Tours–Saint-Nazaire railway

The railway from Tours to Saint-Nazaire is an important French 282-kilometre long railway line, following the lower course of the river Loire. It is used for passenger (express, regional and suburban) and freight traffic. The railway was opened in several stages between 1848 and 1857.[3]

Tours–Saint-Nazaire railway
Map of the line until Le Croisic
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	RFF
Locale	France (Centre-Val de Loire, Pays de la Loire)
Termini	Tours Saint-Nazaire
Service
System	SNCF
Operator(s)	SNCF
History
Opened	1848 - 1857
Technical
Line length	282.4 km (175.5 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track[1]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz[2]
Route map Legend - 235.763 Tours From Paris/HSL A/Vierzon 233.020 Saint-Pierre-des-Corps to Poitiers/Chinon/Loches 237.390 239.900 to Le Mans / Châteaudun 244.879 Saint-Genouph 248.850 Savonnières 255.811 Cinq-Mars-la-Pile 260.233 Langeais 268.989 Saint-Patrice 276.850 La Chapelle-sur-Loire Line from Chinon 281.700 Port-Boulet 289.702 Varennes-sur-Loire 297.500 Line from Thouars 298.800 299.101 Saumur-Rive-Droite 299.800 Line to Vivy 306.834 Saint-Martin-de-la-Place 310.214 Saint-Clément-des-Levées 314.417 Les Rosiers-sur-Loire 320.145 La Ménitré 323.835 Saint-Mathurin-sur-Loire 330.549 La Bohalle 336.537 Trélazé 340.134 from Le Mans / Loudun Angers Maître-École 341.526 342.366 Tunnel André Leroy (82 m) 342.950 Angers-Saint-Laud 350.327 La Pointe-Bouchemaine 355.390 Savennières-Béhuard 358.444 358.445 La Possonnière Line to Cholet 36x.500 Saint-Georges-sur-Loire 372.737 Champtocé-sur-Loire 376.867 Ingrandes-sur-Loire 380.812 Montrelais 385.164 Varades–St-Florent-le-Vieil 391.1xx Anetz (14m) 397.238 Ancenis 406.451 Oudon 408.319 Tunnel des Folies Siffait (22 m) 409.040 Tunnel de la Saulzaie (85 m) 410.039 Clermont-sur-Loire 410.200 Tunnel de Clermont (101 m) 412.142 Le Cellier 415.861 Mauves 420.885 Thouaré-sur-Loire 423.637 Sainte-Luce 427.000 Nantes-Blottereau 428.280 Line from La Rochelle 429.000 to Segré / Saint-Gilles from Châteaubriant 429.361 430.420 Nantes 432.155 Héronnière Tunnel (510 m) 432.155 Chantenay Tunnel (1195 m) 435.123 Chantenay 440.291 Basse-Indre-St-Herblain 445.660 Couëron 453.500 St-Étienne-de-Montluc 459.111 Cordemais 469.477 Savenay (18m) 469.760 Line to Quimper & Landerneau 480.988 Donges (8m) 487.823 Line from Pontchâteau & Sablé 488.417 Montoir-de-Bretagne (5m) 491.735 La Croix-de-Méan (6m) 493.027 Penhoët (5m) to port of Saint-Nazaire 494.005 493.658 Saint-Nazaire (New station) (6m) to Le Croisic

Main stations

• Tours station
• Saumur station
• Angers-Saint-Laud station
• Nantes station
• Saint-Nazaire station

Line history

Construction of the railway was started by the Chemin de Fer de Tours à Nantes, that became part of the Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans in 1852.[4] The section between Tours and Saumur was opened in 1848. Saumur was linked to Angers in 1849, and the section between Angers and Nantes was opened in 1851. Finally, the section between Nantes and Saint-Nazaire was opened in 1857.[3]

References

1. "RFF - Map of all railway lines" (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. Joanne, Adolphe (1859). Atlas historique et statistique des chemins de fer français (in French). Paris: L. Hachette. p. 47.