Rail transport in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department
Of the railways in Pyrénées-Atlantiques (formerly bass-Pyrénées) in the French region Nouvelle-Aquitaine comprised temporarily an extensive network of main and branch lines having a length of about 750 kilometers. The routes that are still in operation are mostly used by TER Aquitaine trains.
Lines of the state railway
The network of standard-gauge national railway lines with a length of more than 400 kilometers within the department emerged from the Compagnie des Chemins de fer du Midi , which was nationalized in 1938. Since then, the lines have been operated by the French state railway Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF) - also in high-speed traffic ; some have been shut down.
| route | Route number | Length (km) (in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques) |
Installation | closure | comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Bayonne – Sames-Guiche – Pau Pau – Montaut-Bétharram |
650,000 | 88 26 |
1863-1864 1866-1867 |
in operation | |
| (Bordeaux -) Le Boucau - Bayonne - Hendaye | 655,000 | 43 | 1855-1864 | In operation | |
| Puyoô (-Dax) | 656,000 | 5 | 01/25/1864 | In operation | |
| La Negresse – Biarritz-Ville | 6yy 000 | 3 | 02/28/1911 | September 14, 1980 | |
| Bayonne – Cambo – Ossès – Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port | 660,000 | 53 | January 19, 1891 (Bayonne – Cambo) August 20, 1892 (to Ossès) December 11, 1898 (remainder) |
in operation | |
| Ossès-Saint-Etienne-de-Baïgorry | 6xx 000 | 9 | June 26, 1898 | ||
| Puyoô – Autevielle – Mauléon | 662 000 | 5 | 12/22/1884 (to Autevielle) April 11, 1887 (remainder) |
Pv March 2, 1968; Gv April 1, 1989 | |
| Autevielle-Saint-Palais | 663,000 | 10 | 12/22/1884 | Pv November 1, 1949; Gv 01.04.1989 | |
| Pau – Buzy – Oloron – Bedous (–Canfranc) | 664,000 | 87 | 07/01/1883 (to Buzy) 09/1883 (to Oloron) July 11, 1928 (rest) |
March 21, 1970 (Bedous – Canfranc) 1980 (Oloron – Bedous) |
Recommissioning
Oloron-Bedous on July 3rd, 2016 |
| Buzy-Laruns | 665000 | 39 | 07/01/1883 | Pv March 2, 1969 Gv July 5, 1971 (from Arudy) Gv April 1, 2003 (remainder) |
Branch lines and trams
In addition, a network of narrow-gauge local and trams around 350 kilometers in length has been built since the end of the 19th century. This was electrified in the west of the department towards the Atlantic coast and connected the numerous seaside resorts and preferred residential areas on the Bay of Biscay with each other and with their hinterland. The concession holders were the following three railway companies:
- In 1877 the Compagnie du chemin de fer Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz (BAB) was the first to build a standard-gauge connection, which was only converted to meter gauge and electrified in 1922.
- The Compagnie du Chemin de fer Pau-Oloron-Mauléon et du Tramway de Bayonne à Biarritz (POM) took over the railway operation opened in 1888 by the Compagnie des Tramways de Bayonne au Lycée et à Biarritz (BLB) and electrified the line. In addition, the POM owned several local railways in the center and in the east of the department, which were served by steam and diesel vehicles.
- From 1919 onwards, a fairly extensive, but only short-lived, electric small train network of the Société des Voies Ferrées Départementales du Midi (VFDM) served mainly seaside resorts on the Atlantic coast. However, the First World War and the subsequent development prevented the implementation of extensive VFDM railway construction projects to develop rural regions.
This also applies to the Compagnie des Tramways à Vapeur de la Chalosse et du Béarn (CB), which, however, focused on the neighboring Landes department .
The Pau tram and the Hendaye tram had rather modest rail networks that were connected to the neighboring light rail networks. Hendaye was also the starting point for an electric train to San Sebastian operated by a Spanish company.
The mountain railway from Saint-Ignace to La Rhune (POM) and the Ligne d'Artouste of the southern railway (Midi) occupy a special position . Like some important national railway lines, they have remained from the once extensive rail network to this day; the small railways have completely disappeared.
literature
- Henri Domengie: Les petits trains de jadis - Volume 7: Sud-Ouest de la France. Editions du Cabri, Breil-sur-Roya 1986, ISBN 2-903310-48-3 .
- Jean Robert: Histoire des transports dans les villes de France, Neuilly-sur-Seine 1974.