La France des lignes oubli?es.

[ianp]

I bought a copy of this book recently (published by La Vie Du Rail) from the LR Presse website. May I recommend it? It looks back at 80 years or so of line closures in France. My French is very poor so I struggled badly with the text. But the photos are excellent and so is the long list at the back (along with maps) outlining, region by region, the many now-closed railway lines throughout France. What is fascinating is that it looks just at standard gauge main and secondary lines, of which there were many which have now closed. The local, often narrow gauge, lines aren't in the scope of this book. It is well worth obtaining, in my view. Compared to the UK, it appears that the French had been busy closing lines for many decades before we got round to it in a big way in the 1960s. All fascinating and nostalgic stuff.

[Mike Storey]

I completely concur. Marvellous book.

 

For those interested in all gauges of closed lines (and those still open) there is a range of books and booklets based on regions. I only have "Le Train en Poitou-Charente" volumes 1 to 4, under the series Les Chemins de la Memoire, published originally in 2005. I have seen similar books on other regions in the station bookstalls at Limoges and at Bordeaux, and at some of the preserved lines, but never yet in ordinary bookshops. Beware though that a web search under "Chemins de (la) Memoire" tends to generate mainly military history!

[Joseph_Pestell]

Yes, the French had a big closure programme in the 1930s as a prelude to nationalisation in 1938.

 

That it was a Socialist government that carried this out has been a running sore with the mainly Communist-led rail unions ever since.

 

Certainly a book that I would be interested in.

[Mike Storey]

Yes, the French had a big closure programme in the 1930s as a prelude to nationalisation in 1938.

 

That it was a Socialist government that carried this out has been a running sore with the mainly Communist-led rail unions ever since.

 

 

 

Indeed. Looks like that may be about to happen again, if the RFF proposals gain any support.

[jivebunny]

Whilst I haven't got this book in particular, I never fail to pick up old LVDR publications whenever I find them in bookshops, usually at the bottom of a pile of books about fighter jets, motorbikes and classic cars. They're usually a good read, or if your French doesn't extend beyond ordering essentials like foie gras and wine, then they're pleasant to look through.

 

The latest one I picked up was this one, for 8€. Some lovely photos of the railways as they used to be.

 

 

 

Times are strange on the French railways. Whilst RFF do want to shut things down and reduce services, I don't think we're quite about to see a Beeching-style railway massacre. You have track beds being preserved and even abandoned lines being re-opened. Take the Petite Ceinture in Paris for example, which has been laying abandoned for 25-30 years. One of its rail bridges, which took an elevated part of the track over a number of roads, was recently knocked down during the tram works on T3a only to then be replaced with an entirely new (rail) bridge. A mere 20 metres away the entire road junction was being redesigned and the brand new twin-track tram line was being built alongside the bridge, rather than using the infinitely simpler solution of just using the existing trackbed. On the same line you have apartment blocks being constructed on the old trackbed, but with twin-track tunnels built into the foundations.

 

All this leads me to think we could see light rail being introduced to the Petite Ceinture within ten years, especially when you consider Paris intends to ban all diesel vehicles from the centre by 2020 (good luck with that), and from next year all petrol vehicles built before 1997, which is going to make a lot of people unhappy as the average age of French cars is considerably greater than in the UK (mine's from 2006 and it's probably among the five newest vehicles in my small town...)

 

Closer to where I am, the Nantes-Chateaubriant line, which closed to passenger traffic in 1980 and which subsequently remained unused (bar one freight a month on a short portion of it), was recently entirely rebuilt and electrified to provide a new commuter service to Nantes, using brand new track, tram-trains ordered especially for the line, and entirely rebuilt stations.

 

Then of course there are all the LGVs being extended to improve access to and from poorly-served parts of the country, of course at the expense of other areas which still have to "make do" with the same loco-hauled services we had 20 years ago, (I'm personally not going to complain about seeing a 40-year old diesels or electric at the front of my train).

 

JB

[Mike Storey]

Whilst I haven't got this book in particular, I never fail to pick up old LVDR publications whenever I find them in bookshops, usually at the bottom of a pile of books about fighter jets, motorbikes and classic cars. They're usually a good read, or if your French doesn't extend beyond ordering essentials like foie gras and wine, then they're pleasant to look through.

 

The latest one I picked up was this one, for 8€. Some lovely photos of the railways as they used to be.

 

 

 

Times are strange on the French railways. Whilst RFF do want to shut things down and reduce services, I don't think we're quite about to see a Beeching-style railway massacre. You have track beds being preserved and even abandoned lines being re-opened. Take the Petite Ceinture in Paris for example, which has been laying abandoned for 25-30 years. One of its rail bridges, which took an elevated part of the track over a number of roads, was recently knocked down during the tram works on T3a only to then be replaced with an entirely new (rail) bridge. A mere 20 metres away the entire road junction was being redesigned and the brand new twin-track tram line was being built alongside the bridge, rather than using the infinitely simpler solution of just using the existing trackbed. On the same line you have apartment blocks being constructed on the old trackbed, but with twin-track tunnels built into the foundations.

 

All this leads me to think we could see light rail being introduced to the Petite Ceinture within ten years, especially when you consider Paris intends to ban all diesel vehicles from the centre by 2020 (good luck with that), and from next year all petrol vehicles built before 1997, which is going to make a lot of people unhappy as the average age of French cars is considerably greater than in the UK (mine's from 2006 and it's probably among the five newest vehicles in my small town...)

 

Closer to where I am, the Nantes-Chateaubriant line, which closed to passenger traffic in 1980 and which subsequently remained unused (bar one freight a month on a short portion of it), was recently entirely rebuilt and electrified to provide a new commuter service to Nantes, using brand new track, tram-trains ordered especially for the line, and entirely rebuilt stations.

 

Then of course there are all the LGVs being extended to improve access to and from poorly-served parts of the country, of course at the expense of other areas which still have to "make do" with the same loco-hauled services we had 20 years ago, (I'm personally not going to complain about seeing a 40-year old diesels or electric at the front of my train).

 

JB

 

That's good to hear about Paris and Nantes, although RATP and SNCF (with which RFF are now being re-merged) are flat broke. Much of this depends on largesse from Regions or from the more senior representatives in the French parliament for their constituents. There is just no cohesive strategy for rail here yet, just fire-fighting and the odd Grand Projet. Lorries have escaped additional tariffs and long distance coaches have now been de-regulated. What France really needs is the de-regulation of local bus networks so that people can get to their nearest station by public transport, and not have to rely on, basically, the education or health budgets for any public transport that exists outside the major conurbations.

 

Whilst French rail collectively considers four trains a day to be an attractive service (away from TGV lines), there is little hope.

[ianp]

You did well to get that magazine for 8 euros. A quick search on Abebooks turns up just one for sale, and at about £35!