kintbury jon Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Just thought i'd share details of a trip made with my brother. The line from Nantes to Bordeaux is one of the few diesel main lines in France and with the introduction of the Coradia units soon, it provided a good opportunity to enjoy some diesel haulage courtesy of the BB67400 class and Corail stock. I had travelled on it twice in the 90's but both journeys had been overnight services. We had ideally decided to work our way from Nantes to Bordeaux with an overnight somewhere to complete the line in one direction with the option to retrace our steps a few times. There are only 3 return trips from Nantes to Bordeaux and a fourth that does the southern section to La Rochelle (there are other services on the line but they are all units.) With the timings and costs for the flight arrivals in Nantes looking costly and late, we opted for a Ryanair flight to Tours. Arrival was at 11:50. We had to be in Nantes by 5pm for our train. The best option was the 12:40 Interloire which was due to be Sybic hauled. After negotiating passport control our hearts sank when there were no taxis waiting! After a tense amount of minutes a taxi turned up at 12:15. The taxi driver understood what we meant when I explained our train was at 12:40 and he floored it to St Pierre des Corps making the journey in 10 minutes. He was duly tipped! So first train of the trip was Sybic 26054 which we took to Nantes. Through the window at Saumur, we saw one of the old A1AA1A 62000 class (I think it was 62036) Arrival at Nantes at 14:17 meant we had almost 3 hours to find a few beers on a very hot day. Returning for our train we were greeted with 67477 and 67576 that we were going to take to Rochefort. We were due to stop at La Roche Sur Yon, Lucon, La Rochelle and the Rochefort. The first part of the journey is under wires but then the journey between La Roche Sur Yon and La Rochelle is quite an ordeal! The trackwork here is in poor condition and as a result the trains are limited to what seems like around 30mph. This lasted for 2 hours. I was aware of this beforehand and was the reason we had ensured that this part of the line should be done once. Once out of La Rochelle we sped to Rochefort and arrived on time just after 8. We had 40 minutes here so found a quick beer. Rochefort is an attractive station with a beautiful front and train shed. 67424 arrived a few minutes early for the service back to La Rochelle (where it terminated). This train was very short with just 3 coaches (but very quick!) SNCF Stephen from the forum had sent me a photo a couple of days beforehand of his journey with 67424 on the Ussel line so it obviously gets around! La Rochelle is also an attractive station. Beers were had that night as our journey the following day was not to start until 11:00. After a stop in the local Carrefour to pick up some provisions we headed to the station to wait for our train. 67523 in blue arrived on its own to head us to Bordeaux. Whilst only 1 loco we arrived on time. Bordeux train shed is painted light blue inside and it looks very attractive. After a quick beer in Bordeaux we headed for the 14:51 as far as Jonzac, the first stop north out of Bordeaux to do a quick there and back. 67576 and 67481 were on the front. We found an open bar in Jonzac so a swift drink was taken and we returned for our final train back to Bordeaux. 67558 and 67542 took us back. Back in Bordeaux we spent a few minutes at the station. A pilgrimage train was at the station with Sybic 26005 on the front busy going nowhere. It was 'retard' by 40 minutes when we arrived. By the time we had the station it was advertised as 2 hours late! A last look inside the station with a very impressive map on the wall. A quick beer before we headed to the airport turned into a night in Bordeaux thanks to the BA cancellations. Fortunately we were accommodated on the Sunday morning flight so in the end it worked out quite nicely. I can recommend doing this trip though if I were to do it again, i'd probably just do the La Rochelle to Bordeaux section due to the slow running of the northern section (as it is.) I took a few videos of the trains - you can find the others from this one: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Many thanks for these pics and your commentary! This is (almost) my local main line and I too, highly recommend a trip along it. There is much local disquiet here, about just how much is being spent on the new LGV line to Bordeaux (albeit this is funded through a type of PFI arrangement), which will help no-one around here, and on so many station refurbishments, but RFF cannot even maintain the existing track adequately. They have spent a small fortune upgrading selected parts of the very local line between St Jean d'Angely and Saintes, but, as you say, not on the main line north of La Rochelle. Given the devolution of the funding of many "local" lines' services and rolling stock to the new, larger political regions, there is considerable debate about whether the regions should also control track maintenance (they will be partly paying for it through track access charges anyway). RFF are planning to restore line speeds between La Rochelle and Nantes, but the dates for these works seem to move forever backwards, given their current funding crisis. The national government comptroller has recently declared that RFF could be technically bankrupt soon if the current funding and spending model continues. Something has got to change and quickly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Martin Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 I like these accounts of foreign train jaunts! Does that map at Bordeaux show the lines of a pre-SNCF French company; and if so, which one? Jim <Edit>Okay, I've just looked again and noticed the bottom-left of the map, where it says it's the Chemin de Fer du Midi</Edit> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 I like these accounts of foreign train jaunts! Does that map at Bordeaux show the lines of a pre-SNCF French company; and if so, which one? Jim The Chemins de Fer du Midi. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted May 30, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 30, 2017 Seems strange for an Italian pilgrimage train to Lourdes to travel via Bordeaux. Presumably a diversion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kintbury jon Posted May 30, 2017 Author Share Posted May 30, 2017 I am not sure it was from Italy. The coaches were very much German branded. Mike - it was interesting running alongside the TGV line south of Jonzac. Looks ready to go and I see it is due to open at the beginning of July. The new TGVs seem to be ready and we saw a brand spanking new TGV 863 arriving. Here it is with 67523 departing. Out with the old - in with the new! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 I am not sure it was from Italy. The coaches were very much German branded. Mike - it was interesting running alongside the TGV line south of Jonzac. Looks ready to go and I see it is due to open at the beginning of July. The new TGVs seem to be ready and we saw a brand spanking new TGV 863 arriving. Here it is with 67523 departing. Out with the old - in with the new! The new sets have been running for some months now, first on test and now on driver training. The most spectacular view is from the autoroute across the river, looking at them running across the new bridge/viaduct just north of Bordeaux. They do look good! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordonwis Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Seems strange for an Italian pilgrimage train to Lourdes to travel via Bordeaux. Presumably a diversion. Euro Express is a German coach hire company based in Münster, northern Germany. The coaches get used on pilgrim trains from far and wide, so this one was presumably from northern Europe (via Paris?) The stock can be hired for any occasion (!). Their web site amusingly listing footex and pilgrim-ex in the same listing - two ends of a spectrum... . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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