History of Rail Transport in France
In France, rail transport is dominated by passenger traffic, which is primarily driven by high-speed rail. The national state-owned railway company, SNCF, operates the majority of passenger and freight services on the national network, which is managed by its subsidiary SNCF Réseau. France currently has the second-largest European railway network, with a total length of 29,901 kilometres.
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In 1828, the first French railway line opened between Saint Etienne and Andrézieux, southwest of Lyon. Early English railways were viewed as a supplement to inland waterways, but it soon became clear that this was a revolutionary mode of transportation. In 1829, Marc Seguin installed his multi-tube boiler steam locomotive, which he developed with the Stephensons, on this railway. This engine is still operational today.
​The Paris - St Germain line, the first built specifically for passenger traffic and the first to serve the capital, opened in 1837. Early trunk lines, such as Paris-Rouen (1843) and Paris-Orléans (1843), drew on English technology and expertise, leaving a permanent legacy in the gauge and left-hand running that is still practised on double-track in France, with the exception of Alsace-Lorraine lines and the Paris Metro.
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To control transport policy, France passed a law defining the network's shape and economic base in 1842. Track and train companies would lease land, formation, and civil engineering from the state. In the 1850s, town-to-town routes formed the "Big Six" grands réseaux: Est, Nord, Ouest, Paris – Orléans (PO, which extended south to Bordeaux), Midi (deep south), and Paris – Lyon–Méditerranée. In the original master plan, the PO and PLM split "Grand Central" concessions before construction.
Cormorant Garamond is a classic font with a modern twist. It's easy to read on screens of every shape and size, and perfect for long blocks of text.
In 1828, the first France railway line opened between Saint Etienne and Andrézieux, southwest of Lyon. Early English railways were viewed as a supplement to inland waterways, but it soon became clear that this was a revolutionary mode of transportation. In 1829, Marc Seguin installed his multi-tube boiler steam locomotive, which he developed with the Stephensons, on this railway. This engine is still operational today.
The Paris - St Germain line, the first built specifically for passenger traffic and the first to serve the capital, opened in 1837. Early trunk lines, such as Paris-Rouen (1843) and Paris-Orléans (1843), drew on English technology and expertise, leaving a permanent legacy in the gauge and left-hand running that is still practised on double-track in France, with the exception of Alsace-Lorraine lines and the Paris Metro.
To control transport policy, France passed a law defining the network's shape and economic base in 1842. Track and train companies would lease land, formation, and civil engineering from the state. In the 1850s, town-to-town routes formed the "Big Six" grands réseaux: Est, Nord, Ouest, Paris – Orléans (PO, which extended south to Bordeaux), Midi (deep south), and Paris – Lyon–Méditerranée. In the original master plan, the PO and PLM split "Grand Central" concessions before construction.
After the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, Prussia annexed Alsace and Lorraine and integrated their railways into its own system, resulting in right-hand running. When the territory was returned to France in 1918, Alsace-Lorraine (AL) remained a separate company until nationalisation. In 1878, the state (Etat) took over a group of loss-making western lines, which later absorbed the Ouest railway in 1909. Four years before the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français nationalised the entire main-line network, the PO and Midi merged in 1934.
The design of French locomotives originated in Britain. Long-boiler and Stephenson "Patentee" models were licenced by French corporations. William Buddicom introduced the Crewe Type to Sotteville in order to provide it with supplies for the Paris-Rouen and Le Havre railways. Although the Ouest briefly utilised a Webb compound, they adhered to British practise for years. The TGV was inspired by the Crampton engine, which was shunned by Britain.
French locomotive development had found its way, influenced by two factors. The first was poor local coal quality, which necessitated costly imports while encouraging fuel efficiency. As a result, elaborate valve gears, feed-water heaters, compounding, or double expansion are preferred. Around the turn of the twentieth century, Alfred de Glehn and du Bousquet of the Nord established the four-cylinder compound layout, which became almost the norm for large machines. Other companies produced variations on the theme, and every now and then, someone would build a simple-expansion locomotive to demonstrate that compounds were still a good thing
