Orléans–Montauban railway

The railway from Orléans to Montauban is an important French 544-kilometre long railway line, that connects Orléans and northern France to Montauban and southern France via Limoges. The railway was opened in several stages between 1847 and 1893, when the section from Limoges to Brive-la-Gaillarde was finished.[3][4]

Orléans–Montauban railway
Viaduc SNCF de Souillac France
Overview
SystemSNCF
StatusOperational
LocaleFrance (Centre-Val de Loire,
Nouvelle Aquitaine, Occitanie)
TerminiGare des Aubrais
Gare de Montauban-Ville-Bourbon
Operation
Opened1847-1893
OwnerRFF
Operator(s)SNCF
Technical
Line length544 km (338 mi)
Number of tracksDouble track[1]
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification1.5 kV DC[2]
Route map
 Line from Paris-Austerlitz
 118.9 Les Aubrais
Line to Tours
121.1 Orléans
000.0 Orléans – Limoges 
000.0
122.7 to Les Bordes
 124.3 River Loire
 133.1 Saint-Cyr-en-Val-La Source
 144.1 La Ferté-Saint-Aubin
 159.9 Lamotte-Beuvron
 166.6 Nouan-le-Fuzelier
178.7 Salbris
Line to Romorantin
 191.0 Theillay
200.8 from Tours
 201.1 Vierzon-Ville
 204.7 Vierzon-Forges
204.7 to Bourges
000.0
206.4 River Cher
 220.3 Reuilly
 230.1 Sainte-Lizaigne
 237.0 Issoudun
 249.2 Neuvy-Pailloux
from La Châtre
 264.1 Châteauroux
000.0
000.0 to Tours
 276.3 Luant
 281.2 Lothiers
 290.2 Chabenet
 295.1 Argenton-sur-Creuse
 316.4 Éguzon
 323.0 Saint-Sébastien
 342.1 La Souterraine
 351.6 Fromental
from Bessines-sur-Gartempe
 362.2 Bersac
 368.1 Saint-Sulpice-Laurière
to Montluçon
000.0
375.6 La Jonchère
 383.3 Ambazac
 389.3 Les Bardys
from Ussel
 392.7 Le Palais
from Poitiers
to Angoulême
 401.2 Limoges-Bénédictins
000.0 Limoges – Montauban 
402.7 to Périgueux
000.0
403.4 River Vienne
 412.9 Solignac-Le Vigen
 421.7 Pierre-Buffière
 433.4 Magnac-Vicq
 437.2 Saint-Germain-les-Belles
 443.5 La Porcherie
 448.1 Masseret
 459.8 Uzerche
 468.2 Vigeois
 483.5 Allassac
498.5 from Nexon
498.6 from Périgueux
 500.0 Brive-la-Gaillarde
500.3 to Tulle
500.4 Line to Figeac
000.0
537.0 Souillac
 543.3 River Dordogne
 559.4 Gourdon
 571.8 Dégagnac
 600.1 Cahors
000.0
601.1 River Lot
601.2 to Capdenac
 617.8 Lalbenque-Fontanes
 640.0 Caussade
 650.4 River Aveyron
 650.7 Albias
 662.7 River Tarn
Line from Bordeaux
 663.5 Montauban-Ville-Bourbon
 Line to Toulouse

Route

The Orléans–Montauban railway leaves the Gare des Aubrais, entering its terminus Gare de Montauban-Ville-Bourbon after a total length of 544 km.

Main stations

The main stations on the Orléans–Montauban railway are:

  • Gare des Aubrais
  • Gare de Vierzon-Ville
  • Gare de Châteauroux
  • Gare de Limoges-Bénédictins
  • Gare de Brive-la-Gaillarde
  • Gare de Montauban-Ville-Bourbon

History

The section Orléans–Châteauroux was built and exploited by the Compagnie du Centre, that became part of Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans in 1852. The PO extended the railway afterwards.[5] The first section that was opened in 1847 led from Orléans (on the existing line from Paris to Tours) to Châteauroux. The line was extended to Argenton-sur-Creuse in 1854. Limoges was reached in 1856.[3]

The opening of the Limoges–Périgueux railway (1861), the Périgueux–Brive-la-Gaillarde section of the Coutras–Tulle railway (1860) and the Brive-la-Gaillarde–Toulouse railway (1858-1864) offered a much shorter connection between Paris and Toulouse than the existing line via Tours and Bordeaux.[3] The opening of the Nexon–Brive-la-Gaillarde railway in 1875 shortened the distance by 69 km.[4]

The distance between Paris and Toulouse was shortened by a further 42 km by the opening of the Limoges–Montauban section of the Orléans–Montauban railway, in three stages: Cahors–Montauban in 1884, Brive-la-Gaillarde–Cahors in 1891, and finally Limoges–Brive-la-Gaillarde via Uzerche in 1893.[4]

Services

The Orléans–Montauban railway is used by the following passenger services:

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References
  1. "RFF - Network map" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-18.
  2. "RFF - Map of electrified railway lines" (PDF).
  3. Direction Générale des Ponts et Chaussées et des Chemins de Fer (1869). Statistique centrale des chemins de fer. Chemins de fer français. Situation au 31 décembre 1869 (in French). Paris: Ministère des Travaux Publics. pp. 146–160.
  4. Banaudo, José (2003). Sur les rails du Limousin (in French). Editions de Borée. p. 4.
  5. Joanne, Adolphe (1859). Atlas historique et statistique des chemins de fer français (in French). Paris: L. Hachette. p. 39.
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