Ligne de Sceaux
| Ligne de Sceaux | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 The Gare de Sceaux (today Denfert-Rochereau train station ) in Paris,
then the terminus of the Ligne de Sceaux. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 29.4 + 3.4 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 (formerly 1750) mm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power system : | 1500 V = | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Ligne de Sceaux (formerly Chemin de fer de Sceaux) is a railway line in the southern suburbs of Paris that connects the Luxembourg train station in Paris with Sceaux and Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse .
The line from Paris to Sceaux was opened in 1846 as a broad-gauge line for trains of the Arnoux system and extended in sections. In the south there were extensions to Sceaux-Robinson and from Bourg-la-Reine on a new branch line to Orsay and on to Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse and Limours . In the north, the line was extended underground towards the center of Paris to Luxembourg station .
The operating company Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Sceaux was placed under administrative administration during the stock market crash of 1847 and sold to the Compagnie de Chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans in 1857 . This switched the line to standard gauge in 1891 . In the 1930s the line was electrified and handed over to the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris (one of the predecessor companies of the RATP ). The section from Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse to Limours was closed in 1939 and the tracks dismantled during the German occupation.
The Paris-Sceaux line became part of the RER network in 1977 , in which it forms the southern branch of the RER B , which runs in the north via the Gare du Nord to Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport and to Mitry-Claye .
Construction of the route
The Arnoux system
The history of the Ligne de Sceaux goes back to 1838. That year, Jean-Claude-Républicain Arnoux , a graduate of the École polytechnique , proposed a technical concept that would allow trains (which at that time did not have bogies ) to go faster in curves while reducing wear on rails and wheels. In the " Arnoux system ", which was intended for a track width of 1750 mm, the axles that had previously been rigidly connected to the car were replaced by rotating axles. Furthermore, the wheels were not permanently connected to the axles, so that the two wheels on an axle could turn at different speeds. The two axles of a car were connected by chains and two carriages by rigid rods.
From Paris to Sceaux
In order to test his system in practice, Arnoux received the concession for the (still to be built) railway line from Paris to Sceaux (officially: chemin de fer de Paris à Sceaux ) for a period of 50 years in August 1844 . Founded the Compagnie du Chemin de fer de Paris à Sceaux in February 1845 . This first section of the later extended route connected the next to the eastern customs house of d'Barrière Enfer outside the remaining Akzisemauer the farmer-general and in the former municipality of Montrouge built you embarcadère chemin de fer de Sceaux (since 1895 the station Denfert-Rochereau to the same Square ), with the embarcadère de Sceaux in the north of the village of Sceaux . This route was inaugurated on June 7, 1846; Scheduled traffic began on the 23rd of the same month.
Numerous very tight curves were built to overcome the incline from Bourg-la-Reine to Sceaux. This winding route was also intended to demonstrate the capabilities of the Arnoux system. There was a stop called "Fontenay" at the rue de Fontenay in Sceaux. Although the engineering structures were designed for a two-lane route from the start, this was initially only built with one lane. A second track was added between Paris and Bourg-la-Reine in 1863.
From Bourg-la-Reine to Orsay
The route was not profitable, only on nice days it had many passengers in the excursion traffic. In order to improve capacity utilization, an extension to Orsay was planned. Initial plans included a route that branched off at Fontenay station, but this was soon discarded. An alternative route, which branched off from the existing route in Bourg-la-Reine, was worked out and later implemented.
Due to the stock market crash of 1847, the financial situation worsened considerably and rail operations on the line were stopped in October. The operating company, the Compagnie de Paris à Sceaux, was then placed under compulsory administration from 1849 to 1850 and the operation of the line was taken over by the state. After the February Revolution of 1848 , the French state began work on the route to Orsay as part of the national workshops; Palaiseau was reached in 1849. The route was chosen so that the curve radii were large enough to allow operation with trains other than those of the Arboux system.
The Compagnie de Paris à Sceaux, now renamed Compagnie de Paris à Orsay, took over the business again from 1851 and received the concessions for the extensions to Palaiseau and Orsay in the following years. In addition to passenger and freight traffic, the new section of the route should be used to transport sandstone from the Yvette Valley and fresh vegetables.
The line, which had 17 civil engineering structures, was single-track and broad gauge, even if the concession already provided for the conversion to standard gauge . The section from Palaiseau to Orsay, unlike the state-built section from Bourg-la-Reine to Palaiseau, again had very small curve radii .
The extension to Orsay was inaugurated on July 28, 1854. The financial situation of the Compagnie de Paris à Orsay improved slightly, but they could not make any profits. In June 1855 it ceased operations.
From Orsay to Limours
In order to forestall a competing company that wanted to use this route to connect Paris to its network, the Compagnie du Paris-Orléans took over the route in 1857 . The Ligne de Sceaux was to become part of a route from Paris to Tours via Châteaudun and Vendôme , according to the plans submitted by it. After the takeover and more detailed planning, this route turned out to be unsuitable as there would have been too many valleys and plateaus to cross. The route to Tours was given a different route and the Ligne de Sceaux remained an island line.
In order to connect the places that should have been on the initially planned route to Tours to the railway, an extension of the Orsay – Limours Ligne de Sceaux was proposed. With a decree of August 28, 1862, this extension was approved via Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse. This last, again single-track section was opened five years later, on August 26, 1867.
Operated by the Compagnie du Paris-Orléans
Conversion to standard gauge and new construction of the line to Sceaux
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the invention of the bogie made the more complicated Arnoux system, only used on the Ligne de Sceaux , obsolete. A decree of 1889 approved the abandonment of the Arnoux system and the conversion of the line to standard gauge (1435 mm). After extensive renovations, which included re-routing with larger curve radii in places and the renovation of all engineering structures, the operation was converted in just one night, from May 21st to May 22nd, 1891.
The extremely winding route from Bourg-la-Reine was abandoned and replaced by a new route that reached Robison station in the west of Sceaux via Fontenay-aux-Roses . Construction began in 1891 and was finished in May 1893.
Extension to the center of Paris
In order to improve the attractiveness of the line, whose terminus was on the outskirts of Paris, the line was extended in the north to Luxembourg station at the park of the same name in the 5th arrondissement . This underground extension was built from 1892 to 1894 and received a stopover, Port Royal.
A further extension to the Gare d'Orsay opened in 1900 by the Compagnie du Paris-Orléans was planned. A preliminary construction work for this extension at Gare d'Orsay still exists today as a second tunnel next to that of the RER C in the direction of Gare d'Austerlitz and is used to park trains.
Electrification and modernization
The electrification of the Ligne de Sceaux in 1913 was not a priority for the French government , as the railway line from Paris to Chartres via Orsay was expected to open soon; this should have four tracks, two of which were electrified. However, the line was never built.
The Langevin project (named after the then Minister of Civil Engineering) provided in 1929, the railway lines of the Ile-de-France , all of which ended at terminal stations in Paris, another to diameter lines to connect. This should create a transport network based on the model of the S-Bahn in Berlin and Hamburg . Decades later, such underground lines through Paris were realized as RER .
Since the Langevin project envisaged the crossing under Paris in tunnels, operation with steam locomotives would have been problematic. It was therefore decided in 1929 to electrify the Ligne de Sceaux to Massy-Palaiseau. The Compagnie du Paris-Orléans refused to bear the costs and transferred the route to the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris (Municipal Railway Company of Paris), one of the predecessor companies of the RATP . The technical and structural implementation of the electrification was nevertheless taken over by the Compagnie du Paris-Orléans, which already had experience in the electrification of railway lines. The work was finished in 1938. The power supply was now 1500 volts direct current via overhead line . Two substations were built in Paris-Montsouris and Massy-Villaine.
Electrification was soon continued on the southern section of the route, reaching Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse on January 1, 1939. Another substation was built at Gif-sur-Yvette to supply the new section . The remaining section of the route to Limours was never electrified and served by an internal combustion engine . Since this route could not be operated economically, the railway was stopped on May 15, 1939 and replaced by buses.
In the course of electrification, the signaling was modernized and light signals were introduced as block signals . The signals used were new and different from those of the SNCF . They had six signal lights arranged one below the other: one green, two red and three yellow. Stop was indicated by a red light, an occupied route section by two red lights, "Waiting for stop" by two yellow lights and finally three yellow lights announcing "Waiting for stop" at the next signal. Free travel corresponded to a green light. In addition, an expected change in the direction of travel could be announced with a yellow light, for example when entering the Bourg-la-Reine separation station . The signaling was transmitted to the driver's cab with the help of balises .
Operated by the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain and the RATP
In World War II
The German occupation forces had the rails from the Saint-Rémy - Limours section removed in 1941. The gravel was used by the Allies in the construction of Villacoublay Airport . This sealed the fate of this section, it was officially de- dedicated in 1967 .
The rest of the line was largely spared from the effects of the war. However, the Massy-Palaiseau railway junction used by the Wehrmacht was the target of four Allied bombings in June 1944. A fifth bomb attack hit the route near Bures-sur-Yvette .
After the Second World War
After extensive work on electrification and modernization, the line remained largely unchanged until the 1970s. There were also few changes to the rolling stock: the Z 23000 type electric multiple units (often simply called Z ) put into service in 1937 shaped the line's image for fifty years. From 1967, they were by the railcar of the type MS 61 supplements the otherwise mainly on the RER A were used.
In the 1970s, the decision was made to extend the Ligne de Sceaux to the Gare du Nord and connect it there with the suburban lines to the north of the Paris metropolitan area. The guidelines for such connections under Paris were laid down in the Schéma directeur de la région Île-de-France (a spatial plan for the Île-de-France) of 1965.
With this extension the Seine had to be crossed. In order to begin the descent far enough in the south and to reach the necessary depth, it was initially planned to abandon the Luxembourg train station. It was to be replaced by a Quartier Latin station further north and lower , where it should be possible to change to lines 4 and 10 .
After residents protests, these plans were changed and the Luxembourg train station was retained. The line received a gradient of 4.08% immediately north of the station. To do this, the sweeping system north of the station had to be completely rebuilt and the trains turned directly at the platform during the construction period. One of the platforms was widened with the help of wood so that the trains were accessible from both platforms.
On the right bank of the Seine, Châtelet - Les Halles, a node of the emerging RER network with a connection to Line A and numerous metro lines. It was inaugurated on December 9, 1977. From then on, the line was named RER B. In order to prepare the line for continuous operation from Robinson or Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse to Aulnay-sous-Bois , the signaling was adapted to that of the SNCF.
The extension to the Gare du Nord went into operation in 1981. A four-track underground station for the RER was built there. First, a change was necessary to continue in the direction of Aulnay-sous-Bois before the interconnexion began on June 7, 1983 , connecting the Ligne de Sceaux operated by the RATP and the northern route to Mitry-Claye operated by the SNCF . Initially, only eight trains per hour were tied through. This number was gradually increased until 1987, when all trains ran continuously.
Since the RATP and SNCF routes south of Paris were electrified with 1500 V direct current and those of SNCF in the north were electrified with 25,000 V alternating current, new trains had to be procured that were compatible with both power systems. The MI 79 multiple units jointly developed by RATP and SNCF were also given variable steps on the doors, as the platform heights on the northern and southern branches of the route were also different. The first trains of this type entered service in 1980.
On February 17, 1988, the line received another station to create a transfer to line C of the RER. The Saint-Michel - Notre-Dame station also made it possible to change to Métrolinie 10 , on which the Cluny - La Sorbonne station was reopened. The station was bombed on July 25, 1995 .
Today's operation
The route is now used exclusively by RER B trains, which connect Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle and Mitry-Claye airports in the north with Robinson and Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse in the south. The change between train drivers from SNCF and RATP at Gare du Nord , which used to be the norm, is no longer practiced.
Trains within Paris run every three minutes during rush hour. The structure of the timetable on the rest of the route is complicated: in addition to trains that stop at every station, there are also express trains that only stop in the outer suburbs and omit numerous stops in the inner suburbs. In the north, trains also run between Gare du Nord and the airport during off-peak times .
Today, the line is operated by MI 79 trains (referred to as Z 8100 by SNCF), supplemented by some MI 84 that are almost identical in construction and can be coupled to the MI 79. The trains have been extensively renovated since 2008. This included a renovation of the interior with new seats, the installation of luggage racks, video surveillance and modern passenger information systems . The outside of the trains was given a new coat of paint in the STIF colors .
Passenger information systems are installed at the stations that provide real-time information about the departure times of the next trains, their destinations and intermediate stops.
literature
- Gaston Jacobs: La ligne de Sceaux. 150 ans d'histoire. Aubin, Paris 1987, ISBN 2-902808-28-3 .
- François Caron: Ligne de Sceaux: laboratoire de la science ferroviaire. In: Revue d'histoire des chemins de fer. No. 38 (2008), ISSN 0996-9403 . (online at: rhcf.revues.org )
- Jean-Marie Jacquemin: La ligne de Sceaux au fil du temps. (= Plan Taride. No. 335). 3. Edition. Palaiseau Culturel, Palaiseau 1986, OCLC 15316018 .
Web links
- Historical overview with photos (French)
Individual evidence
- ^ A. de Laveleye: Histoire financière des chemins de fer Français. P. 28.
- ↑ a b La ligne de Sceaux, laboratoire de la “science ferroviaire”. In: Revue d'histoire des chemins de fer. Retrieved July 18, 2014 (French).
- ↑ Law of August 5 and 8, 1844
- ↑ Embarcadère , French, noun, masculine, literally the jetty or landing stage, outdated, stands for the place of arrival and departure of travelers and (loading and unloading) of goods, today French 'quai' (or quai de gare , German platform), and in a broader sense for the train station . See online- jetty and pier in the dictionary LEO and Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th edition online
- ↑ La Vie du Rail, carte n ° 94: Locomotive n ° 8, éditée en 1952.