Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest
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| Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest | |
|---|---|
| Image:Ouest.png | |
| Locale | Normandy, Paris and Brittany |
| Dates of operation | 1855 – 1909 |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge) |
| Headquarters | Paris |
The Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Ouest (CF de l'Ouest), often referred to simply as L'Ouest or Ouest, was an early French railway company.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Birth of the company
The Compagnie de l'Ouest was created in 1855 by the merger of various small railways established in Normandy and Brittany.
Ouest's oldest line (still open to this day) is the Paris to Saint-Germain-en-Laye line, opened on 24 August 1837 by Émile Pereire. It is now part of the RER line A. On 9 July 1835 the French Government "accepte l'offre du Sieur Émile Pereire d'exécuter à ses frais, risques et périls un chemin de fer de Paris à St Germain". Émile Pereire and his brother Isaac start the Compagnie Chemin de Fer de Paris à St Germain. The wording risk and perils although used in financial terms does reflect the mentality of the time. There is a genuine fear and dissinterest in the railway. At the time of Pereire's growing interest in the railway Thiers said "les chemins de fer, bons tout au plus à remplacer les coucous de banlieue, n'auraient jamais d'application pratique". It granted Pereire's request for a concession but warned him of his sure demise. On the day of the opening, the Queen Amélie takes part and makes the inaugural trip to St Germain. Pereire won, he proved that safe rail passenger transport is possible. On its first week of opening, the line sees 37000 passengers and on the second 60000. This success attracted much financial backing and Pereire formed a larger company. The line from Paris to Rouen is immediately voted for. Price for the trip is 5.5 F on the weekend and 2.5 F during the week.
The Companie des Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest was formed by the merger of the companies of:
- Paris to Rouen
- Rouen au Havre
- Saint Germain
- L'Ouest (both lines to Versailles and Paris - Rennes
- Dieppe et Fécamp
- Paris à Caen et Cherbourg (being built)
The Imperial Government also imposes the construction of several lines:
- Argentan - Granville
- Rennes - Brest
- Rennes - Saint-Malo
- Rennes - Redon
- Le Mans - Angers
- Serquigny - Rouen
- Lisieux - Honfleur
- Mézidon-Canon - Le Mans
The Government also imposed several secondary lines.
Because of the company's financial situation due to the region it served (agricultural for the most part), the law of 13 July 1908 sees the integration of the Companie des Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest into the Chemin de Fer de l'État. On 1 January 1909, Ouest became part of the Chemins de fer de l'État.
[edit] Accidents
- On a Sunday in May 1842 one the worst accident in French railway history happened near Meudon: 164 victims, 55 deaths, burnt alive. After this incident the company no longer locked doors on passenger coaches.
- On the 22 October 1895 an express train originating from Granville traverses Montparnasse station, plows into the buffers, wrecks the station building's front wall and drops to the ground on the street below. The only victim was the news agent who was squashed by the locomotive.
- In 1881 there were 2064 railway related accidents: 185 rerailings, 190 collisions, 692 accidents on the line. 512 passengers died in these accidents, 10 times less on stagecoaches.
[edit] Paris stations
L'Ouest built several stations within Paris; the two main terminals St Lazare and Montparnasse as well as Pont Cardinet at the beginning of the line to Auteuil.
In 1851, St Lazare station, Ouest's Parisian station is enlarged to comprise six groups for each main destination the station served:
- Group I & II: Versailles
- Group III: Auteuil
- Group IV: Argenteuil
- Group V: St Germain-en-Laye
- Group VI: Rouen, Le Havre & Dieppe (the line to Caen is served by this group wasn't open until 1855).
[edit] La Ligne d'Auteuil
| L'Ouest was the first company to pioneer suburban transport. St Lazare station was by 1931 dealing with 13.2 million passengers annually compared to merely 3 million in average in the other Parisian stations. In 1854 L'Ouest opened a typically Parisian line; 'La Ligne d'Auteuil'. This line started within Paris an ended in Paris, serving the Parisian inhabitants mainly for work purposes. The line was 7 km long (4.3 miles) and served St Lazare, Bâtignoles, Courcelles-Levallois, Neuilly Porte-Maillot, Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, Avenue Henri-Martin, Boulainvilliers, Passy and Auteuil. The line was built in a cutting, removing the need for any level crossing which was the first line of its kind. The line also boasts elegant station buildings such as the Auteuil terminus and Courcelles-Levallois station. All station were built above the line with access to the platforms. The line was part of the circular line Petite Ceinture which linked all Parisian termini for freight purposes. |
[edit] Line openings
[edit] Architecture
[edit] A sense of identity
As many railway companies Ouest adopted its own architecture. Stations in large cities such as Le Havre, Lisieux, Deauville and Paris are unique. More modest halts were graced with 'type' building, which are called 'type Ouest', the best preserved examples can be found in Dives-sur-Mer and Houlgate. According to the size of the town or village close to the proposed site for the station, a station of a certain size was built. There are three generic types of station buildings; the BV3, BV5 and BV7. BV stands for Bâtiment Voyageur (station building) and the number, the number of doors accessible. The larger the town, the larger the station building.
As well as station, infrastructure was also in mind when saving money so Ouest created a level crossing guard house template (see below).
[edit] Station photos
Paris St Lazare station from the Pont de l'Europe |
Rouen Rue Verte station |
Caen station |
Blonville-Bénèrville station |
Houlgate station |
Pont L'Evèque station |
Trouville-Deauville station (situated in Deauville) |
Villers-sur-Mer station |
A typical Ouest level crossing guard house |
[edit] References
- (French) Histoire du réseau ferroviaire français, 1996, Editions de l'Ormet / Imprimerie Bayeusienne Graphique. ISBN 2-906575-22-4
- (French) Le tour du Calvados en 80 cartes, 1996, Direction Départementale de l'Equipement (Calvados).
- (French) Paris et l'Île de France - Tome 1: Les réseaux Est, Nord et Saint-Lazare, 2002, Le Train. ISSN 1267-5008
- (French) Electrification des lignes Paris-Caen-Cherbourg et Paris-Trouville-Deauville, 1996, Conseil Régional de Basse Normandie (Rémy Desquesnes).
| Major constituent railway companies of the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français: |
CF de l'Est | CF de l'État (CF de l'Ouest) | CF du Nord | CF PLM | PO-Midi (CF PO and CF du Midi) |
