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
System	SNCF
Status	Operational
Locale	France (Centre-Val de Loire, Nouvelle Aquitaine, Occitanie)
Termini	Gare des Aubrais Gare de Montauban-Ville-Bourbon
Operation
Opened	1847-1893
Owner	RFF
Operator(s)	SNCF
Technical
Line length	544 km (338 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track[1]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	1.5 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 000.0 520.0 Gignac-Cressensac 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:

• TGV on the section between Orléans and Brive-la-Gaillarde
• Intercités from Bordeaux to Lyon on the section between Limoges and Saint-Sulpice-Laurière, and from Paris to Toulouse on the whole line
• TER Centre-Val de Loire, TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine and TER Occitanie regional services on the whole line

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.