Charleville-Mézières – Hirson railway line

Charleville-Mézières-Hirson
Hirson-Aiguillage (Saxby) signal box no.3, ca.1920.
Route number (SNCF) :	223 000 (221 000: detour Tournes – Auvillers)
Course book route (SNCF) :	19 of the Région Est
Route length:	55 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Maximum slope :	15  ‰
Top speed:	40 km / h
Dual track :	between Charleville and Tournes (PK 151.3) and between Auvillers and Hirson
Legend Soissons – Givet railway from Givet 142.5 Charleville-Mezieres 148 m 142.4 Soissons – Givet railway and Mohon – Thionville railway via Mohon to Soissons and Thionville ~ 143.2 N 43 147.1 Belval - Sury 151 m 148.2 Bassée 150.5 0.0 Tournes 153 m 151.3 Railway line Liart – Tournes to Liart Diversion route (1884–1956) to Auvillers 152.6 End of the route 154.3 Lonny - Renwez 182 m 159.7 N 43 160.6 Rimogne 252 m 10.0 Laval-Morency 203 m 163.6 Le Tremblois 282 m 14.4 Blombay - Étalle 217 m 169.9 Maubert-Fontaine 297 m 20.0 N 43 173.3 End of diversion 173.4 Sormonne 21.0 173.7 Auvillers 257 m 176.8 La Neuville-aux-Tourneurs 246 m 181.3 Signy-le-Petit 233 m 182.5 Bosneau 183.5 Ardennes / Aisne 187.2 Any 208 m 194.7 Saint-Michel -Sougland 201 m 197.6 End of the route Railway Fives – Hirson from / n. Lille-Flandres 198.0 Hirson 191 m Hirson – Amagne-Lucquy railway to Liart and Amagne Busigny – Hirson line to Busigny Railway line La Plaine – Hirson to Paris-Nord above sea level. La Plaine

The Charleville-Mézières-Hirson line was a 55-kilometer main line in the Champagne-Ardenne and Picardy regions that was put into operation in 1869. It is the oldest rail connection between the arrondissement capital Charleville-Mézières and the canton capital Hirson . The Tournes – Hirson section was gradually closed from 1964–1992, starting with a branch line opened in 1884 between Tournes and Auvillers.

history

The concession to build the line was granted on July 6, 1862, a second track on September 18, 1882, after a request had been made on July 24, 1858 by the Chemin de fer de l'Est . The opening of the first section Charleville-Mézières-Signy-le-Petit took place on May 15, 1869. The section to Hirson followed six months later on November 8, 1869. The entire line was completed and commissioned in the summer of 1876.

Although the topography is very flat and therefore should not make any special demands on artificial structures for the railway line, there were considerable challenges during construction due to the terrain. The terrain profile has little strength in places, which repeatedly led to changes in the track position. A second route was therefore built between Tournes and Auvillers-les-Forges (route 221,000), which was used from 1884. From 1906 there was a new, 24 km long railway line (route 222 000) between Tournes and Hirson a little further south, which also had the advantage that trains traveling further along the Franco-Belgian border in the direction of Lille did not break in Hirson had to because the track feed into the station now came from the southeast and no longer from the northeast. The Charleville – Hirson railway then lost its importance.

The suspension of passenger traffic in the Tournes – Hirson section took place on April 28, 1952, after the diversion line for passenger traffic had already been closed on March 15, 1933. Freight trains were last no longer permitted on June 1, 1989. In the summer of 1954, the Charleville – Tournes section was electrified with 25 KV - 50 Hz.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Décret impérial qui approuve la convention passée, les 24 juillet 1858 et 11 juin 1859, entre le ministre du Commerce, de l'Agriculture et des Travaux publics et la Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est: 11 juin 1859 , Bulletin des lois de l'Empire Français, Paris, Imprimerie Impériale, 1859, Series XI, Volume 14, No. 709, Pages 59-87
2. ^ Journal Officiel de la République Française , September 26, 1992, p. 13.379