runs west of today's TGV - mainline , the Paris-Bordeaux railway , and has become less important over time. The originally laid second track is only partially available today and is no longer in operation. Accordingly, the route is no longer continuously served by trains. Only a few sections are electrified.

history

The line was built between 1874 and 1911 and was initially fully used by both express and sleeper trains. For reasons of economy, parts of the route were later abandoned. With the beginning of the 1970s, individual sections were no longer offered for passenger train traffic at all, from April 1970 between Château-du-Loir and Saumur , from October 1971 between Courtalain and Château-du-Loir and from September 1980 between Thouars and Niort . These areas are sparsely populated and are on the edge of the respective region in France .

A special feature is the possibility of water absorption at three points during the journey at the route kilometers (SK) 110 (near Illiers), SK 220 (near Château-du-Loir) and SK 400 km (near Villeneuve-la-Comtesse). With the help of this technology, it was possible to drive long distances without time-consuming compulsory stops to take in water. This infrastructure illustrates the importance of the route at that time. A 60 cm wide and 15 cm deep water-filled channel ran for several hundred meters in the middle of the rail route, which was designed without a gradient in this section . With the help of a long bowl, steam locomotives were able to take the water they needed from this channel at speeds between 40 and 80 km / h. This made it possible at the beginning of the 20th century to allow express trains between Chartres and Bordeaux to pass through 326 km without a single stop. Another important route with this infrastructure was the Mantes-la-Jolie – Cherbourg railway , which used this technology until the 1960s.

course

Thouars, train to Bressuire

The railway line begins in the north at Chartres station, where it branches off to the south on route km 87.1 from the Paris – Brest railway line . At first it leads more in a south - westerly direction , from Sargé-sur-Braye more and more in a southerly direction. The first railway junction Courtalain - Saint-Pellerin at SK 140.9 is reached after about 50 kilometers, the other branches of which have been closed since 1990. After that there will be no more traffic today; the tracks have long been dismantled. The second node was at SK 217 Château-du-Loir , whose importance as a transfer station is still given today.

In Saumur on the Loire , the line meets the main route Tours – St. Nazaire , which was being electrified in the early 1980s when the route reduction was in full swing. As far as Thouars , the Chartres – Bordeaux railway line has also been electrified as part of this measure, obviously because this section lies entirely in the Pays de la Loire region . The Parthenay junction (SK 370) is now also a mere transit station because the cross connections have been cut. Only more than 100 km later in Saintes (SK 492) does a real railway junction exist again, which establishes the connection to the north-west to Nantes , north-east ( Orléans ) and west ( Royan ).

Not until shortly before Bordeaux does the parallel line from Paris, where the high-speed TGV and Corail trains run today, join in from the left .

business

Today there is still rail traffic on three sections:

1. The operating company TER Center-Val de Loire is responsible for the Chartres – Courtalain-Saint-Pellerin section. The trains take around 50 minutes to cover the 53 km route (eight pairs of trains on workdays, four pairs of trains on Sundays, which are reinforced by bus services)
2. Freight trains run between Chartres and Mondoubleau, i.e. 22 km beyond Courtalain - Saint-Pellerin
3. TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine is responsible for the destinations Saumur – Thouars (40 km, 35 min.), Which is the only one that is electrified, and Niort – Saintes (77 km, 70 min.) Which are single-track, as well as for the La Rochelle – Saintes– Bordeaux, which is two-pronged

Individual evidence

1. ^ Fascicule Gares et lignes du nord published by the COPEF (Cercle Ouest Parisien d'Études Ferroviaires) 1985
2. ↑ La construction de la ligne Chartres – Bordeaux
3. ↑ Brief description with many historical photos
4. ↑ Patricia Laederich, Pierre Laederich, Marc Gayda, et al .: Histoire du réseau ferroviaire français , Valignat 1996, ISBN 2-9065-7522-4 , p. 191
5. ^ Roland Hamel: La prize d'eau sans arrêt
6. ↑ TER Center timetable (PDF; 109 kB)
7. ↑ TER timetable Poitou-Charentes (PDF; 476 kB)
8. ↑ Timetable Niort – Saintes (PDF; 420 kB)
9. ↑ Timetable La Rochelle – Saintes – Bordeaux (PDF; 778 kB)