Boulogne–Calais railway

The Boulogne–Calais railway is an electrified double track railway running between the ports of Boulogne-sur-Mer and Calais in France. An extension of the Longueau–Boulogne railway it meets the Lille–Fontinettes railway and Coudekerque-Branche–Fontinettes railway to Dunkirk at Gare des Fontinettes in Calais.

Boulogne-Calais railway
Calais railway station in about 1910
Overview
System	SNCF
Status	Operational
Locale	France Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Termini	Gare de Calais-Ville Gare de Boulogne-Ville
Operation
Opened	1867
Owner	RFF
Operator(s)	SNCF
Technical
Number of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz[1]
Route map Longueau–Boulogne railway to Amiens 253.5 Boulogne-Ville 254.9 Boulogne-Tintelleries 259.5 Wimille-Wimereux 270.0 Marquise-Rinxent 273.2 Haut-Banc freight depôt freight depôt 278.3 Caffiers 282.3 Pihen LGV Nord to Lille-Europe 286.9 Calais-Fréthun 289.5 Fréthun to Channel Tunnel to Eurotunnel Calais Terminal CF AC to Anvin 293.0 Les Fontinettes 293.6 Calais St. Pierre 294.6 Calais-Ville 297.3 Calais-Maritime Coudekerque-Branche– Fontinettes railway to Dunkirk   Lille–Fontinettes railway to Lille Flandres

The line opened on 7 January 1867 with railway stations at Wimille, Marquise, Caffiers and St Pierre. It was used only for local traffic between Boulogne and Calais until that March when the Paris to Calais trains were diverted, cutting 30 minutes off the Paris to London mail route.[2]

Until the start of the Eurostar service from London to Paris in 1994 via LGV Nord it was the main route for the boat trains to Paris which met the ships carrying passengers from Great Britain. As of August 2011 the line is used by TGV services from Rang-du-Fliers via Calais-Fréthun to Lille-Europe and local TER Nord-Pas-de-Calais services.[3]

References

1. "RFF - Map of electrified railway lines" (PDF).
2. "The Opening of the new railway between Boulogne and Calais". The Railway News. 12 January 1867. p. 33. archive
3. Paris-Amiens-Calais-Hazebrouck-Lille timetable (in French)