Compagnie des voies ferrées des Landes
The Société Anonyme des Voies Ferrées des Landes (VFL) emerged from the merger of three small railroad companies in south-west France agreed in 1916, but which only came into effect on January 1, 1919. They all operated standard-gauge railway lines in the region between Bordeaux and the Spanish border near Bayonne . These were the Société des Chemins de fer d'Intérêt Local des Landes (CFILL) with 194 km, the Société du Chemin de fer d'Intérêt Local du Born et du Marensin (BM) with 136 km and the Société du Chemin de fer de Soustons à Léon with 22 km.
history
Since 1889, these companies had built lines totaling more than 300 km and connected them to the Chemin de fer de Midi network at seven crossing points . They did not maintain a continuous network themselves. The companies were founded in order to be able to profitably manage the pine plantations that had been established in the mid-19th century. The Voies Ferrées des Landes (VFL) was a subsidiary of the Compagnie des chemins de fer du Midi , from 1938 the SNCF .
In addition, there were other routes taken over by other companies, some in narrow gauge : in 1899 and 1906 that of the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Luxey à Mont-de-Marsan (LM) with 45 km, in 1907 that of the Chemin de fer Économique Forrestier des Landes with 12 km on 750 mm gauge and in 1909 and 1914 that of the Compagnie des Tramways à vapeur de la Chalosse et du Béarn (TVCB) with 143 km on meter gauge. Up until the beginning of the First World War , the Compagnie des voies ferrées des Landes was one of those with the highest mileage per resident of the department , but this was undoubtedly due to the low population density in the Landes .
Short sections of the routes still exist today, in the north as an industrial connection for a raw material producer in Ychoux , and further south the Laluque – Tartas route, which is still used for freight traffic. This section was de-dedicated as part of the general closure in 1994, but reactivated four years later. There are also a number of high-rise structures such as bridges and train stations.
Since 1998, Voies Ferrées des Landes (VFL) has been part of the Voies ferrées locales et industrielles (VFLI) group, which operates smaller railway lines of local importance for the SNCF, especially for freight transport.
List of railway lines in operation
| route | length | predecessor company |
commissioning acceptance |
closure | comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ychoux-Moustey | 22 km | CFILL | 1890-1904 | 1979 | |
| Ychoux-Biscarosse-Bourg | 21 km | CFILL | 1899-1903 | ? | |
| Labouheyre – Sabers | 19 km | CFILL | 1889 | 1969 | Part of the route was reopened in 1970 as a tourist train |
| Labouheyre – Mimizan plague | 34 km | CFILL | 1889 | - | |
| Morcenx – Mézos (–St-Julien en Born) | 23 km | CFILL | 1889 | 1969 | |
| Sindère – Uza (–Lit-et-Mix) | 23 km | CFILL | 1889 | 1969 | |
| Laluque tartas | 13 km | CFILL | 1890 | - | The route was devised between 1994 and 1997 |
| Laluque – Linxe (–St-Girons-en-Marensin) | 27 km | CFILL | 1890 | 1979 | |
| St-Vincent-de-Tyrosse-Souston (-Léon) | 12 km | CFILL | 1891 | 1969 | |
| Biscarosse-Bourg – Mimizan-Bourg | 35 km | BM | 1907-1911 | 1957-1979 | The 2 km long Mimizan-Bourg – Bel-Air section is still in operation |
| Naouas – Bisacrosse Plage | 6 km | BM | 1909 | 1962 | |
| Mézos-St-Julien-en-Born | 6 km | BM | 1909 | 1969 | |
| Uza-Lit-et-Mix | 6 km | BM | 1908 | 1969 | |
| Linxe – St-Girons-en-Marensin | 9 km | BM | 1909 | 1979 | |
| Dax-Azure | 29 km | BM | 1911 | 1969 | |
| Labenne – Seignosse | 17 km | BM | 1908 | 1957 | |
| Labouheyre bias | 28 km | BM | 1910 | 1969 | |
| Souston – Léon | 22 km | SL | 1904 | 1969 | |
| Luxey-Mont-de-Marsan | 143 km | TVCB | 1899-1914 | 1937/38 | 1000 mm track |
| Roquefort-Midi-Lencouacq-Jourets | 12 km | 5) | 1907 | 1934 | Chemin de fer Economique Forrestier des Landes with 750 mm gauge |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chemin de fer d'inérêt local de Soustons à Léon : Private site with background information on the VFL
- ↑ Private homepage with route data
- ↑ Georges Ribeill: Un siècle de voies ferrées the country. In: Historail. Issue 5, April 2008, pp. 64-75.
- ^ Federation des amis des chemins de fer secondaires
literature
- Christian Bonneville: Les Tramways et les trains des Landes de Gascogne… Au début du XXe siècle. Edition Communication-Presse-Édition, Romorantin (Loir-et-Cher) 2000, ISBN 2-84503-056-8 , p. 61 ff.