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ARMY SERVICE FORCES MANUAL

o
CIVIL AFFAIRS HANDBOOK
FRiANCE
SECTION 11 &12: TRANS
PORTATION SYSTEMS WITH
A SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE
ON ..,
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U
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t a i ned in restricted
Oi sse min at i on 0 f res t ric ted mat t e r. - The i nfor mat ion c on
do c ume ntsa,n d the essential c ha r act e r is tic s of restricted
material may.be given to any person known to be in the service of the United
States andt 0 per son s of undoubted loyal t y and dis c ret ion ' who are coo per ating
in Government work, but wi 11 not be commun icated to the publ ic or to the press
except :by authorized military publi,crelations agencies. (See also par. 23b,
AR 380-5', 15 Mar 1944.)
HEA0QUA RTERS, ARM Y SERVI CE FOR CES, 13 JULY 1944
ARMY SERVICE FORCES MANUAL
M35211'&12
Civil Affairs
CIVIL AFFAIRS HANDBOOK
FRANCE
SECTION 11 &12': TRANS
PORTAYION SYSTEMS W!ITH
A SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE
ON COMMUNICATIONS
EC? E&
HEADO UART ERS, ARM Y SE RYICE FOR CES, 13 JULY 1844
.81 . Dillomiruilof'l of f"cutrleted mltters m Tho l"formAtlcHl COM""
taln@d In dOCUM@nifi And the o.l@ntl.1 of F@ltrlQted
mIt (u' i A1 mI y beg I vc"n to A" Y I:hH"."" kno \it" t () bgin t @ Ut f v leo 0f the U" I t d
Stit f;U {HI dt 0 per CHII 0 f u" d0 Ybted loy I 1t Y i" d d II eH' et 10 f't W i r leo0 @ I" i n9
In work, but will Rot be eommun IClted to the public OF to the !)lSI
Ixceptby publlc rol.lloru (Se@ ftl!H} IHH'f '?3b,
AR 3tH.) '" , I M[il I" I 9 )
NUMBERING SYSTEM OF
ABMY snVI CE FORCES MANUALS
The main subject matter of each Army Serviee Forces Manual is indi
cated by consecutive numbering within the following categories:
Ml - M99 Basic and Advanced Training
M100 - M199 Army Specialized Training Progrem and Pre-
Induction 'Training
M20C - M299 Personnel and Morale
M300 - M399 Civil Affairs
M400 - M499 Supply and Transportation
M500 - M599 Fiscal
M600 - M699 Procurement and Production
M700 - M799 Admin! etre.tion
MaOO - M899 Miscellaneous
M900 - up Equipment, Materiel, Housing and Construction

lmADQ,UARTERS, ARMY SERVI CE FORCES,
Washington 25, D. C. 13 July 194
4
Army Service ForcelManual M.352 - 11 &12, Transportation Systems in
France, has been prepared under the supervision of The Provost Marshal
General, and is published for the information and guidance of all concerned.
C=SPX 461 (21 Sep
By command of Lieutenant General SOMERVELL:
w. D. STYER,
Major General, General Staff Corpe,
. Chief of Staff.
OFFICIAL
J. A. ULIO,
General,
Adjutant General.
INTRODUCTION
P1ITpOSeS of the Civil Affairs Ifandhook.
International La:wplaces upon an power the obligation
and respot:lsibilit:,r for establishing goverrL'nent and maintaining- ',civil
order in the areas occupied.
The basic pnrposes of civil affairs officers are thus (1) to as
sist the General of the conbat'units by quickly establishing
those orderl
J
?' conditions which viill contribute most effectivelv to the
conduct of military operations, (2) to reduce to a minimum the"hUI:lan
suf,f"erinr and the material damage resulting from disorder and (3) to
create the conditions which will rnakeit possible for civilian agencies
to function effectively. '
The preparation of Civil Affaira Handbooks is apart of the effort
of the Department to carry out this obligation as efficiently and,
hlmanely as is possib,le. The Handbooks do not deal. withplanninr or
policy. They are rather ready reference source books of the basic
factval information needed for planning and polipy makinr. For these
reasons, it should be clear that the data contained in this section
00es not imply any riven program of action.
Revision for Final Puhlication.
Significant area information is irx1ediately needed (a) for civil
. affairs' officers charred with makincand planning, (b) for the
use of civil affairs and (c) to 8D.ke certa.in that
orranizeel data is in hand, vlheneverevents requireit.
Arrangements were therefore made with the cooperating arencies to
organize all irrJl1ediately available material in accordance l'!ji th a pre
pared outline. Hence, this section on Systems in France
should be cons'id,ered a preliminary drE!!1. Because the complete section
on Cor.nm.mications is not now available, .a note onCormm.ll1ications has
been appended to this section on Trans.portation S:ystems. . If time per
there will be a revision of Section XI on Transportation Systems
and a separate section (XII) on Communications vIil1 beavailable later.
OFFICERS USING THIS MATERIAL ARE TO MAKE SlTGGESTIONS AND
CRITICISTvlS INDICATING TI-m REVISIONS OR ADDITIONS WHICH WOULD MAKE THIS
rrl1\.TERIAIJ MORE USEFUL FOR THEIR FURPOS'ES. CRITICISNS SHOUIJD BE SENT
r.ro THE CHIEF, SURVEY AND SECTION, MILITARY GOVERNMENT DIVISION,
2805 MUNITIONS BUILDING, D. C. (OR PHONE WAR DEPART
Mm-JT ,E:X:TEESION 76370).
1. Geographical and Social Background
2. Government and Administration
3. Legal Affairs
4. Government Finance
5. Honey and Banking
6. Natural Resources
7 II . Agriculture
8. Industr-J and Commerce
9. Labor
10. Public Works and Utilities
11. Transportation Systems
12. Communications
13.
Public Health and Sanitation
l l ~ .
Public Safety
15. Education
16. Public Welfare
ijd 22
'.,.' ,
-...,
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS--FRANCE
(WITH A-NOTE ON GOMMUNICATIONS)
CONTENTS' "
'Page
I. Transportation Systems, 1
!. 1
(1) Administration 1
'(a) French administration 1
(b) Gerlllancontrol 2
(2) General Considerations 2
(a). 2
(b) Ga'Uge 2
,.(c) 'Motive power
2,
f. Electric power 2
ii. Steam.Tractivepower
:3
(d) Lubrican'ts
3
<.e) Water :3
(r) Bal]..ast and Standards of Roadbed
Construction
:3
(g) Ties
4
(h) !laila'
4
!. Types qf rail
4
ii. Weight of rail
4
iii. Length of rail, and joints
4
(i) Maintenance of ways and structures
5
(j) Bridges and tunnels
5
(lc) Signal system
5
New construction' 6
(m) Locomptive and rolling stock
equipment 6
(n) . Repair maintenance 7
(0) 7
i. 'Passenger traffic 7
ii. Freight traffic 7
(i) . 'Volume,'of traffic
7
(j.t) Seasonal movements 8
(3) The Five Regions _ 8
(a) The Northern Region S
i. General 8
ii. Tracks '9
iii Axle loads 9
iv. Gradients 9
v. Sheds, works, marshalling yards' 9
vi. Passenger traffic 9
(i) Pa.ris subUrban 10
, (ii) International traffic 10
(iii) Channel seaside resorts 10
(iv) Local traffic in industr
ial area' 10
(v) Miscellaneous 10
'.
vii 10
(b) The Eastern Region 12
1. General 12
ii Tracks 13
lii. .Axle loads 13
iv. Gradients 14
v. Sheds, viorks, marshalling yards 14
vi. Passenger traffic l4
vli. Freight traffic 15
(c) The Southeastern Region 16
1. General 16
ii Tracks 17
iii. Electrified lines 17
iv. Axle loads 17
v. Gre.dients lS
vi. Sheds ,works, marshalling yards 18
vii. Passenger traffic . IS
viii. Freight trai'flc 19
(d) The Southwes.tern Region 21
i. General . 21,
ii. Track 22
iii. Electrified lines 24
i v. Axle loads
v. Gradients 24
vi. Sheds, works and 'marshal1ing
;)rards . 24
vii. Passepger Traffic 25
viii. Freighttraffic 2;
(e) The Western Region 26
i. General: 26
ii. Track 27
iii. Electrified lines 27
"1v. Axle loads 28
,v. Gradients 28
vi. yards 28
vii. Passenger traffic 28
.(i) Paris suburba.n 29 '
(11) International 29
(iii) Seaside' resorts 29
.,
(iv) Miscellaneous 29
'nii. Fremght .traffic . 30
(4) Railways in the Paris Area 31
(;) Supplemental Note on Railcar and Rai1way
. opera.ted. Road;Service 36
12. Motor Transportation 3S
(1) AdJnillistl!ation' 38
Hignway. System 39
(3) Mileage
43
(4) Construction
44
......... )"h

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
SurfacP.
Curves and Gradiants
Gamber )
Shoulders
Bridges
Level crossings
(5). Snow Blockades
() Motor Tra.nsport Facilities
.Q.. Internal VJaterways Canals
(1) Extent
(2) Class1r,"cation
(3) Fleet
(4) Administration

(d) Southern Waterways
i. SaSne-Rh8rie'system
1
ii'. Garonne-Midi system
iii. Adour river
(e) Loire System
(f) WesternWaterways
g. . Civil Aviation
;"(-1')' \I\dministrat.ion
(a) Central AdministrRtion
(b) Field Services
(c) Military Aviation
Cd). National Meteorological
44,
46

46
46
47
47
4S
4S
48
49
49
50
50
50
50
52
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
54
55
55
5?
55
55
56
56
56
56
56
57
57
Airfields and SeapJ1::i.ne .Base:s t;7:'
Flight Hazards'
58
Radio Facilities: ;,',
Air Traffic Centres ;8
Air .
59'
Air " ;'9i;
(b) <tJ:
(c) Air Bleu, " 60;
60,
(d) ,'. , 6cf
ii. Mediterranean a.nd the last: 61
iii. Continental 6f
:Lv.. Seasonal .services:.

v. Special se,it-,:lces to'
Bordeaux,,'1oul.ouse:,J' Ma'l:.S'eil1e:
Q,
Select,ed Re.ferences

Maps and Figures
II. Note. Comnnmi.cations
tive Cons:iderat:i.ons
'f.0;
70
70
70
71
ITE?" .nl'l
TRANSPORTATION
.!.. Railroads
(1) Administration
(a) French Administration. The main railroad lines in .
France t are operated by- the French National Railroad Compart'
(Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer - S.N.C.F.), an autono
mousgovernment corporation, organized on January 1, 1938 throUgh
the amalgamation of the tour formerly private and two government
owned railroad systems. Prior to this date the railroads were'
operated by the following companies: Etat, !lsace-Lorraine, Nord.
,
Est, Paris-Orleans, Midi, Paris-Lyone-Mediterranee, and Ceinture.
In addition to the lines operated by the S.N.C.F. there are a
number or private railroads, both standard and narrow gauge.
Thenat10nallines are divided into five geographic regions:
Northern; Eastern, Southeastern, Southwestern, and Western. The
administratfon of the national and private railroads is controlled
by the Secretaire d'Etat aux Communications. A Direction
des Transports in 'the Secretary's office supervises the Direction
oJ,n'rale desChemina de Fer, which is in charge of the actual
. management of the national railroads. It has the following divi:"
sions: (1) re Generale <Secretary); (2) Service Centrale
de Movement Operation; :3 Service Centrale du (Equip
ment); (4) Service Centrale des Installations (Ways and' Structures) ;
(5) Service Centrale du Personnel (Personnel); (6) Service Commer
tif (Trattic); Services Fi!!!IDciery (Finance and ACcoun.ting);
B Service des A ovironnements Commandeset (Stores
and purchasing; 9 Service de l' Organization Technique (Rationali
zation) The Direction Mn&rale is in charge of all matters ot
general policy and of those concernirig more than one region.
The regions. are administered under the supervision of the
Direction the Directions Regionales, with headquarters
in Paris. The Directions Regionales are dfvided into the following
departments: (1) Division Administrative (AdministratioD (2)
Service de l'exploitation (Operation including Traffic); (3).s:- .
vice du Materiel et de 1a Traction (Maintenance and operation of
J,uipment); (4) Service des Voies and des Batiments (Construction
and Maintenance of permanent ways and structures).
Because of the strong tendency toward centralization in French
administration, the powers of' the regional managements are limited.
The regions are divided into districts called Arrondissements
districts are organized along either divisional or departmental lines.
In the first case, a Chef' de l'Arrondissement is responsible for
operations in the district. He is assisted by the officials in charge

-1
of operation, ways and structures and equipmen't. All lower agencies
report to the Chef de IDArrondissement. In the second case, an I!!
specteur PrinCiiale de l'exploitation is responsible for.operational
matters, an Ing nieur de voie for ways and structures, and an Ingltnieur
de traction for equipment and operation. The, lower agencies reporl to
the official responsible for their particular type of work.
(b) German Control. There have been no reports that the German
Military authorities have ohanged the administrative organization of
the French railroads The Direotion Mn&rale and the Directions Rb
gionalesare still in charge of operating the national railroads. ,It
is reported, however, that during the first period of occupation end
ing November, 1942, temporary headquarters were set up in Limoges for
handling matters concerning the then Unoccupied Zone. This agency
has probably been discontinued.
The German authorities have, howe'\ter, exerted great influence by'
less direct methods upon railroad operation, equipment distribution
and other matters. Under the 1940 armistice terms Germany had direct'
control of the two important lines to Bordeaux and their continuation
to the Spanish border at Hendaye. A large part of the French 'equip
ment was requisitioned for German purposes. At present, all rail
transportation is directed solely in the interest of the German war
effort.
(2) General Gonsiderations (See Table I)
(a) Clearance. The European railroads have adopted by agreement
the same clearance for equipment on all main lines. French railways
participate in the agreement. This clearance is larger than the Bri
tish, but smaller than the American standard.
(b) Gauge. Nearly all national lines in France are standard
gauge (4 feet 8t inches). '
(c) Motive Power
i. Electric Power. One-third of French coal conswnptiop
1s imported, and the avera.ge annual consumption by the railways from '
1921 to 1936 was 11 million tons; the use of hydro-electric power by
railroads is, therefore, of vital importance. Before 1914 about ,60
miles of electric lines were inexistence. In 1920 a considerable
program of was planned but was suspended after the
completion of only the Modane-ChamMry, Paris-Vierzon sections. After
1931 the program was resumed; the portionseompleted were on the Paris
Orleans-Midi system between Paris and Hendaye and on the Etat system
the main line between Paris and La Mans. By '1939,2,045 mies of main
line were electrified in addition to about 500 miles of local lines.
The largest of the local lines was the Haute... Viennes system operating
about 236 miles centerine on Limoges. The most important of the local
- :3 -
electrified lines is the Paris Metro which is considered later.
According to 'recent reports the Brive Montauban section of the
Limog,s-Toulouse line 1s scheduled for' completion by December,
194.3. The Paris-Toulouse line would then be entirely electrified.
The French, system of electrification is differenttrom that
in use on most lines in Germany, Austria and Switzerland which,
operate' on 15,000 volt AC 1/16 2/2 cycles single phase current,
and from the Italian system which operates for the most part on
.3,700 volt DC current.
(r) Ballast and standards of Roadbed Construction0 Measure
ments of typically constructed roadbeds on main lines are as fol
lows:
-4
~ ;
Double-track lines Single-track lines
Meters Feet Meters Feet
Formation width 31.63 6.97 19.91
Ballast width at the base 28.35 5.07 16.63
Ballast at the r o a d w ~ platform
Depth of the Ballast
23.43
1.6
3.57
0.5
11.71
1.6
For the most part crUshed f'lint is used as ballast. Where this
is not available crushed stone at other types or bricks are used. Cin
ders are used on' lines adj aC,ent .to roundhouses.
(g) Ties. Wooden ties are used almost exclusively. They are
usually at oak or creosoted beech, although sultated pine is used
on the former Midi system. Concrete ties were used during the first,
Wo:rld War, but have largely been replaced by wooden ties. Steel ties
are used on some of the high-speed express lines. In general ties are
spaced at the rate ot 14 per 100 feet or rail, although in recent
years the-tendenCy bas been to lay 16 and -18 per 100 feet of rail.
(h) ~ .
i. Types of Rail. A high proportion ot rails wi.th double
heads are still in use, particularly on the former Midi lines, although
many have been replaced with rails ,of the v1gnole type.
ii. Weight at Hai!. The weight of' rail for France in 1935
was as followst
-Length of Track Weight
Kilometers Miles Ky. per meter the. Per Yd.
26,000 16,156 30 - 38 68-. 85
14,115 8,790
44 46 95 -100
12,5.30
7,780,
46 100
7,610 4,128 J.B 105
1,130 7,021 50 110
335
2,082 52 135
In 1935 "the average weight was comparatively low, but the propor
tion .of heavy rails has increased since heavy types have been used in
all relaying ot track on main lines
. iii. Length of Rail. and Joints. The length of rail varies
from 40 to 80 teet. Joints are squared, that is the joints of the two
rails of the track exe directly-opposite each other rather than stag
gered as in the Un!ted States, -and 6 bolt joints (1% - 37 inches)
are used when heavy rails are laid. 'Smaller joints are used tor
lighter rails.
(i) Maintel1ance of Ways. and structure. Prior to the outbreak
of war the French railroads were maintained in a good state of re
pair. After the German the degree of maintenance was
primarily determined the amount of steel and labor available.
It has already been noted that the Germans ordered the removal
of rails on various lines for use elsewhere. It is possible that i
the French used the same device in southern France during the months
after the armistice when sufficient manpower was available. Reports
indioate that the state of repair on the main lines is satisfaotory,
although feeder lines have undoubtedly been neglected.
l3 ) Bridges and Tunnels. In the mountainous regions of the
Alps and the Massif Central, as well as in the areas of large rivers,
the railroad lines. oross a great number of bridges and viaducts. They
are built ot. stone and ooncrete, as well as of iron and steel.. The re
gion also includes a large number of tunnels.
(k) Signal System. In many respects. the signal system of the'
French railroads is different from methods in use elsewhere. Signals
on most of the lines have been adjusted to meet the provisions of the
new cOde established in 1934. The main characteristics of the French
signal s,ystem may be summarized as follows:
Prior to 1934 red and whi:te discs and red round discs as
well as semaphores were used for various types at home signals, green
and white square discs for approach (distant) signals, green discs
for reduced-speed signals and yellow discs for switching signals. A
white light indicated "clear", green "caution", and red "stop". A
yellow light on switching signals indicated "stop".
Under the new signal system semaphores are preferred for home
e.1gne.ls , although the red and white square and the red round discs
are still in use for this Yellow square discs are now used
for approach signals, yellow triangles pOinted upward ,for reduced speed
signals, and purple squares for awitching signala. A green light in
dicates "clear", yellow "oaution", and red "stop". A purple light on
switching signals indicates "stop".
On the blades indicate "stop" when movEd up to a 90
angle and "olear" when at 0
0
(on the Paris-Lyons-Medi 4'f' in
the lower quadrant). 0
0
refers to the bottom of the oircle; at that
point the blade is covered by the signal post. The blades are neve;t
moved into the upper quadrant, and are always moved left (clockwise)
from 0
0
At night one light shows on semaphores. Usually more than
one light shows on disc signals. Color-light signals for both day.
and night use had been installed only on the lines around Bordeaux
in 1937. Direction indicators,' consisting of the neoessar,y number
of blades arranged 'in fish tail shape, are used in addition to home
signals when routes in more than one direction are' indicated. They
do not show lights. Signals are always located on the lef.t side of
t4e track.
Automatic train control is yddely uRed. Block systeXis of various
types are in operation on the main Paris-Lyons-Mediterranee and paris
lines. A completely automatic block system'is used on the
lines where color-light signals are installed. Interlocking plants are
installed in many situations. In large centers they are operated by
electricity or other types of power. Illumined diagrams of the station
or of the interlocking zone indicating the position of the switches
have been installed in some control towers Electricity and acetylene
are replacing kerosene to some extent for the lighting of signals and
switches.
(1) New Construction. There are no reports of new construction
of any importance undertaken or completed since the outbreak of war.
However, in the Bordeaux area the connections to the coast have been
improved, 6 lines for the conveyance of gravel and concrete having
been built from a point,l? km. southwest of Pauillac to the Coastal
Zone between La Verdon and Lacarau.
(m) Locomotive "and PL()lling Stock Equipment. (See Table I) Little
is known concerning the exact amount of railway rolling stock available
in France prior to the 1940 collapse. According to a British report on
the eve of the armistice,France possessed about 16,000 locomotives and
454,000 freight cars. However, French official figures in 1938 report
ed17,235 steam locomotives,' 499,923 freight cars, and 31,1/.1 passenger
cars. Undoubtedly,. the volume of rolling stock continued to decline
from 1937 to 1940.
There is less discrepancy in the estimates of the amount of rolling
stock lost to. Germany. The British estimate that the railways lost
4,500 or 28 percent of their locomotives, and 181,000 or 40 percent of
their freight cars. Of the locomotives, 1,500 were lost to Alsace- .
Lorraine; 85, 000 were requisitioned and sent to Germany; and 57, (Joo were
sent to Germany in the regular course'of railroad operation and never
returned. :&;arly in 1942 the French Minister of Conununications, M. Ber
thelot, reported that 142,000 freight carS had been requisitioned. He
placed the number of locomotives requisitioned at 3,000. The British.
report that 800 to 900 passenger coaches were taken over by Germany and
that 150,000 cars belonging to Germany and occupied countries.are in use
in France.
Losses of rolling stock have probably not been offset to any sig
nificant extent by new construction, al though the French railway equip
ment industry is sufficiently large to permit exports of rolling stock.
(n) Renair Main"tencl.nce. Prior to the war French railroad equip
ment was malntained in a good state of repair. Maintenance is greatly
hampered at present because of shortages 9f materials for parts. In a
recent the followinr percentages of the materials and parts re
quired I',rere obtainable: steel sheets and sections, 56 percent; steel
tubes, wheel tires and sprinrs, 50 percent; lumber, 45 percent. Short
ages of fire-box rivets and skid-pans are particularly acute.' Another
serious shortage-is skilled manpOVler. A recent report from a German
source states that the have succeeded in considerably sho;ten
ing the time required for overhanlingand repairing railway wagons and
that as a result the number of waeons under repair has been reduced Qy
50 nercent and the volume of transport increased. (Pariser Zeitlmg,
3, 1943). It is estimated that locomotives in need of repair
numbered 18 to 19 percent of the total number of locomotives in France
in 1941. -
(0) Traffic (See Table I)
i. In 1942 the national railwa:rs are
reported to carried 578.6 million passengers 23.3 billion passen
ger miles. Passenger traffic is estimated as one-fifth of the pre-war
level. The average distance travelled per passenger decreased by 16
percent. Passenger train miles were seriously curtailed, supposedly
as much as 70 percent in 19LJ.., with additional cuts in 1942. Thenum
ber of passengers per train has greatly increased and trains are
seriously overcrowded.
Under the 1934 French laws coordinating rail and road services,
btlS lines discontinued services parallel to the rail lines while rail
roads discontinued passenger services on branch lines. Because of
fuel and rubber shortages, it is probable that the buses have been un
able to maintain service and that railroads have taken over the lines
again.
ii. Freight Traffic.
(i) Volume of Tratfic. In 1942 the national railways
are reported to have carried 102 million tons of freight. The supply
of freight cars, particularly box cars, has been greatly reduced. In
1941 carloadings in France were about 20 percent lower than in 1938.
In 1942 carloadings are estimated at least 10 percent lower than for
the preceding year. The Germans have introduced a number of methods
to increase operating efficiency,including reducing the free time for
loading and unloading, increasing demurrage charges, and increasing
the permissible axle load. These measures have facilitated the hand
ling of a greater volume of traffic with a smaller number of cars. The
average earload increased from 9 metric tons in 1938 to 10.8 metric
tons at the end of 1941 and 12.4 metric tons in November, 1942.
*Wherever "wagons" appears hereafter, it is to be read "cars".
- 8 ....

(ii) Seasonal Movements" The effect of the war on
seasonal movements has been to flatten out the seasonal peaks. This
is particularly true of passenger traffic in southern France. In
freight seasonal peaks still persist, especially in connection
with the transport of fertilizers in the 'spring and crops in the fall.
(3) The Five Regions ..
The five regions into which the S.N.C.F. divided, Northern,
Eastern, South-Eastern, South-Western, and Western, and the Paris
area are now considered separately.
(a) The Northern Region .. (See Figs. II and III)
i. General. Of the seven formerly _separate railways, the
Nord possessed the shortest mileage except for the A.t. system (3,796
km. - 2,365 miles - of which 2,506 km. - 1,557 miles - are double
track), yet its freight traffic was greater than that of any other
system, and its passenger traffic second only to that of the Etat
(which latter obtained first place largely by reason of its
intensive Paris suburban traffic); moreover, the network of lines
reaches a greater density in the northern region than in any other
part of France. The reason is not far to seek. The line serves the
greatest industrial region of the country, the northern coalfield,
which it links with' Paris; it links the capital with the channel ports
of Boulogne, Galns and Dunkirk; and its cross-country routes, j oin
ing up with the lines of the Eastern railway at Laon and Hirson, link
the channel ports with Switzerland and Germany (and so' with central
and south-eastern Europe generally) and the northern coalfield with
the Lorraine ironfield.
The main trunk line runs northwards from Paris to Greil, whence
two lines diverge, one striking north-eastwards to St. Quentin and
Aulnoye (for Mons and Brussels, and for Namur, and Cologne),
and the other northwards to Amiens, Arras, and Lille (for Ghent and
Antwerp) A third main artery branches at Amiens for Boulogne and
Calais, and a fourth at Arras for Dunkirk. The outermost and least
important of thisradiating fan of main lines run from Paris via
Beauvais to the seaside resort of Le and from Paris via
Soissonsand Laon to Hirson, where connexion is ma.de with the
eastern region and with the lines serving the coalfield. The main
lines run from Amiens to Laon (for Nancy and stras
bourg or for Dijon and the Mediterranean), and from Calais via Haze
brouck to Lille and so through the heart of the coalfield to Valen
cienees and Hirson (for and Metz). Another connexion of
some impgrtance runs from Amiens to Serqueux, where the Paris-Dieppe
line of the'western region is crossed, continuing'thence into what
is really western region territory as far as Rouen, where further
. connexions with the western lines are made.
il. Tracks. All of these lines have double tracks with
the exception of the Paris suburban area and,like _nearly all national
lines, are standard gauge (4 feet inohes). All are steam operated.
iii. Axle Loads. (See Fig. IV). Most of the Nord main
lines were laid with rails, ballast and bridge strengths to permit
a 2D-ton axle-load. Moreover, much or the secondary network per
mitted an lS-ton axle-load, and as a result the northern region as
a whole was far ahead or the rest of France in this respect. Two
factors have contributed to this state of affairs; in the first place
the vast amount of reconstruction neoes.sary after the 1914-l8war en
. abled heavier tracks to be laid and stronger bridges erect.ad, and
secondlY', the considerable coal traffic passing over the main line,
especially from the coalfield to Paris and towards Lorraine, made
the provision of heavy locomotives and large freight vehicles a
vital the technical problems of the construction of
snchrolling stock being rendered much easier by the high axle-load
allowed.
iv. Gradients. Max:tmum. gradients vary from 1.125 on the
Paris-Calais line to 1.200 on the Paris-Lilla and Paris Maubenge
lines, the latter applying against southbound trains. It should be
noted that traffic from Paris to Lilla avoids entering !miens,
passing 1t via the great junction of Longueau.
v. Sheds. Works. Marshalling Yards. (See Fig. III). The
locomotive sheds (each normally accommodating more than lOOengines)
are at Valenciennes, Longueau, Hirson, Paris (La Chapelle), Lens, and
Dunkirk (Coudekerque). Of' these, Valenoiennes and Lens serve the
coalfield, Coudekerque serves the considel"able traffio of the port
of Dunkirk, Hirson deals with the traffic to ano. from the eastern re
gion, and La Chapelle is the main passenger-engine shed for Paris.
The main locomotive works are at La Chapelle and Hellemmes (on
the eastern side of Lille, adjacent to Fives); large repair shops
exist at Coudekerque, Lens, Laon, Hirson, and Tergnier, with
carriage and wagon repair depots at Pa.ris (Le Landy), Tergnier, and
Ermont.
'rhe biggest hump-yards are at vranee, Longueau (the
great junction almost in the geometrical centre of the system) and
La Bourget.
vi. Passenger Traffio. Passenger trafic on the Nord
railway in 1936, the latest date for which figures are available,
totalled nearly 118 millions. Of these 9401% travelled 3rdclass,
5.4% 2nd class) and 0.4% 1st c1ass--but the percentage of the re
ceipts derived from 3rd class fares was only 69, a result of the
great importance of long-distanoe international traffic which was
mainly 1st and 2nd c1asse The passenger traffic falls into five
classes:
(i.) Paris Suburban. The suburban and outer-suburban
services extend as far as Pontoise (30 km.), Persan-Beaumont (37 km.),
Creil (51 km.) and (61 km.); in addition the 52km.
section of the Grande Ceinture from Argenteu1l through
to Juvisy iSlforked as part of the northern.region, though. the pas
.senger traffic on this line, mainly worked by railcars, is heav:r.
. (ii.) International Traffic. There are four major
traffic streams: (a) From the Channel ports - Boulogne, Calais, and
Dunkirk - to Paris'; from the last-named of these ports the train
ferry service from\Dover, .inauguratedin 1936, enabled through
munication, without change of vehicle, to be established between
London and Paris. (b) From the Channel ports (principally Dunkirk
and Calais) to Belgium (for Holland and Germany); the lines from
Calais and Dunkirk join at Hazebrouck and traffic proceeds thence
to Lille, diverging for Ghent, Antwerp, and Amsterdam .and for Brussels,
and Germany. (c) From the Channel ports to the eastern region;
the chief routes are via Amiens and Laon and via Lille and Hirson.
(d) From Paris to Belgium (for Holland and Germany); the main routes
are via Lille to Antwerp, and via Aulnoye to Brussels and to
(iii. ) Channel Seaside Resorts. A considerable sea
sonal tratficexists between Paris and Le (served by the main
line via Beauvais), and the many "plages
tt
which lie between Le Tr&port
and Calais, most of which are served by light railways .or tramways
from stat'-ons on the main Paris-Boulogne-Calais line.
(iv.) Local traffic in the industrial area is not
perhaps as great as might be expected, since so many of the workers
live in the adjacent to the mines and works; more
over, some of the companies run passenger services on their
private lines. There is some daily movement of workers to and fro
across the Belgian frontier, for the distribution of population and
of industry are little af'fectedby that frontier.
(v. ) Lastly, t.here is the general and diverse passen
ger traffio of the rest of the system.
vii. Freight Traffic. Of a total traffic amounting to over
51 million tons in 1936, almost 20 million tons consisted of coal and
coke, and nearly 4 million tons of iron and steel - an obvious indica
tion of the importance of the coalfield industrial area in the economr
of the Nord railway. The coalfield, 120 km. in length and 15-20 kIn.
broad, from Ligny to the Belgian frontier, and there are close
on 200 individual pits, providing nearly two-thirds of all France's
coal. The collieries have a considerable mileage of their_own rail
ways - e.g. the Bruay concession alone has 156 km. - which contact the
Nord railway at thirty-five separate points which are thus the starting
-11
points of the coal traffic. Only about one-third of the output of
coal is used locally in the coke ,ovens, iron and _steel works, power
stations, and factories, the remaining two:-thirds being sent out of
the area. or the quantity sent out, about three-quarters travels
by rail and one-quarter by wateI'Way. The tonnage of coal received
by the railway from the collieries has reached 50,000-100,000 tons
per day in recent years. '
Some preliminary sorting of the laden wagons according to des
tination is done at the larger contact stations, e.g. Lourches, Billy
liilontigny, but five main marshalling yards collect the traffic and pass
it on, much of it in trainloads, to the Paris area and else
where. The greatest of these is Lille-La a huge modern
hump-yard with a capacity of some 7, 000 wagons per day. Smaller ones
exist at Valenciennes (capacity 1,000-1,500 wagons per day),the main
centr.e for traffic passing to the eastern region, Douai (capacity
1,000-1,400 per day), in the heart of the industrial region, Somain
and Lens.
There are ,four groups of destinations for the coal traffic. The
chief is the Paris ares., where the huge modern marshalling yard at
Le Bourget (capacity 7,000-8,000 wagons per day) receives the coal
trains and passes on wagons to the other great traffic centres in the
Parisian outer girdle - Juvisy; and Villeneuve. Secondly,
coal traffic goes via and Hirson to the eastern region,where
its principal destination is the Lorraine ironfield. Thirdly, there
is a miscellaneous group of places, such as the Channel ports (where
however, English or Welsh coal tends to undersell the French product),
Longueau marshalling yard (whenoe the coa.l goes via. Rouen to the west
ern region), and Tergnier yard (for Reims and the eastern region).
Fourthly, coal (mainly household tJrpe) moves across the frontier into
Belgium - and incidentally Belgian coking coal moves into France along
the same lines; no less than nine lines (five of them double track)
lead across the frontier between Tourcoing on the west and
on the east.
The Paris traffic is routed e:f.\ther by Lourches-Busigny-St. Quentin,
or by Arras and Longueau, though in times of particularly heavy traffio
the Douai-Cambrai-Chaulnes route has also been used. A special fleet
of "decapod" engines (class 5.1200) was built to work this traffic,
some of which passes in complete train loads to the Paris gasworks and
power stations. This traffic is probably on the deoline owing to the
increased use by Paris of hydro-electric power transmitted from the
Central FAassif. The traffic to Lorraine is not so likely to diminish,
but the operation of this section is more di.ffioultowing to the aoc!
dented character ot the Hirson route, which reduces by as much as 300
400 tons thecapacity of individual trains.
The Nord railway also carried more foodstutfs than any other
railway; in 1936 this traffic amounted to over 5 million tons, of
which nearly half consisted of cereals and flour. The reasons for
this heavy'traffic are not far to seek. In the first place the line
serves the richest agricultural region of France, and considerable
quantities of cereals and of sugar-beet thus travel by rail; secondly,
it serves the two greatest agglomerations of population in France,
Paris and the northern ,industrial region, and, moreover, links both
these urban areas with the principal northern freight port of Dunkirk,
through which pass considerable quantities of imported foodstuffs;
though this hardly accounts for a very great tonnage, it
serves, Francets chief fishing port, Boulogne, which is the point of
origin of a valuable and regular service of refrigerated vans
ing fish to the Paris region and beyond. Other commodities in the
carriage of which the Nord held first place are timber, "stones"
and lime (including cement). The timber is largely pit-props for the
ooalfield, the tlstones" include building stones from the Tertiary lime
stones of the Oise valley, road metal from the old rocks of the Maubeuge
area, and limestone for blast furnaces, and the lime and cement - to the
extent of about one-third of the entire French output - are derived from
the huge works which abound in the Chalk and Portland limestone regions
extending from the Channel coast to the upper Oise valley.
(b) The Eastern Region. (See Figs. V and VI)
i. General. This division of the S.N.C.F. comprises the
former railway and the state-operated A.L. lines, together total
ling some 7,078 km. (4,398 miles) of line, of which 5,435 km. (3,377
miles) are double track. Both the Est and the A.L. had a considerable
. freight traffic, due very largely to the division of the Lorraine iron
field between the two systems and to the considerable coal and coke
traffic from the Ruhr and from northern France which the Lorraine
smelting' industry engendered. The eastern region is thus easily the
most important freight-carrying part of the French national railways;
it is second only to the western region in the matter of passengers.
The main lines of the eastern region are not so simply arranged
as those of the northern region. The two main radial lines diverge
at Noisy-le-Sec, just outside Paris; one runs via Chalons-sur-Marne,
Nancy and Saverne to Strasbourg, and the other via Troyes, Chaumont
and Belfort to Basle (Switzerland) Three important lines diverge,
from the first of these: one from near Meaux to Reims,
and Luxembourg; one from Chalons to Verdun and
. Metz and a from Lerouville to and thence across the German
frontier to SaarbrUcken. The section of the Paris
Luxembourg line forms in addition a part of the important link between
the northern coalfield and the Lorraine ironfield, the remaining por
tions of which are and Longuyon-Thionville; this route
is also used by passenger expresses trom Dunkirk and Calais to Basle.
There are three main north-south routes which cro'ss and link the major
east-west trunk lines. The Laon-Chalons-Chaumont-ls-sur-Tille line
linking the northern "and south-eastern regions has already been des
cribed. A second is the Luxembourg-Thionville-Metz-Nancy-Neuf'chateau
Is-sur-Tille line; a third is a branch of' this, linking Nanc,y with
Epinal and Lure (for Beltort), whilst the main .line of' the :former A.L.
system runs .from Basle through Mulhouse and Colmar to Strasbourg, thence
f'orking to Sarreguemines (for Saarbrticken) and Wissembourg (for German
Rhineland)
Although scarcely part of' the main-line network, the two trans
Vosges lines, constructed since the 1914-18 war to provide better
.connefion between Alsace and .the rest of France, deserve mention. The
at. Die-Saales line, completed in 1928J carries through Strasbourg-Dijon
expresses; the St. Marie-aux-Mines link, opened in 19;7, is less
important economically. Both constructions involved long tunnels through
the watershed ot the Vosges, which formed the Franco-German frontier from
IS71 Until 1918.
Incorporated for operational purposes in the A.L. system, and so
now in the S.N.C.F., is the Guillaume-Luxembourg line, 'Whioh oonsists
of two main lines, one trom north-south and the other east-west, crossing
at Luxembourg. The north-south line provides a through route trom Liege
to Lorraine, and the western and _southern arms ot' the cross carry through
Ostend and Brussels to Strasbourg and Germany.
ii. '1i:lcks Aside from the Paris suburban area, all of' the
lines are double track with the exception of the Paris-Strasbourg line,
which has four tracks between Paris and Lagrly (28 Ian.), between Vitry
le-Francois and (S4 lon.), between Blainvil1e and Sarrebourg
(57 km.), and the Luxembourg-Strasbourg-Bas1e line,whioh has toar tracks
between Th1onvi11e and Metz (,30 km.). All lines are steam operated.
iii. HJ.e Loads. (See Fig, IV). In 1938 there was no section
of the eastern region equipped for an axle-load greater than 18 tons,
and only a comparatively ,small pro'portionof the mileage possessed an
infrastructure oapable of "taking even this load. The main lines from
Paris to and toStrasbourg, and trom Thionvilleto Basle, could
take IS-ton axle-loads ,but the Paris-Belfort line was only so equipped
as tar as Chaumont. There. was, however, a notable ooncentration or 18
ton traok in the Lorraine irpn1'ie1d, tor reasons similar to those adduced
for the northern region, and 'the important mineral-carrying line from
Lorraine through to Hirson was similarly equipped, as was. the
Laon-Reims-Chaumont cross-country express route. The remainder ot the
lines were equipped for 16-ton axle-loads, with the exception of oneor
two short and unimportant lines (e,g. on whioh 15 tons
was the maximum permissible.
I. __ .;_
iv. Gradients. The maximum gradients very between 1.100
on the Paris-Charleville line (east-bound trains) to, I.?? on the
Luxembourg-Strasbourg-Bas1e line (north-bound trains) .
v.Sheds, Works, Marshalling Yards. (See Fig. VI). The
main locomotive Vforksare at Epernay, but the following sheds at
least, and pos'sibly some others,. are equipped to deal with heavy re
pairs: (a) on the former Est railway - Noisy-Ie-Sec, Reims, Mohon,
Chiteau-Thierry, CWons, Bar-Ie-Due, Nancy, BlainvUle, Epinal,
Audun-Ie-Roman, Connans-Jarny, Troyes, Chaumont, Culmont-Chalindrey;
(b) on the formerA.Le lines - Thionvll1e (Basse-Yutz), Metz (Sablon),
Strasbourg (Hausbergen) and Mulhouse.
The principal carriage and wagon repair depots are at Pantin,
Noisy-Ie-Sec, Romilly, and MU.lhouse.
The largest yards, employing hump shunting, are at Vaires (com
pleted, with a garden city for the employees in 1932, to
Nois,y-Ie-Sec - capacity 6,000 wagons per Lumes (near
Blainville (near Nancy), Strasbourg (two yards - Hausbergen and Port)
and Mulhouse (Nord).
vi. Passenger Traffic. Passenger traffio ,on the lines of
the eastern region in 1936 totalled 13? millions, of whioh 81 millions
were on the Est railway and 56 millions on the A.L. lines. On the
Est 92.4% of the passengers tra.velled third olass, on the A.L. 9S.2%,
the highest percentage of all the major systems. Much of the A.L. pas
senger traffic takes plaoe in the Lorraine industrial area, which would
aocount for the high proportion of third-class travel, and whioh also
accounts for the fact that 84% of the receipts from passenger traffic
were produced by third class fares, easily the highest percentage of
any system.
. The passenger traffio of the region comprises four main types,
Paris suburban, Lorraine industrial area, international (Luxembourg,
Germany and Switzerland), and finally the general traffic over all
olthe Paria outer-suburban services extend as tar as
Chateau-Thierry (95 lan.), Coulommiers (:34 }on,), and Verneuill'Etang
(53 km.), the last-named locality having alternative routes via the
main Belfort line and via the local line from the Bastille terminus.
The local passenger tra.f'fic, mainly of workmen, in the Lorraine iron
and steel 'area takes place mainly over the"following lines: Paris
Reims-Mont St. Martin (for Luxembourg,' Trier, Cologne and Berlin),
Paris-Bar-le-Duc-Metz-Apach (for Saarbrueken, Frankfort, Berlin and
Stuttgart), Paris-Nancy-Strasbourg (for Stuttgart, Munich, Pra.gue and
the Balkans (1I0r ient Express n), Paria-Troyes.,Belfort-Basle (for Berne,
Milan, Salzburg ("Tyrol Express
tt
), Vienna and the' Ba.lkans ("Arlberg
Orient Express")h Laon-Chaumont (followed Qy Calais and Boul0enepor
tions of expresses bound for the Riviera, Italy, Switzerland (e.g.
1, __ ...... -._
"Oberland-Engadine Express
n
), Austria and the Balkans), and Thion
ville-Sarrebourg (followed by traffic from Holland and Belgium via
Luxembourr to Strasbourg and SWitzerland)o .
vii. Freight Traffic. The total freight traffio of the
eastern region in 1936 was 83 million tons, 4$ million on the FBt
and 38 million on the A$L. By far the -most bulky commodity oarried
was iron ore, of which the Est carried 13.4 million tons and the
A.L. 11.5 million tons. These figures do not mean, however, that
25 million separate tons of are actually put on the rail, for
traffic passing from the Est to the A.L. or vice versa would be
oounted by both companies. Actually under one-half of the tonnage
mined in the Lorraine fieldtouohes the railway, the rest being used
locally and transported to the furnaces by private lines or
ropeways. The ore traffio has three aspects: (i) export to the Franco
Belgian coalfield and to the furnaces just across the Luxembourg bor
der (via Thionville-Bettenibourg, Longuyon-Mont St. Martin or Longuyon
(ii) export to the Saar and Ruhr areas ot
(via Thionville, Trier or Metz-Saarbru.cken), (iii) internal movement,
especially as between the calcareous ores of the Briey plateau and
.thesiliceous ores of the Nancy, Metz-Thionville and Longwy areas,
which are .frequently mixed in the blast furnaces. Fuel - coal and
coke - comes next intonnagej the Est carried 7.6 million tons and
the A.L. 12.5 million tons, and the same qualification must be ap
plied to these figures as to those of iron ore, though the traffic
between Est and A.L. was less in this case. The three main streams
of coal and coke tra1'fio on Lorraine are (i) from the north
em coalfield via (il) from the Ruhr, (ili) from the Saar and
its French "extension (petite Rosselle, La Houve, etc.). It is worth
noting that both the ore and fuel traffic entail a considerable mileage
of empty wagon running, despite the faotthat the two commodities are
moving in opposite directions and one might be expeoted to form a re
turn freight for the other. 1n actual fact special wagons are mostly
emplo,yed - all-steel hoppers for ore, different pattern hoppers for
coal, and wagons with wire-netting sides f'orthe more frangible coke.
Iron and steel quite naturally take third place - 5.0 million tons
on .the Est and 3.3 million tons on the A.L. This traffic is of course
entirely outward from Lorra.ine, mainly to the northern industrial region
with its great engineering works, partly also to the engineering indus
tries of Paris and Alsaoe (e.g. Mulhouse).
"Stones
tr
, as usual, oocupya high place by reason of their weight.
Granite is quarried for road metal (shaped into setts or "pavAsfl) in
the High Vosges, espeoially in the area; building
stone is quarried from the Corallian and Portlandian limestone of the
Meuse valley area; sandstone from the Triassic rocks of the Low Vosges.
Lime and cement come from the Lower Jurassic limestones of the Moselle
- .......... "--
1. ..."1 "',.,
7ziirlilin
valley, and from the chalk soarp north of Vitry, lIld chalk is also
quarried in the Marne valley between Vitry and Chalons, whiJ-st gypsum
is worked in the same valley from Tertiary clays between Cl1tteau
ThierI'7 and Paris..
Cereals and other foodstuffs do not figure very- prominently in the
freight traffic of' the eastern region, and neither do animals; the
Champagne Alsatian vineyards, however, yield a wine tra:rfio which
oooupies a very poor third place after the south-eastern and south
western regions.
(c) The Southeastern Region (See Figures VII, VIII, and IX)
i. General. \ The P.L.M. was the largest of the systems,
totalling nearly 10,000 km. (6, lS2 miles) of line, almost exaQtly .
one-half of which was double track and one-half single track. Des
pite its great length, however, it only ranked third in respect of
both passenger and freight traffio. Apart from the Lyons-St. Etienne
region it has no great industrial areas within its territory, and
its lines serve some of the most thinly populated parts of France,
including the Alps, the Jura and the eastern part of ... the Central
Massif. Much of its traffic, however,mayb.e described as 'high
class' and remunerative, especially the long-distance passenger
trarfic to Switzerland, Italy and the Riviera, and the seasonal
freighf traffic in primeurs ' (early vegetables, fruit., etc.) from
the RhOne valley and via Marseilles fromaorth Africa to Paris.
The mainline is effectively described in the title P.L.M.-
Paris-Lyons-Medlterranean; f t across the scarplands to Dijon
and thence down the longSaone-Rhone 'corridor' to Lyons and Mar
sellles,turning thence eastward to the Riviera and the Italian
frontier at Ventimiglia. This line is in effect duplicated by
another which diverges from the first in the Paris suburbs, strikes
southwards through Nevers to St. Germain-des-Fossl!s, thence south
...twards via Roanne and St. Etienne to the RhShe valley at Givors ,
after which it follows the right bank of the Rh6he to Avignon. From
Avignon to Marseilles the main and duplicate lines form a figure 8;
the duplicate crosses the main line at Miramas, strikes the coast
at Porl-de-Bouc and rejoins the main line at L'Estaqua, just before
Marseilles.. Yet another, but much less important, north-south link
is provided by the line which diverges for the 'duplicate' line at
St. runs througnCle:nrtQQt-Ferrand, across the
Central Massif and down '1ts steep scarp to the coal
field and Nimes, whence it forks to 'link up withthe RhQ,.e valley on
the other hand, at Montpellier and
The main lines east of the sabne-IUJ.ne corridor lead aither into
Switzerland. and Italy or else to dead-ends in Alpine valleys. Dijon
is the point of divergence for two main trunk lines leading to eight
separate destinationst (1) toDble, whence one line .strikes north
eastwards through Besancon to Belrort and so to Strasbourg or Basle,
another l"U1lS to Frasne, diverging thence to cross the Swiss frontier
at Pontarlier (for Berne) or at Lausanne. and the Simplon
I' .... "'" III \J'._ I
route); (li) to Bourg and Culoz, whence one line strikes north
eastwards, forking again at Bellegarde for Geneva and Evian-les-Bains,
another (worked by electrio traction) via Chambery to Modane and so
through the JIlt. Cenis tunnel to Turin; this line gives off branches
at Au-les-Baines (for Chamonix) and at St. Pierre d'Albigny (for
Bourg St. Maurice). From Lyons an important link connects the
Riviera with central Europe, running through Bourg, Lons-le-Saunier,
and Mouchard .(on the Dole-Frasne I line) to Besancon (for Bellord) .;
another similar link runs to Amberieu (on the Bourg..Culoz line).
South-eastwards from Lyons runs the main line to Grenoble ; finally,
from Livron a line runs eastwards across the grain of the country to
Briancon in the heart of the French Alps.
There are five main links with the south-western region. At
Sainoalze is collected traffio from western France (Brest , Nantes
and Tours) which is passed on eastwards along a usetul cross-oountry
line through La Creusot to Chagny (and so to Dijon), or south-east
wards via Moulins andParay-le-Monial to Lyons e At Moulins, Gannat
and Clermont-Ferrand traffic emanating from south-western France is
collected; traffic from Bordeaux destined for eastern France and
central Europe passes through Moulins, Paray-le-Monial,
and Chagny to Dijon; that destined for south-eastern France through
Gannat, St. Germain-dee-Fossee and Roanne to Lyons. Clermont
Ferrand is linked to Bordeaux by the dif'ficult . route a.cross the heart
ot the Massif' and to Lyons via Vichy' and St. Geraain-des
FOIles.
il. .Tracks. 'lith the exoeption. of the Paris suburban area, all
lines are double tracks aside from the Paris-St. Florentin-Vergigny
(l72km.), St. Germain-au-Mt. d' Or-Chasse.. sur-Ithone (41 lon.), which
have f'our traeks. The line from Paris to Ventimilia is steam operatedl
the great junction of Villeneuve-St. Georges should be noted, as well
as a 2t mile tunnel which carries this line across the channel
Mediterranean watershed.
1ii. Electrified Lines (See Figure I). The Culoz-Modane section
or the lit. Cenis route to Italy, which contains gradients of' 113.3 and
many sharp curves, was the first main line in France to be electritied;
work commenced in 1'23. It uses current at 1,500 V. d.e.picked up .
from a third rail; the current comes immediately from the large trans
former station at Albertville, but ultimately from seven hydro-eleotric
plants owned by the Ugine electrochemical concern.
The Chamonix valley narrow-gauge line has been electrically
operated since 1908; current is der!ved trom two hydro-electricpower
stations owned by the. PoL., M.. railway and a1tuated on ther!verArVe
at Servoz and Chavants.
iv. Axle Loads (See Figure IV). The main lines of the soutl1
eastern region were equipped, in 19.38, the latest date for which
informa.tion is available, for 18 ton axle-loads. Paris to Ventimiglia,
Paris to Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon to Belfort, Vallorbeand Geneva,
Lyons to Modane , Lyons to St. Germain-des-Foss"., and Tarascon to

I
- -
-18
,
-- ....
Sete, were all so equipped, with a few other important links and branches.
The remainder of the system could take l6-ton axle-loads.
v. Gradients. The ma:rlJIum gradients on the Paris-Venti-Migl!a
line are 1:125 in both directions and the maximum permissible axle
load is 18 tons.
v!. Sheds, Works, Marshalling Yards. (See Figure IX) The larger
depots (roughly thoseaccomnodatingmore than about fifty engines) are
emphaSized by larger symbols, and :the sheds serving the electrified
Culoz-Modane line are distinguished by the letter E.
The chief' locomotive repair works are at Paris (Bercy), Nevers,
Lyons (OUllins), ArIes.. and N1Jaes.
The chief' centres for carriage and wagon repairs are V111eneuve
St. Georges, Dijon (Perrigny), Lyons (Ouillins, La Mouche and Parrache),
Clermont-Ferrand, ArIes, and Marseilles (Prado).
The largest marshalling yards, employing hump sh1Dlting, are at
VUleneuye-8t. Georges, in the Lyons area (st. Germain-au-Mont d'Or,
and Chasse), and at Miramas.
vii. Passenger Traffic. Passenger traffic on the P.L.M. rail
way in 1936 totalled nearly 83millione. Of these, 93.2% travelled
third class, 5.8% second class and O.S% first class; the receipts
from third class tares, however, only amounted to 66'10 of' the total,
a lower figure than on any other line. This resuJ.t is clearlT pro
duced by the -volume of' 'luxury' travel on the great international
trunk lines which form. part of the P. L.M. system--a fact which is
also demonstrated by figures which show that the average length ot
journey perppassenger on the P.L,M. in 1936 was 72 lan., or more
than twice the average for other system except '
Midi, tor which the figure was 59t kID., whilst the averages for tirst,
second,and third class passengers were respectively 323, 205,and 61
km. Apart from the Paris suburban traffic, the quite considerable
local movement in the Lyons-St. Etienne area, and the general passen
ger tra.rric'on all parts of the system, the major traffic stre_
are f'rom Paris to the Riviera and to the south-eastern frontier or
France (Pontarlier, Vallorbe, Geneva and Modane), streams which
arereinf'orced from the eastern region at Is-sur-Tille and Belfort;
a .smaller stream runs from Baris to' the spas and other centres of'
the Central Massif--Vichy, Clermont-rerrand, etc. The Paris sub
urban traffic extends as far as Me1un (45 laD.) and Corbeil (33 0.),
with outer-suburban services as far as Montereau (79 lan.) and
Montargis (118 lan.); it is not as heavy as .that ot the western and
northern regions.
I
The tact that the Swiss, Italian, Alpine resorts andRiviera
tn.tric ill has to use the main line between Paris and Dijon makes
this one ot the most intensively used stretches of track in France-
especially at. night, for most of the big expresses are sleeping-car
trains, which under normal circumstances leave Paris in a continuous
stream during the evening hours and arrive from the south-east in the
. -_..
....
early morning. Dijon between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. was probably the busiest
station in u-ope during those hours. Much of the line has four
tra.cks; the double-tracked section from Melun via Fontainebleau
to Montereau is effectively quadrupled by the parallel line on the
opposite side 'of the Seine valley, and thus the only two-tra.ck sections
are between St. Florentin (107 miles from Paris) 8.nd Les Laumes
(160 miles), and. from Blaisy-Bas surmnit miles) to Dijon
(195 miles).
viii. Freight Traffio. Freight traffic in 1936 totalled 38
million tons, of which nearly 10 million tons consisted of coal and
coke--partly coal derived from the northern field and being dis
tributed southwards for domestic, industrial and locomotive purposes,
and .partly coal from the severe.l small fields which are served. by the
P.L.M. line, namely; Le Creusot, St. Etienne and The second
item, 2.8 million tons, is iron and steel; this resulted largely
trom the traffic in pig-iron and steel to the great engineering centres
of Le Creusot and st. Etienne and the outward traffic in finished
products from those centres. Istones I occupy third place It Road /
metal is quarried from the granite and other igneous rocks of the
eastern part of the Central N'JB.ssif, as in the regions of Roanne, I
Cusset and st. Etienne; ballast gra-'l.rels come from the Bas Dauphine
region; building stones are got from the Jurassic limestones of the
Rhone valley south-east of Amberieu, from the scarp edge west of
and from many places in the Great Oolite Plateau
of Langre'S, also limestone and marble from Provence. Lime and
ceme from Jurassic J.jmestones in the region of Nevers, in
the RhO"n : valley between and Amberieu, and in the Grenoble
area, from the Cretaceous limestones of Le Teil and Montelimar,
and from Cretaceous and Jurassic limestones of Provence, e.g.
LIEstaque and the ranges behind Toulon. Fourth place is occupied
by wine; the Rhone valley and Mediterranean region form one of
the major areas of production of 'vin ordinaire
l
for home consumption
and a considerable traffic results, amounting to 2.4 million tons in
1936. Cereals and flour are important--2 million tons --partly
by reason of the import traffic of the port of. Marseilles. Of
the other foodstuffs the most interesting item is the Iprimeurs'
--early v.:egetables and fruit--which has giv.en rise to a highly
organized special traffic of a seasonal character,' which is
worth analysing in a little detail.
/ The P.L.M. railway used justifiably to advertise itself as
IReseau des primeurs'. Five thousand special trains a year,
prising 125,000 wagons (mainly'of special insulated or refrigerator
types) loaded with half a million tons 'of produce, certainly re
presented a considerable item in the organization of the railway
company. The producinr regions are the Mediterranean littoral and
the, .valley, whilst about a quarter of the tote.l traffic
-20
... . -...,.
is derived from North Africa (via Marseilles-Arene) and there
is some also from Spain (via the chief consuming centres
are Paris, the Lyons-St. Etienne region, and the industrial north,
but large quantities pass also, especially in the summer, to the
seaside resorts, the spas (e.g. Vichy) and the Alpine tourist
oentres. Whilst the collection of prod.uce from a rew areas is
fairly easy therefore, its distribution to a multitude of diverse
destinations constitutes a traffic problem of considerable mag
nitude. .
Although the niax:lmum traffic intensity is between June and
September, there 1s actually an almost continual flow ofproduee
trom one region or another. In Jenu.ary, vegetables and f'ruit
arrive from North Africa; in February and March this traffio
increases and is supplemented by asparagus, and other
salad vegetables from Var, Durance and Avignon; in April, green
peas from Algeria are rollowed by those from the Comtatreg!on
{Avignon-Orange), and by Algerian haricots and early tomatoes;
'May sees the haricot season in run swing (and it lasts until
September). From June to September fruits are added to the
spate or vegetables; in June come Comtat strawberries, Nimes
oherries, iblane valley peaches, and the first grapes trom
Algeria; in July, apricots, plums, apples and pears from the
same regions; in August, table grapes from Var, Bas Langue.doc
and 6omtat. There 1s a sharp otf in thf tra:f'fic in
October, but there are nuts from Ardeche, the Cevennes and
Dauphine, and the first oranges arrive at Marseilles.
In November the traftio teat a minimum , but new potatoes
begin to arr:1ve trom Algeria, and in December. the first winter
vegetables appear, together with flowers from the
<
Med!terranean
coast (Cote df Azur), 81'1d the North African and Spanish orange
traffic inoreases.
The perishable natureof the produce neoessitates rapidity
of trans!t, and under normal ciroumstances the produoe would be
collected from the growers during the dq, paoked in special .
vans whioh would then be marshalled into complete trains for
various destinations, soma of which would be reached in time
for the early morning markets. Most of the marshalling and
dispatching of trains ris done at the yards at Avignon and
Chasse, with L7on-Botteaux, La Voulte and Rognac playing much
smaller parts. The foca].. position or Chasse made itthe:res.J.ly
vital point in the whole I primeurS" se.rvice; on the main
Marseilles-Paris line just south of:Lyons, it lies at the
junotion or lines to St. Etienne, the Bourbonnais and Burgundy,
and communioates via Lyon-Guillotiere with Besanoon, Geneva
and .Modane, and via Givors .with the right bank of the RhOne
(Which is apt to be congested with night passenger expresses).
The bulk or the marshalling work is done between 7 t 30 p. m.
and 3.30 $.m. At the Paris end of the maintrarric stream
-21
the trains are 'Wlloaded at Bercy, and much of the produce
then passes by lorry to Les HaIles, the Paris equivalent of
Covent Garden. .
In 1937, the P.L.M. possessed nearlY 9,000 special vans
for 'primeurs' traffic, representing almost four-fifths of'the
total French stock of this class of vehicles, and ineluding
some 400 stillrurther specialized vans for use on the Dun
kirk-Dover ferry service.
A particularly interesting item in the freight traffic
of the southeastern region is animals, mainly sheep. In
1936 over 2, 100,000 animals were carried by the P.L.M.,a
far greater number than by any other system. This traffic
is essentially the modern expression of the seasonal transfer
of animals and their shepherds between summer and winter pastures
which has been a characteristic feature of the farming system
of parts of France for hundreds of years, and which is known
as t transhumance'. The long journeys on foot from the pla.ins
of Provence and the lower Rhone to the Alps in the early sum
mer, however, are largely a thing of the past, and the sheep
and goats are now driven to the railway stations at ArIes,
Pont d'Avignon and Nimes, for example, and sent by train
to destinations in-the Tacentaise and Maurienne
as Bourg-St.. Maurice and Modane, returning southwards when the
Alpine pastures eease to be available, in the late autumn.
This is not only a matter of convenience but is also a factor
in reducing the incidence of foot and mouth disease, which
was formerly spread over wide areas by the migrating flocks.
(d) The Southwestern Region (See Figures X,n,XII.)
1. General. The combination in 1934 of the third
largest (Paris-Orleans) and fifth largest (Midi) of the seven
maj or railways of France resulted in the fomation of a system
which in mileage considerably exceeded that of any other 11,706
km., 7,274 miles). The geographical character of the combination,
however, prevented it from playing the part in passenger and
freight transport which its length of line would seem to warrant.
Only the A.L. system, with but one-fifth the mileage, had.
smaller passenger traffic, and the freight tonnage of the
P.O.-Midi was actually the smallest of all the systems. The
same geographical factors, however, gave the system a unique
distinction; the existence of abundant possibilities for the
development of hydro-electric power in the Pyrenees and in
Central Massif made electrification an obvious step, especially
in view of the distance of south-west France from major coal
fielc.s. The 500 mile main line from Paris via Bordeaux to the
Spanish frontier is electrified throughout, as are also the
mile .transverse main line of the Midi from Bayonne-to
Sete, and numerous other lines.
tditXtd:c,
The main lines of the south-western region fall naturallY
into two groups, those from Paris to the Spanish frontier end
those linking south-western France wi.th the centre and south
east. or the former the most important is the 'Sud.-Expre.,s I
route from Paris via Orleans, Tours, Poitiers, Bordeaux, and
Bayonne to the Spanish frontier at (tor Madrid). A
second,more dirfioult line, which crosses the western of
the 8entral Massif, leaves the first at Orleans, and proceeds
via Vierzon, Limoges, Brive and Montauban to Toulouse, continuing
thence via Foix to the Spanish frontier at Puigcerda \for . ,
Barcelona); only the Brive-MontB.uban section of' this line
remains steam-operated. A branch of' this trunk: divergesat
Limoges tor Perigueux, Agen and'Tarbes, whilst an alternative
route between Brive and Toulouse runs through Figeac.A
third south-bound line leaves the second main-line at 'Vierzon
and proceeds via Montlucon, Aurillac and Millau if,o Beziers; the
last section of this line, trom Neussargues to Beziers, which
includes a very st,eep descent of the Cevennesscarp, is eleotri
calJ.y' operated.
The transverse lines run from Tours via Vierzon ahd Bourges
to Saincaize (carrying traffic trom Brittany and Nantes to the
P.L.M. line); from Angouleme via Limoges and Montlucon to Moulins
and Gannat (linking La Rochelle and Royan with the P.L.M. line):
from Coutras (on the main Bordeaux line) via Perigueux and Brive
to Clermont-Ferrand (for Lyons, Geneva, etc.); from Bordeaux via
Agen, Toulouse and Carcassonne to Narbonne, whence conne_ction
is made via Beziers with the P.L.M. at Sete, and via Perpignan
with. the Spanish line to Baroelona. at the frontier station of
Port-Bou; and from Bayonne via Tarbes to Toulouse, the lAst line
having oonnection with the main Bourdeaux line also ria the
.and Tarbes-Morcenx lines. Finally, mention must be made
of the numerous electrified branch lines which run from the
Bayonne-Toulouse .lines to the market towns and tourist centres
of the Pyrenees. One of these, commencing at Pau, crosses the
mountains by the Somport tunnel to Canfranc, whence a Spanish
line leads to Saragossajof the others the chief are those to
Pierrefitte, Bagneres-de-Bigorre ,and Luchon.
ii. The lines are double traok throughout the
South-western region with the exception of four lines on
the Paris-Hendaye electrically opsrated route between Paris
(Auterlitz) and Etampes (54 km..) ,and between Ceroottes and
Les Aubrais (7 kIn.); there is a three track line on the S8ae
route between Toury and Cercottes (23 km.). On the Paris-Hendaye
line the first two miles are underground from the Qmi d I Orsay
terminus to the Austerlitz station. The latter part of this
line throughthe Pyrenean foot-hills is tortuous with numerous
tunnels and bridges over coas tal torrents.
The Hendaye and Cerbere lines round the ends of the Pyrenees
opened in 1964 and 1878 respectively, but although as far
back as 1865 no less than twelve possible routes $cross the range
had been surveyed by engineers,it was not until 1928-9 that the
linking of France and Spain by trans-Pyrenean railways was effected.
The first actual crossing of the Pyrenean watershed had been pro
vided in 1911.by the narrow-gauge electrified line from Villetranche
to Bourg-Madame, prolonged in 1927 to La Tour de Caro1--but this
was all within French Territory, for the frontie11 departs in places
from the watershed. The Somport line, linking Pau and Saragossa,
was opened in July 1928, and the Puymorens line, which should link
Toulouse and Barcelona, in July 1929. Both of these lines are
eleotrified on the French side; neither has succ9.eded in achieving
any great importance; the steep gradients and the curvature (minimum
radius 200 m.--656 ft.) make fast travel quite impossible; the
break of gauge at the frontier is an effeotive deterrent to
national traf'fic, and the political situation has not encouraged
such traffic.
The Somport line ascends the Aspe valley; the gradient from
Bedousto Etsaut averages lI28f, steepening thence to the summit,
at 1: 2.3. There are sixteen tunnels, including a spiral 1,79.3 m.
(1,96l;yd.) long, and the summit of the line is.rea.ched at 1,211
m. (.3,97.3 ft.) above sea-level in the Somport tunnel, 7,875 m.
long (8,612 yd., or nearly 5 miles). From the international
station or Canf'ranc at the Spanish end of this tunnel, the steam
operated 'Norte' railway, 5 ft. 6 in. gauge, leads down at 1:50
towards Jaoa and so to Saragossa. The line oonnects two agri
oultural distriots across a mountainous area, and its international
traffio is vert slight indeed. r
The line ascends the valley-from Ax-les-Thermas,
mostly at 1:25 and with eleven tunnels, one ot Which is a mile-long
spiral, to the watershed, which is crossed at 1,567 m. (5,141 ft.)
above sea-level in the tunnel, 5,53.3 m. long (6,051 ;yd.)
nearly 3t miles; the deso.nt to the French frontier' station of La
Tour de Carol is slightly' less steep, and has no tunnels. The
station ot La Tour de Carol was built in anticipation of the de
velopment when the authorizedconversioD at the Spanish line to
Baroelona to standard 4 ft. st m. gauge was completed. Its vast
halls have never yet been used tor their proper purpose.
From a military point ot view these trans-Pyrenean lines have
not the same value as the coast lines, for the.gradients are ex
tremely Bent. on both sids of the frontier, being almost at the
limit of normal adhesive operation, and any interruption of the
electrioity supply would greatlY hinder traffic. The estimated
capaoity of the lines for southward-moving traffio is eighteen trains
per 24 hr.,. as comPared with seventy-two for the H.nA838 line
and forty-eight for the Cerbere line. Their prospects for international
traffic are very poor. After all, about two-thirds of the international
trade between France and Spain has in normal been conducted by sea,
and these two dif!icul t lines can hardly hope to compete for the remaining
one-third with the Hendaye and Cerbere routes.
iii. Electrified lines. (See Figure I) No less than 2,828 km.
(1,757 miles) of line in the south-western region are electrically operated.
The equipment consists of overhead wires which supply current at 1,500
V. d.c. The current is generated at a number of hydro-electric stations
in the Pyrenees and in the Central Massi!, and is also. available, during the
mid-swmner months (when the volume of the Central Massif rivers,and so their
out-put of power, is much reduced), from the thermal-electric station at
Gennevilliers on the outskirts of Paris) it is distributed at voltages of
between 90,000 and 220,000 to the main transformer stations. These key
stations, ,which step down the current to the voltage required by the rail
way,are fed from the Central Massif' hydroelectric stations of EKuzon
(on the Creuse), Mareges and Coindre (both on the upper Dordogne) ani
at Chevilly (Paris), Chaigny (Orleans) ,- Les Epines-Fortes (Tours), Chaumont
(Poitiers), Eguzon and Nereges; tbose fed from the Pyrenean power stations'
in the Ossau and Aura valleys are at Flaac (Bordeaux),
Dax, Jurancon (Pau), Hourat, LennemezSll, Simon (Toulouse) and
st, Victor. The narrow-gauge line in the eastern Pyrenees, from .
Villefranche-Vernet-les-Bains to La Tour de Carol, is operated at
850 V. d.c. with thirdrailj current is supplied by the Fontpedrouse hydro
electric plant.
iv. Axle Loads.(See Figure IV) The infrastructure of the P.O.
Midi lines was more variable than that of any other system, partly no
doubt due to the very considerable reconstructions which have been under
taken as an accompaniment of the programme of electrification. ' The use
of heavy electric locomotives tends to demand a stronger permanent way
than was necessary for the steam locomotives which'they replace, and in
consequence long stretches of the Midi main lines between Bordeaux and
Pointe de Grave (Verdon), Bayonne and Sete were laid with track capable
of taking 2C-ton axle-loads whilst much of the remainder, and also a
good deal of the .P.O. main lines, were equipped for IS-ton loads. Re
construction and relaying were proceeding apace,. and it is possible that
some sections, e.g. Tours-Bordeaux, have since been' stepped up' from
the general standard of 16 tons to the higher IS-ton standard.
v. Gradients. The maximum gradients on the southwestern lines vary
from 1:100 on the Bordeaux-Hendaye and Les Aubrais-Toulouse sections to
ls200 on Toulouse-Narbonne section.
vi. . Sheds, Vlorks. Marshalling Yards. (See Fig. XII) The
average of the sheds in the south-western region is probably
much smaller than in the northern and eastem regions. The
chief works are at Paris (Ivry), Tours and Perigueux,
1ast named dealing only Vii th steam locomotives, the other two
Wlth both stearn and electric. The ma::'n carriage and wagon repair
/ "
depots are at Paris, Orleans, Tours, Limoges and Bordeaux, and special
wagon repair shops are associated wi.th the of Juvisy,
LesAubrais, St. Pierre-des-CoI'ps, Montlucon, Bordeaux, Perigueux and
Limoges.
The largest yards, employing hump shunting, are at Juvisy, Les
Aubrais, st Pierre-des-Corps, Limoges and
vii. Passenger Traffic. Passenger traf'ic on the P.O.-Midi
system in 1936 amounted to 74 millions; this figure and those tor the
different classes of tratfic- first 0.6%, second 6.1%, third. 9.3.2%
are closely comparable with the P.L.M. statistics, though the propor
tion of the total receipts derived from third class was much higher, at
77%, than on the P.L.M. The general geographical situation ot "the two
systems is not dissimilar. Both have Paris suburban traff'ic; spas and
other tourist centres and small industrial towns are found in both
eastern and western sections or" the Central Massif; Alpine resorts are
balanced by Pyrenean l'esorts; Biarritz and 81:.. J ean-de-Luz perhaps
be regarded as a miniature Riviera, whilst international traffic with
Spain is a small counterpart of the P.L.M. traf'fic with Switzerland
and Italy*
Paris suburban traffic is not .great; there is really 0_n ..8_
service running to Bretigny (36 lem.) and forking thence, to
(60 lan.) on the main line and to Dourdan (60 lem.) ,the lim!t of elec
trificationon the secondary line to Tours. The service formerly ,
worked from the Luxembourg terminus to Limours has been -taken over by'
the Paris Metropol1tain as far as Massy Palaiseau, whilst the end of'
the 1ine,f'rom St. R&I!\V to Limours, is substituted by road transport.
viii \) Freight Tratf'ic. The absence of large industrial centres
within the south-western region "is responsible for the sma:p.ness ot
the freight traffic. The 1936 total of tmder 28 million tons for the
P.O.-'Iti.di was less than that of any of" the other systems. The most
important item, as usual, is coal, ot whiohover 5 million tons were
oarried; some of this no doubt was British coal imported at Bordeaux
and Nantes, for the small coalfields at Commentry', Decazeville and
Carmaux distribute but small quantities by rail. The electrification
ot the main line had muoh reduced demand for locomotiva fuel - the
P.O. section alone reckoned a saving of 455,000 tons of coal, a year
and the Midi almost as much - so there is little possibility of an in
crea.se in coal traffic. The second item on the list is one which dis
tinguishes the P.O.-Midi from the other systems; it is wine. Several
of the major wine-producing districts of France fall within the south
western region, such as the Bordeaux country, the Loire valley, Bas
Languedoc, and the brandy areas of and Armagnac. The wine
traf'flcis a specialized business, emplo,ying special containers. Other
commodities connected with agriculture loom largely, fertilizers and
cereals being next in order of tonnage.'
.Stones" are less important than on other lines, but the traffic
includes road metal from the Central Massif (Limousin region, especial
ly the Vienne valley), building stones from the. Cretaceous limestone
or. the Charente valley below AngO'U.J!eme, marble from the Pyrenees. Lime
and cement are obtained from the Jurassio and Cretaceous limestones
ot the north-eastern fianks of the Aquitaine basin, from. Corallian
11mestoneat La Rochelle and from Tertiary limestones near Bordeaux.
As in the south-eastern region animal traffio,. especia.lly on the Midi
section of the south-western region, is heavy, and for the same reasons.
"Transhumance"between the Mediterranean lowland and the Cntral Massif,
and to a less extent between the plainsofAquit.aine and the Pyrenees,
now takes place very largely by rail instead of on foot, and in 1936
over J.t million animals, mainly sheep and goats, were by the
- P.O.-Midi system.
<e) The Western Region. (See Figs. XIII and XIV).
i . General. The state-owned system in western .France com
priseda considerable mileage of line, almost 9,600 lan. (5,953 miles),
a tigurELexceeded only by the PeL.M. and by the combined P.O.-Midi
system. The territory served, however, being almost. entirely agri
cultural and in parts thinly populated, was the least productive of
traf'ric of a:ny la;rge region of France, there being 'neither
freight traffic Bor any considerable volume of international passenger
trattic. The By'Stem originated in 1878 with the state purchase of
several insolvent lines, to which the equally in1lOlvent Ouest railway
was added in 1908. State administration was not as efficient as it
m1ght have been, partly owing to the absence of continuity of control
be"tween 1908 and 1928, tor example, no less than twenty-two successive
Ministers of Public Works were responsible for the railway-and 1t
was not until 1929 that e.. decree treeing the administration from poli
tical interference and theappointmentot a particularq energetic
general manager, in the person of Mo R. Dautry, paved the way for what
might aJ.most be described as the metamorphosis of a system which bad
acquired an unenviable reputation for inefficiency and poor equipment.
Freight traft'ic in 1936 was the lowest of arty of .the major systems ex
cept the P. C.-Midi, and although the passenger traffic was aetual.1y'
the treates1i of all the systems, being greater in fact than that of
the Est and P.L.M. railways combined, this result was entirely
-to the vast Paris suburban traffic which the local electrified lines
carried to and trom the termini of St. Lazare and Invalides.
_The mainlines of the western region radiating from Paris are
ii'9'8 in number, and the last of these has several important branches.
From th!3 st. Lazare terminus three main lines depart, .one to Dieppe
(via Pontoise), one to Bouen and Havre, and a third diverging from
the second at Mantes, to Cheroorirg, with a branch to the seaside re
sort of Trouville-Deauville. From the Montparnasse terminus run the
lines serving western Francs; the two main lines diverge at Versailles,
-
,._,:
- - - - -
one running almost due west to the seaside resort Granville, the other
serving Chartres, Le Mans, Rennes, St. Brieuc and Brest From the
latter an important line diverges at Le !VIana for Anger's, Nantes (for
st. Nazaire) , Vannes, Quimper and Brest, and an alternative (though little
used) route to Bordeaux, other than the P.O. main line, is provided by
the line which runs from Chartres through Saumur, Niort and Saintes to
the Gironde estuary,with westward branches to the ports and resorts
of Les Sables d' Olonne, La. Rochelle, and Reyan. The most important
cross-country routes within-the western region run either north-south
or east-west. or the former the most important is from St. Malo via
RelIDes, Nantes, La Roche-sur-Yon and La Rochelle to Saintes (for Bor
deaux), which, linking up with the P.O.-Midi at Bordeaux, provided a
useful Channel-Pyrenees route (the flCote dlFmeraude-Pyrenees
tt
express)
as an a.lternative to the more usual route from Ehgland via the shorter
sea route and Paris. Another similar Channel-Spain link (the "Manche
express) is provided by the line from Dieppe through Rouen, Ser
quigny, Alencon and Le Mans, which crosses and ma.'l{es use of parts of the
Cherbourg and Granville main lines. The east-west links join the ports
and resorts of western France to the P.O. system and so to central and
eastern.France; the are Angers-Tours, La Roche11e-Niort-Poitiers,.
and Rqyan-Saintes-Angouleme.
ii. With the exception of the Paris' suburbs the lines
are double track throughout the western region, and those from Paris to
Dieppe, Cherbourg and Havre are steam operated.
iii. Electrified Lines. The year of. the great Paris Exhibi
tion, 1900, is a landmark in French rai1wt;y' history, for it was that
year that the first electric railways began to operate. Both the
first two lines were in the Paris area; one was the Mt\tropolitain, and
the other was the Invalides-Versailles (R.G.) line of the Ouest rail
way. The Etat followed soon after with the conversion of several see
tions of its Paris sUburban.lines, out of St,Lazare, to electric trac
tion, and some 103 kIn. of line, carrying a traffic comparable in density
with that of the Southern Railway in the London suburbs, were ultimately
dealt with. The suburban lines concerned are as followsl (i) Invalides
Versailles (R.G.) (18 km.), (ii) st. Lazare to Auteuil (on the Petite
Ceinture line), Argenteuil (10 km.), St. Germain-en-Laye (21 lon.), St,
(30 km.), Versailles (R.D.) (23 km.) and Issy-Plaine
(20 lon.). These lines are operated by current at 650 V. d.c. picked
up from a third rail. Current is derived from foUr thermal-electric
power stations on the banks of the Seine, and through them is also
available from the hydro-electric sources in the Central Massif. The
station at Moulineaux was actually owned by the Etat railway, the other
three, Nanterre, Issy and Gennevilliers, belonged to the Union d I.hec
tricite. The passenger traffic is operated by multiple-unit trains.
._.J:: _.....,;
-
---
28
_..
-
_
More recently a beginning was made with the projected electri
fication of some of the main lines, and the Paris (Montparnasse)-Le
Mans section of the main Brest line commenced operating by electric
traction in 1937. The same technique as for the P.6."",Midi lines WaS
adopted, viz. 1,500 V. d.c. derived trom overhea.d wires. The current
isderivad ultimately from the hydro-electric stations of the Central
Massif, supplemented by the Paris thermal-electric plants, but the
key transformer stations which feed the line are at Elancourt (near
Versailles) e:t the Paris end of the line, at Luisant for the middle
(Chartres) portion and at Arnage for the La Mans end.
i v. Axle Loads. The whole of the western region lines were
equipped for an axle-load of 16 tons. This is the only region of the
French railway system in which no greater load than 16 tons per axle
was permissible. It should be borne in mind that axle-load is not
merely a function of rail weight, but also of the nature of the in
. frastructure, i.e. ballast and particularly bridge strengths.
v. Gradients. The maximum gradients vary between 11100
on the Paris-Dieppe and Paris-Cherbourg sections to 1:18lagainst
west bound trains on the Paris and Havre route.
vi. Sheds. Works, Marshalling Yards. (See Fig, XIV) Here,
as in the seath-western region, fifty engines may be taken as a very
rough dividing line between the larger and less important sheds. The
sheds accommodating the electric locomotives bn the Paris-Le Mans line
are specially distinguished.
The chief locomotive works are at Paris (Batignol1es), Rouen
(Sotteville), Rennes and Saintes. Rennes is also the main centre for
rail-car repairs. Carriage and wagon repairs are concentrated at Le
Mans, Rennes, Sottevi11e, Mantes, Paris (Montrouge) and Nantes (Blot
tereau); the main repair depot for electric stock is La Garenne, in
the suburbs of Paris.
The largest yards, with hump shunting, are at Rermes (capacity
4,000 wagons per day), Sotteville (capacity 7,000-8,000 per day), La
Mans, Trappes (capacity 3,000-4,000 per day), and
Passenger Traffic. Passenger traffic on the Etat lines
in 1936 totalled 176 millions. No figures are available givinG the
exact proportion of this huge total represented by' the Ps.ria suburban
traffic, but the fact that the terminus alone handled 300,
000 passengers a day suggests that between one-half and two-thirds of
the total may well be accounted for by the movement to and from
the suburbs. Other figures indicate the vital difference in the char
acter of the passenger traffic from that of any of the other lines.
"C," . ..

___..
, ,
The average length of journq per passenger was sh01"ter - at 28.8
km. -on the Etat railw8Y than on any of the others except the A.L.
line (which had less than one-quarter of' the mileage of line); more
over, the figures tor the ditf'erent olasses are a complete reversal
ofsimllar figures for the other lines - first class journeys averaged
only 17.4 lon. in length, second class 15.9 km., and third class 38.3 ..
lan. First and seoond class suburban season ticket-holders are res
ponsible for this, and it should be borne in mind also that some ot
the suburban services have no third class accommodation at all.
The passenger traffic of the regiontalls into tour main, classest
(i) Paris suburban, (ii) international, (iii) holiday, (iv) general.
(1) The intensive Paris suburban traffic is worked
partly by -electric trains, partly by "push and pull" steam trains
(whioh work with the engine always at the Paris end) with the outer
suburban or -grande banlieue"services workedby' ordinary steam trains.
The electric services from St. Lazare extend to Auteuil, Argenteuil,
St, Germain-en-Laye, st. NOJD-ola-Brett\che, Versailles (R.D.) and Issy
Plaine, and the outer suburban steam services as :far as Pontoise
(30 km.) and Mantes (58 lan.). From Invalides electric trains ron to
Versailles (R. G. ), and from Montpe.rnasse the inner suburban electric
service runs to Versailles {Chantiers), the outer suburban to Chartres
(SS km.) (electrio) and Dreux (82 km.) (steam). In addition, the 71
km.,section ot the Grande Ceinture -line trom Juvisy via Versailles
(Cha.ntiers) to Argenteuil 1s operated as part of the western region.
(ii) International traffic is not nearly 80 great as
on the l1nes of the northern region, tor the ports served are not the
popular "short-sea-passage
ll
ones such' as Calais and Boulogne. Dieppe,
with its peace-time tw1ce-daily service from Paris to London via New
haven, was the nearest approaoh to these. Havre and at. Malo had daily
services to SouthamptOn, whilst Cherbourg dealt with transatlantic
traffio.
(iii) The western region includes a part of the
, Frenchco8.st-line, on which lie many of the most popu+arseaside re.
sorts. On .the edge of the Pays de Caux, St Vall.ry, Etretat
and others are served from Dieppe or Havre or from branch lines;
Trouville-Deauville is on a branch of the Cherbourg line; Granville
has a main line all to itself; St. Malo and Dinard are on branches
from the Brest line; many tiny resorts round the Brittany eoast are
served from the Brest or Quimper lines; farther south the chief water
ing-places are Les Sables d
l
Olorme and both on branches trom
the Paris-Bordeaux line.
.. (iv) The-general traffio over the rest of the region
is light, and there has been conslderablesubstitutlon of rail ser
vices by roed vehioles.
---- .. ,...-
- "''''"
viii. Freight Traffic. The freight traffic of the western
region--whiehamounted in 1936 to just under 30 million tons,
the lowest of all the systems except .the P.O.-Midi--would be
very small indeed bu't for two major geographical tacts, for the
territory served is almost completely agricultural and rural.
The two facts are the existence of the vast urban market or
Paris and of a series of ports on the coast of Normandy and
Brittany. The formerE-tat raUwa.y pla.yed an important part
in the provisioning of the capital city and in supplying with
fuel the scattered towns and villages.
As usual, the most important item by weight is coale-over
5.3 million tons in 1936. The most important French coal-im
porting port is Rouen; but by far the greater part of its ton
nage reaches the Paris area by water and the railway
but a small part. Other ports, however, such as Dieppe, Havre,
st. Malo, Brest, St.Nazaire, La Rochelle and particularly
Nantes, also import coal, mainly from Britain, and send i-t
inland by rail. Large quantities of coal also enter the
westem region from the northern coalfield; the wagons are sorted
tor distribution in the marshalling yards at Rouen and on the
outskirts of Paris at and Trappes. Much of the coal
carried by rail 1s actually forlocomotl"euse--the depots at
Acheres, Trappes, Caen and Rennes, for example, are all
equipped for handling 500 tons of locomotive coal per day, and
those at La Rochelle, Havre, La Mans and Sotteville can deal
with 250 tons per day.
The second item by weight is 'stones'. Road metal is
available in great abundance in the old rocks of the Breton
Massif, whilst granite for bUilding purposes is also- quarried
at many places, notably around Vire, Louvigneand Combourg.
The agricultural character of the western region and the
traffic in imported foodstuf'fs between the ports and Paris
result in the carriageot a heavy tonnage of foodstuffs and of
fertilizers. Cereals, f'1olr and other foodstutfs together
totalled over 3 million tons in 1936. Milk is a very important
item, collected from. a wide region wi thin 200 miles of Paris;
and almost four-fifths of the Paris consumption of butter is
transported bY' from Charentes, Polton and Normandy, where
one single co-operative alone, the 'Laiteries des Oharentes
et Poitou', had 138 factories. I with an output of 21,000 tons
of butter per annum. Vegetables and SQlll8 varieties of f'ruit
(e. g. strawberries from Plougastel near Landerneau) travel
eastwards from Brittany, and upwards or lOCVXX> tons, mai.Dly
of potatoes.. and caullf'lowers, :reach Paris from this area. There
is also. the specialized banana traffic, carried in insulated
vans, and frequently in special train-loads. Ports served by
the- Etat railway handled on an just over one-half of'
all the French banana import. Lastly, in Dieppe the western.
region has a fishing port importance, and a
'1-'=;,-",,:. _" .......
0
- - .....
highly organized service of insulated refrigerator vans operated,
daily between the port and many different parts of France, about
one-third .ofthe traffic going to Paris (Batignolles).
The western region has also a considerable animal traffic,
million head in 19.36. This is not due to transhumance,
however, as in the south-eastern and south-western regions, but
results from the' considerable movament of fat cattle and sheep
f'rom Normandy and the western part of the Paris basin generally
to the Paris abattoirs.
(4) Railways in the Paris Area. (See Figures D,m. and
XVII) Rail transport of both passengers and. freight forms an
integral part of' the economic life of' any modern town, and in
the case of great cities it be described as a vital ele
ment without which the daily life of the community would be
quite impossible. The functions of the railway in such an
environment are manifold. For passenger traffic, the rail
way system of a great capital city must provide (a) adequate
means for transporting the suburban-dwelling workers to and
f'rom thecity daily, and very largely at two speoific I rush
houri periods, thus neoessitating spacious terminals and multiple
tracks; (b) main-line services to the principal provincial
centres. From this point of view, therefore, the raUway plan
should consist of a series oflines radiating from the'city,
wi th perhaps a series of' tentacles or branches on the out
skirts serving suburbs.lnterterminal transport facilIties
will also be desirable; such facilities take the fonnor
a. surfaoe railway actually connected the terminals, or an
underground line without such physical connex:l.on.
As regards freight traffic, the railways must provide, in
the first place, for the daily food suPPlY of the vast population.
This necessitates the provision of adequate unloading, tran
shipment end perhaps also marketing facilities at the terminals,
prefera))ly not too .close to the passenger terminals lest
oongestion ensue The capital city, moreover, simply by reason
of its position at the focus of aseries of radiating rail
way lines, is almost bound to act as an entrepot for goods :from
one part or the countl'7 or from abroad destined for another
part or another country. It will be more convenient, and probably
quicker, to send a-small consignJilent of goods via the entrepot,
where sorting facilities willerlst and where the small consign
ment will become part of a larger consignment for the small
destination, than via a somewhatcircuitaus cross-country route.
The main need of the city, therefore, will be (1) sorting
facilities, where traffics from all directions can be re
assembled for their destina.tions, and (ii) adequate connex:1on

-rr:iii'Q$
- --
- 3 2 - " ~ - '
__ ~ ~ _ ..........J
from one radial main line to another. Thus the belt or
girdle line beoomes an almost ineVitable feature of the rail
'way pattern, and, since the sorting of railway wagons necessi
tates much open space, the great sorting and marshalling
sidings tend to spring up on theoutskirts of the city, most
probably at or near the places where the belt line crosses
the radials.
The ideal railway plan for a ].arge city thus somewhat re
sembles a wheel; the city is t h ~ hUb, the main lines are the
spokea,and the circumference is the belt line. Naturally
t ~ symmetr,y ot this arrangement will depend on numerous factors
connected mainly with the history of the growth of the lines,
with the nature and source or the traffics, and with physical
circumstances.
The ra.ilway network of the Paris region.fits in more per
fectly with this ideal scheme than that of any other oity in
the whole world.
The following are the chief elements in the plan:
(i) Radial main lines and terminal goods stations
Proceeding clockwise from the northern side of the city, the
following may be noted: Nord station, with goods station at
La Chapelle; Est, with La Villette; BastUle, with ReU1lly;
Lyon, with the two large goods stations at Bercy, one inside
and the other outside the city wall; Quai d'Orsay, connected
underground with Austerlitz which is also a passenger terminal,
with goods stations at Austerlitz and Ivry; Luxembourg (terminus
of the former P.O., now Metropolitain outer suburban line to
Sceaux) (no goods station); Montparnasse, with goods station
at,Vaugirard, Invalides (terminus of the electric J.ine to
Versailles R.G.) with Javel; and lastly St. Lazare with the
large goods depot at Batignolles; Barey, reception point of
the 'primeurs' traffic, and Batignolles, which receives food
stuff's from the west, are probably the most important of' the
goods stations.
The relation of 'Les Halles', the central markets, to
the terminal goods stations is indicated on Figure XVI. The
markets are almost exactly equidistant by about. 4 lone from each
of the goods stations; as a result a considerable amount of
lorry traffic takes place especially during the night, to
eover this gap between the rail head and the market
. (ii) Interterminal rail facilities
(a) Petite Ceinture. The inner girdle line, or Petite Ceinture,
which runs round the city boundary on the inner side of the old
__tt.t.It
t ...-,.

fortifications, came into being as a result of a decree passed
a week after the coup d'etat of 1848 and it cannot be main
tained that its purpose was to facilitate interterminal passen
ger traffic. By means of connecting spur$,however, it be
came linked with almost all of the nine radial lines, and
eventually performed two functions, one being to carr.y passen
gers from one .part of the inner suburbs to another., and the
other to give passage to through trains crossing Paris from
one main radial line to another, and especially from the Gare
d'l Nord to the Gare de Lyon. In 1880 the Petite Ceinture carried
16 million passengers; in 1908 the figure had risen to 2?k
millions. Thereafter, however, the internal combustion engine,
as applied to omnibuses, taxi5.7 and priV8; te cars, began to re
duce the traffic considerably, and by 1933 the number of
had fallen to 7 millions. In 193410ca1 passenger traffic
ceased, being largely replaced by omnibuses; but the western
region operates an electric shuttle service between Pont Cardil..et
and Auteuil racecourse), and certain Channel-Mediterranean through
trains pass over the line from the northern to the south-eastern
region or vice versa. In 1936,'125,000 passengers travelled
on the line, of whom two-thirds'were second class and. only 11%
third class. Freigllt traffic continues to pass over the line,
and in 1936 the total tonnage approached 3 millions.
(b) Metropolitain. Although the first plans for local city
lines date back to 1871, it was the preparations for
the 1900 Exhibition which rekindled the idea in the late 'nineties.
An underground course was obviously necessary and electric traction
was therefore natural.
The city authorities undertook to drive the tunnels,
to an entrepreneur the task of providing the permanent way,
rolling stock and electric current, and of operating the line. .
The entrpreneurs were the 'Societe Generale de Traction' (associated
with Le Creusot engineers), and in 1898 they formed the 'Cie du
Metropolitain de Paris', with 25 million fr81CB capit,al,.to equip
and operate six lines, totalling 65 km. length, with standard-
gauge track but with loading gauge slightly smaller than that
of the main-line railways (for,most of the lines were to be under
ground).
The first line, from the Porte Maillot across the re!3.rt. of
the city (via Etoile, Concorde" Palais Royal and Bastille) to
the Porte Vincennes, was opened in 1900, and others followed.
The city levied a tax on each ticket sold, to repay the cost
of the works. A secondundertaking--the Nord-Sud railway-
was a purely private undertaking established in 1901; its first
line, from the Porte de Versailles to St. Lazare, was opened
in 1910.
.JJ J .. i ;.. 1,.
'.
Some important developments have taken place during the
last 12 years . In 1930 the Metro was the most intensively
worked urban electric line in the world, its 7.6 million nassengers
per kiloMetre of line comparing with figures of 4.5 for the
Berlin underground, 3.2 for that of London,and 5.8 for that of
. New Yox-k. Yet its confinement within the former city walls
hindered its usefulness, and the competition of the suburban
electric tramways and the rapid increase of road traffic be
tween the suburbs and the city were also features'which it
was desirable to overcome.
In 1930 the Metro absorbed the Nord-Sud, .thus bringing the
whole system, then totalling 125 lone of line, under a lmified
control.' An extension was opened in 1931 from Palais Royal to
to the Porte d' Ivry, another from. Opera via Bastille. to the .
Porte de Charenton (for the Colonial Exhibition in the Bois de
Vincennes), and a third from Odeon to Jussieu. In 1932, as
part of a plan for extending its influence beyond city wallsJ the
Metro took OV4;:tr the P.O. from the Luxembourg terminus to Sceaux and
Massy-Palaiseau, and commenced the reconstruction, of the line for
electric operationt at a cost of over 140 million francs; other ele
ments in the same plan comprised the extension of certain existing
Metro lines to distances of 10-15 km. beyond the walls.
The plan of the Metro network is shown in Fjg!. XVII, which
also indicates the extent of the overground sections. Over 90%
of the mileage is underground (excluding the Sceaux line), running
mostly at shallow depth beneath the city streets. Thedeepest
sections lie beneath the hills of Montmartre and Chaumont; the
rail level at the station of Buttes Chaumont is almost 100 ft.
below ground surfaoe. The Sceaux line wa.s reopened in January
1938; in its first year it carried 18 million passengers com
pared with 8 million in 1937. New extensions of the urban lines
brought the total mileage at the end of 1938 to III (178 lan.).
The chief interterminal links are lines nos. 4 and 5, the former
linking Nord and Est with Bastille and Austerlitz. Other terminals
oan only be reached by changing from one Metro line to another,
e.g. St. Lazare to Lyon by changing at Concorde. It can scarcely
be maintained that the Metro is as efficacious a means for
interterminal transport a.s the London Inner Cirole, for example.
The Metro trains are operated by current at 600 V. d.e.,
picked up from a, third "rail. 'fhe 'current is obtained-at 10,000
V. a.c. from thermal' electric power stations at St. Denis and
Ivry, and is transformed at twenty-nine substations scattered
over the system. The Sceauxline has the standard P.O. type
of equipment, i.e. 1,500 V. d.c. with overhead wires.
liE 11 I is
0---
The chief repair works are at Choisy, on the south side
of the city; the.re are others _atVaugirard, .Ita1i.e, St. Cuen,
St. Fargea'l., Bobinage, La Croix-Nivertand
(iii) Goods girdle line and marshalling yards
The 'Grande or outer girdle, comprising 132 km. of
double-track line, ceased to be a separate entity in 1935, and
its adndnistration syndicate was liquidated at the end of 1937,
on theforntation of the S.N.C.F., being divideod
between the The line varies in
distancef:rom the 6ity centre .W1d 22t lan., being
closest on the northern and horth-eastern sides, fa:rthest away
on the southern side Although passenger services are pro
vided--in 1936 there were 1,361,000 passengers, of whom 97.6%
travelled third class--the.main function of the line is to
transfer freight bet.een the main radial lines and in
consequence the chief marshalling yards are situated close to
where it crosses these lines.
The section operated as part of the northern region commences
at Argentueui1, where. marshall1,ng yards link .the Ceinture with
the we.stern region lines.. to Pontoise and Mantes (via right bank
of Seine). Proceeding eastwards the Ceinture crosses and is
linked by spurs with the northern suburban lines to fontoise
and Beaumont, and then passes-over the northern main line
(to Aniiens), swinging southwards to. cross the second northern
main line (to La-on). where it ..is linked to the great marshalling
yards of Le Bourget. It continues southwards to Bobigny, where
there are more the"oeastern region main line,
where it is linked with the yards. ofPantin and Noisy-1e-8ec. .
Beyond N01sy-1e-8ec, a further junction. with the eastern main
line gives acce.ss to the great modern hump yard (completed 1932)
of Vaires. The line continues southwards, crossing the river
Marne and passing underneath the eastern region Belrort line;
i tcrosses the Verneui! suburban line at -Sucy-Bonrteuil and
swings westwards to cross the former P.L.M. main line, with
which contact is made in the marshalling yards of Villeneuve
St. Georges. Running parallel to the P.L.. M. Corbeil lirie, it
crosses the.Seine and links upwtth the main line of the south
western region, (late P.O. ) in the yards of .Juvisy. Thence
forward the Ceinture forms part of the western region. Di
verging from the P.O. line just beyond Juvisy, it strikes
northwestward across rural terrain towards Versailles, via
Massy-Palaiseau. Burrowing under the former Etat line to
Chartres,it makes contact therewith in the yards of Versailles
Matelots; these yards are now mainly used for storage, the
activities haVing been transferred to the huge new
hump yard (1931-2) at Trappes, a few miles farther down the
main line. The Ceinture noV{ turns northwards, passing the ends
of the suburban electric lines at St. Nom""la-Breteche and
.---.

St. Germain-en-Lays, to Acheres, where contact is made with
the main Etat lines to Dieppe and Havre, in a recently en
larged hump yard (1935). It runs parallel to the Etat main
line for a while, crossing the Seine .t Kusena-Latfitte, and
then diverges eastwards to Argenteuil.
Freight traffic on the Ceinture in 1936 amounted
to just over 12 million tons; no details a.vailable as to
the commodities comprised in this total. The locomoti'V8stock
of the Grande and Petite Ceintures" combined in 1936 was 146;
1t included a number of small 'tank engines for light passenger
trains, and a series of large artieulated tank engines (0-6-2
6-0) for working heavy freight trains.
,(5) Supplemental Note on Railcar SAd Railway-Operated Road Sernce.
The competition of the road as a means of both passenger
and f'reight transport is a phenomenon ram1.liar enough in all
countries within last two decades, but it reached'an acute
'stage in France during the 'thirties. Apart from the normal
reasons for the increasing severity of road competition, e.g.'
greater efficiency of trequentamall-capaoity road services than
of infrequent, larg.e-capacit.y trains, decreasing costs of oil
as opposed to coal, etc., the road vehicle in France held a
considerable advantage over the railway train because the roads
do actually enter the towns and villages and so provide door-to
door transport, whereas the railwq frequently does not. In
general the railways in rural steer a course between
villages, and stations are often far removed from centres of
population. Thus of something like 15,000 railway stations in
France, over 2,000 have dOUble-barreled names referring to two
villages more or less equidistant from the station, e.g. Amagne
Luequy, Les Laumes-Alesia, Culmont-Chalindrey.
The reply of the railways to the oompetition of road vehicles
took two forms: (a) the employment of railcars (Iautorails
'
,
mainly propelled by engines using petroleum or heavy oil, with
some Diesel-electric), by which a more frequent service with
a seating capacity approximate to that of a large road vehicle
could be economtcally maintainedj(b) the complete substitution
by their own road vehicles of rail-passenger services on many
lines in rural areas.
The extent of the development at 'these two forms of trans
port in 1939 is indicated in Figure XVIII.
A number of features of geographical sigDiticance are ob
servable on the map:
-(1) In the northern and eastern regions, sOPIe express
railcar services were used to supplement steam expresses.
Elsewhere, express railcars were mainly employed to provide
fast services on cross-country-lines or on lines which were
not well served by steam expresses. Thus the 4ifficult
Bordeaux-Glermont-Ferrand route, which between Brlve and
Clermont is almost a mountain railway, reaching an altitude
of over 3,000 ft. and with gradients of 1:40, was worked by
Renault Diesel-electric cars. In the south-eastern region
the main Paris-Marseilles line was too congested lvith hBavy
long-distance expresses and freight trains to the use
of fast railcars, and the service between Lyons and Nimes
travelled via the right bank of the Rhone. In the south
western region the use of traction, with resultant
economies in working of a more frequent service of short trains,
prevented the, employment of express railcars, and in the
western region the traffic hardly warranted their use.
(2) The use of 'petite vitesse' railcars was widespread,
mainly on lines other than those carrying the main
streams. Again, the electrified linea a! the south-western
region cause large blank spaces on the map. The almost
complete absence of railcars from the Lorraine industrial district
iBinterestillg; no doubt it reflects the n&ture of the passenger
traffic, which consists mainly of movements of workmen in
large numbers at certain hours of the day-traffic far better
acoommodated by long trains of third class,coacheB with wooden
seats than by richly upholstered railcars of small capaoity.
(3) The distribution of bus-substituted Ilnesisstriking.
In part it is' a reflection of the density of the rail network
in rural areas; iI) areas where the mLleage per head of population
was greatest there has been most substitution of steam trains
by road vehicles. The main areas are Normandy and the south
eastern part of the Paris basin, the two regions separated
by territory served by the P.O. electrified lines.
It should be borne in mind that in almost ,all cases goods
traffic continues to be rail hauled; veryfew,'if indeed any,
of the lines have been ccmpletely abandoned. .
IESlJJ
Q. Motor Transportation
(1) Administration.
The basic classes of French roads
are national, departmental, and local.
Nati'onal roads (routes nationales) are long dis
tance highways the admin"1s.tration and maintenance of which
are controlled by the State. Between 1928-1932 France "in
corporated manYfoads of d'her classes into the national
system; so extensive was this reclassification that French
Toad engineers speak of old and new networks.' Nati'lnal roads
of the new'network are usually ,inferior, although an extensive
imprDvement program was undertaken before the war.
Departmental roads (routes departnentales) are
routes connecting principal towns of a departrnentor adjoin
ing department,s.' The depBrtment pays for improvements and
maintenance, although the work may be done by state officials.
In. recent yeers many of these roads have been declassified
into the local system and their length has declined.
Local roads (chemins vicinsux) belong to the com
munes,which are partly resp"nsiblefor their
!he state grants subsidies to commllIles for local road work.
The class is divided intothree'sub-classes: communication
roads (chemins de common interest
roads (chemins commun) , and ordinary local roads
(chemins vicinaux ordinaires). Roads of the first two sub-.
classes serve as feeders to the national ,network and the
railroads; the third sub-class includes a).1 rural roads.
In 1938 the old departmental class was dropped in
a reorganization of the classificatinn system. A new class,
departmental highways (chemins depnrtementaux) was created
to include old departmental roads, cOI!ll!1unication roads, '
and common interest roads. At the outbreak of the war only
three classes ofraads were recognized :natiom 1, departmental
highways,. and ordinary local. However, road administration
has been little affected by
Before the 1940 armistice, central control of nati
onal roads was in the hands of the Minister of Public Works.
Through the appointment of prefects the Minister of Public
Works exercised considerable control over departmental aad
local roads; the. prefects shared,admlfiistration with local
elective bodies. From October 1940, to February 1941, the
Vichy regime reorganized the road administration." Powers
formerly belonglrig to the Minister of PuhlicWorks and the
Interior were conferred {)n of Works
and Transports, a subordinate of the Secretary ofState for
Communications.

-39
(2) Highwy
,The density of'the network of roads in France is
by far the greatest in continental Europe. For every square
mile of French territory there two miles of road; by
comparison Great Britain has 1 mile of road to 6.44 square
miles and Germany 1 mile to 1.37 square miles. In southern
France, where the terrain is difficult and the economic
necessity for road development is pressing, a few
areas of moderately low dens:1.,tyexist. However, even in these
areas, neighboring villages are often linked by several
good routes, and there is practically no community,
however remote, that 1s not served by at least one good
road.
The ,nodality of Paris and the density of the road
network around it are notable; other of greater than
average density are the northern industrial area, the Lor
raine ironfield and the "tourist" areas of Savoy and the
west central Pyrenees. The areas' of least density
Landes, where there are relatively few roads of any class,
the southern end of the Central Massif, and the high Alps.
Of low-lying areas, stand out: the Landes, the Bologne,
Dry Champagne, the Rh8ne delta, and the trough of Bresse
and Dombes.
The road network 1s built around three natural
routes: the Pottou gateway, connecting.the south Atlantic
coast with Paris; theRh'8ne-SaSnecqrridor from the Medit
erranean coast to Paris Basin; and the Carcassonne Gap, which
serves as a cross-link between the Atlantic and the Medit
erraneap.. Utilizing these natural routes, main highways tra
verse the lowlands -- Aquitaine, the Rh6'ne Valley, and the
Mediterranean coast -- linking these regions together and pro
viding the basis of road systems within each of them.
Roads leading up from lowland"highways link the upland re
gions -- the Central Massif, the Pyrenees and the Alps -
to the rest of Southern France. The roads within these re
glonsare generally circuitous.
In Aquitaine, the low, flat terrain offers few
obstacles to construction. Bordeaux 1s the center of routes
radiating to Arcachon, Pointe de Grave, Royan, La Rochelle,
Poitiers, Clermont-Ferrand, Narbonne, and Biarritz. Espeei- ,
ally evident is a radial pattern in the Landes area west and
southwest of Bordeaux, where straight roads lead directly
to the populated points on the edge of the Landes forest.
Southwest from Bordeaux, the rather I1mi'ted road system
serves a sparsely populated area; from Le Verdon to Bayonne,
only four paved routes touch the Atlantic coast. About six
-. '.-"
=-- .........:::.'T.
-40
miles inland behind the dunes and lagoons, a single road
parallels the coast. North of Bordeaux the network is
very dense, with routes serving the port cities on-the
Gironde, Rochefort and La Rochelle. The most important in
land road terminus in Aquitaine is Toulouse, from where
routes go to the southwest part of the Central l.1assif, the
Pyrenees, and the Mediterranean Coast.
The. pattern of the road system in the Pyrenees has
been largely determined by the difficulties of the ter
rain. This region is made up of a high continuous range of
mountains lacking the U-shaped valleys which form natural
rO'ltes in the Alps. Except for the Atlantic and Medi terranean
Coastal roads, North-South crossings of the Pyrenees in
volve the ascent of steep transverse valleys and passage
through difficult passes.
The region has the sparsest road network in
southern France. A main east-west. highway follows the foot
hills of the Pyrenees connecting Bayonne; Pau, Tarbes, Fqix,
and Perpignan. At five points on this highway important
routes cross:the Pyrenees. From Bayonne a coastal rond of
less than 100 meters elevation runs to Hendaye and the
Spanish port of St. Sebastian. From Pau, a route ascends
the valley of the NeezRiver to Oloron and thence to the
Spanish frontier by way of Somport P a s s ~ A third route ori
ginates dt Faix, follows the Ariege Valley to Puymorens
Pass arid descends the valley of the Carol River to Puigcerda,
Spain. At Perpignan, two routes originate, one crossing the
Roussillon Plain and entering Spain through the low P erthus
Pass; the other follows a low and winding route along the
Mediterranean coast.
The Allier and Loire valleys running northward
from the southern edge are the only natural routes in the
Central Massif, the rugged upland occupying a central posit
ion in southern France. Trunk routes south from P a ~ i s
utilize the Poitou gateway and the Rhone Valley and avoid the
region.
The major cities in the Massif, Clermont-Ferrand
in the Allier Valley and Le Puy ~ n d St. Etienne in the Loire
Valley, are connected by good hlghways. From St. Etienne to
Le Puy the road follows the general direction of the Loire
Valley. The road from LeFuyto Clermont-Ferrand crosses from
the Loire to the Allier Valley at a point where the Allier
runs within a mile or two of the Loire Rivero The road from
- 41 _ ..
St. Etienne to Clermont-Ferrand follows a tributary of the
Loire for part of itsd1stance. The western part of the road
crosses the steep Forez Plateau. These three cities are iJIl-_
portant termini of routes to the adjacent geographical
regions.
Clermont-Ferrand and St. Etienne are connected with the
Paris Basin by roads following the Northern course of the
Al11erand the Loire, Two principal road con
nections exist between the Massif and the From
St. Etienne, the most important ronte to Lyon follows the
valley of the G1ers River, a tributary of the Rh8neo An
important route from Le Puy follows the upper and
the Escoutery to on the left bank of the Rh&'e. A
minor route runs from Mende to N!mes by way of the Gardon
and Gard Valleys.
A highway terminating at Montpel11er provides a direct
connection between the Massif and the Mediterranean coast.
The main road originating at Clermont-Ferrand is joined by
a road from La Puy and follows a winding course whi;ch is es
pecially tortuous where it crosses the causse@, the rough
upland between lIillau and .
Toulouse and Perigueux are termini of main roads from
the Massif to Aquitaine. The route to Toulouse originates
at Le Puy, crosses the western sec,tion of the causses and
enters the Tarn valley near Albi. The route to
orlgihates at Clermont-Ferrand; it crosses the Limousin
Plateau and leaves the Massif at Tulle by way of the Cor
r'ze river valley.
Besides providing the most direct connection between
the Mediterranean and the Paris basm, the Rh&.e Valley
serves as a trunk route, from which branches lead by way
of tributary valleys into the Central Massif and the Alps.
Routes in the Gard Valley run west and northwest to Mende
and st. Flour 0 Donz're is the terminus of the route from
Le Puy through the upper Valley" From Andance, a
road runs northwest to St. ttienne and othef' cities in the
Loire Valley. Eastward fr_o..m the Bh8ne-, tha
provides a route from Pont st. Esprit to Serres. A route in
the Valley leads from L1vronto Aspres - sur - Buech
and Gap From Valence the provides a straight route
to Grenoble. Lyon 1s the foeal point of routes to. Bt.
!t1enne, lioanne , a.nd Clermont-Ferrand in the Cent;-al Mas
sit, and to Grenoble and Geneva. Directly north, the
Saone Valley-route connects Lyon with the Paris Basin.
From Avignon to Lyon, two roads parallel the
River. From the point of view of constrtictisn and favorable
on the left bank 1s better3 Except or
13 71IS.... ,... ,
the narrows between Valence and Vienne and above Donzere,
the left bank is bordered by wide plains and moderately
hilly country.'On the right bank, the plain is generally
narrower; at certain points the road runs along the steep
eastern slopes of the .
Along the mediterranean coast the road system is of
two general types. From Perpignan to Marseille the region
oonsists of a low plain, the margin of which is marked by
a series of marshes and lagoons. The principal cities are
located inland on the upper portion of the plain. Thus
the main highway linking Perpignan, Narbonne,
Montpellier, and Marseille, is an inland route for its
entire No important road runs to the coast except
for the rnute connecting and Montpellier with
Sete. A number of minor roads skirting the lagoons link
the coast with the highway $ystem.
From to the Italian frontier the coast is
marked by ranges of the Maritime Alps. The principal
cities are located on the coast. Older roads from Marse
ille to Toulon and Cannes follow the twisting coastline.
Newer highways utilize the inland valleys which parallel
the Coast. There are few such valleys between Camles and
the frontier and the routes linking Cannes, Nice,and
Henton are located on mountain slopes.
Broad U-shaped valleys serve as natural routes to
the interior and the international passes in 'the French
Alps. Through the valley of the Isere and its tributary
valleys runs the illain east-west road connection with Italy,
with Grenoble serving as focus of the northern Alpine roads.
Grenoble is connected with tLe Rhone Valley by a main
road leading to Valence and another leading to Lyon. A
less important highway runs northwest to Bourg in the
Baone Valley. From Grenoble a rnain road runs northeast
to Geneva via Annecy and Chambery. From this road two
branches lead to the Italian frontier. One branch follows
the Arc to Mont Cenis Pass; the follows the
upper to the Iittle st. Berna,rd Pass. South from
Grenoble the main route separates into three branches. One
follows the Romanche Valley to Brian can;' the second follows
the general direction of too Drac River to Gap; the third
runs south to the headwaters of the Buech at Aspres-sur
Buech.
In the southern portion of the Alps, the roads mainly
folJ.ow the Durance and its tributaries. From r/la:t;'seille ,
a route erosses over low Alpi.ne foothills and follows the
liES i_, i kif'
~ ... -_. - - 'II
.
- 43
Durance north to Sisteronand Brian9on. A branch from this
road runs to Gap,connecting there with the Gap-Grenoble
route. At B1steron a road ascends the Buech.
(3) Mileage.
In ~ 9 3 9 the length.of the three classes of roads
was as follows:
Length of French roads, 1939
(In miles)
National Roads Departmental Roads Local
Roads
49,821 155,831 1,866,375
'. ".,
. ~ .
- -
. ; .. _.. l!f'!!'.. .. __ ._ .... '
.-
..

In 1939 the national road network consisted ot
approximately 50,000 miles of roads of the following
widths:
Miles Widths
310 29.5 feet
17,810 19.7 to 29., feet
23,750 14.7 to 19.7 feet
8,125 less than 14.7
The large proportion of narrow roads was due to
the incorporation of many local and departmental roads
into the national network. Roads ot the new network ac
counted for 12,670 miles of roads 14.7 feet wide
2,240 miles of those less than 14.7 teet1n width. In
1933 the Minister of Public Works set up spec1ficatiohs
for modernizing the network. Most national roads now adhere
to these specif1cations:19.7 feet in flat or rolling
terrain and 16.4 teet in mountainous terrain; many high
ways have been widened to 36.1 feet. Sections of the
Nice-Turin route (National 204) and of the Bayonne
Perpignan route (National 117) and some other mountain
roads of the national class are still as narrow as 14.7
feet. A few routes over rolling terrain, for example,
sections of the alternate Marseille-Lyon route (National
are only 16 teet.
Local roads vary between 13.1 feet and 19 feet;
some rural roads are only lanes of 9.8 feet. However,
two lanes of traffic can operate on most of the minor
roads.
(4) Construction.
(a) Surface. Most finished roa.d surfaces are
tarred. In were 45,981 miles of tarred roads)
of which 24,233 miles were especially surfaced with tar
macadam for fast traffic. In this type, the surface 1s
hard and durable ;__ the tar permeates the road body binding
together stone and gravel courses. The remaining 21,748
miles of tarred roads are surface-treated macadam, that is
waterbound macadam with a top-dressing of tar or bitumen.
Where minor and secondary roads are not surface-treated
macadam, they are usually ordinary
Although concrete isse1domfound'1n long
distances, it has come into general use especially in heavy
traffic districts. Generally, it is applied. in two layers:
a lower course of weak concrete, and a surface course of
rich concrete. Maeedam cement made by pouring a -fluid


cement mortar on a, macadam surface is sometimes used. About
15.4-l7.'poundsofcementare for each-square yard. In
urban areas ,_ paving-ofolde-r 'types-stone-se-tt and wood-block
--is still found.
Most road surtaces were built to bear sub
loads. Before the war weights were regulated by
law. A truck with two axles was limited a gross weight
of 15 metricftons w.1th amaxirilum on one axle of 10 tons.
Trucks with three axles were limited according to the d1s-
tance between axles as follows:
Distance aXles Load- limit per axle
3.0 feet
Zmetric tons
, .. 2, feet
_8;.' n
. : 7.5- feet
9 n n
9.8 teet
10" "
In peacetime, traffic consisted mostly of
trucks of these specifications, -but-the roads will undoubtedly
bear much heavier mili tnry l.0ads. Event_ually,._ the roads will
require repair work, since they Vlere riot built for continu
ous use by heavy traffic.
considerations havefol'ced the
French to follow a frugal poliCy in road construction. Con
crete has com& into use only recently and,wherever possible,
inexpensive materials are used. Therefore, most roads are
of types that call for continual attention.
_It has been repor_ted that repairing of
roads fn France has not .beenunder'taken for the past four
years because of the scarcity of-tar-bitumen and that road
surfaces were wearing off. Treated macadam surfaces are sub
ject to rather rapid and must be regularly
renewed. Before the wal'-maintenanceprocedure was more or
less' After bul1diz,lg "the rp.ad surface was
sprayed with tar,or bitumen.emuls1ons were:spplied without
screenings. The road was not sprayed at 'all for the next
four or five years. Finally became
serious the process was begun again. A constant inspection
was carried out to breaks needing immediate attention.
, Repair and'constrnction materials are es
pecially plentiful in -southern-Fr,a,nce) with almost every de
partmentpossessing some rock and-gravel suitable for road
constrllction andse1leral ... naving. quarries ot
national importance.. t9_9ated 1ri. Crense, Hantes
Pyrenees, Loire, and BOllches-dn-Rhone. Sand and gravel are
found in the departments of Am, Haute-Savoie, Alpes-Mar!..;,
times, and from the area around Bordeaux and Bayonne. South
ern France Is less rich in tar. In 1937 imports of tar bit
umen and asphalt amounted to only one-fourth the amount
used on the roads in France.
(b) CUIjves, and gradients. At present, the national
network is characterized by cuts and fills, viaducts over
ravines, and other features which facilitate high-speed
travel.
/In 1933 maximum gradient's for the construction
or moderniz,at1on of national roads werespec1fied as follows:
5 percent in rolling terrain; 10 percent in mountainous ter-
not more than 8 percent in any section exceeding
3,280 feet in length. The national network meets these
specifications moderately well. Gradients vary from 17 per
cent 1nrol11ng terrain to 12 and 14 percent on mountain
roads.
The 1933 specifications relating to curves
on national roadspermltted a minimum radius of 984.2 feet
in flat or rolling terrain. No minimum radius was specified
in mountainous terrain, maximum banking on curves was set at
8 percent. While many dangerous curves have been
switchbacks and hairpin turns are not uncom...rnon in the
mountains.
(c) Camber. One of the first aims of the modern
road improvement program was-the elimination of excessive
camber. The 1933 specifications called for a camber from
1/70 to 1/80 on national roads with tarred surfaces. Cam
ber on stone-sett and concrete roads was set at 1/90 to
1/100. In general, although stretches of high-cam1:>ered road
exist, they present no great
(d) Shoulders. The shoulders bordering the roads
are usually elevated about .2.m above the roadway and are
usually 3.28 feet wide. Ditches 3.28 - 9.85 feetvvide run
along the outside edge of the shoulders on most roadse
Drainage is provided by culverts and lateral gutters cut....
ting the shoulder and connecting with the
(e) Bridges constitute tIle principal
weakness of the road system of the country and are parti....
cularly poor1n the southern part of France. As late as
1936 there was on national roads a large nmnber of bridges
which could not more than 20 tons. There are 20 .
bridges over the RhBne between Lyon and Tarascon. Two in
the department of Vaucluse are of unlimited capacity; in
-,.--._-"-
..
the same two other principal bridges are
limited by law to 5.5 and 12 ton loads. Many bridges on
local roads are considered unsafe for loads of more than
12 tons; some are legally restricted to loads of not more
than 4 or 5 tons. Many bridges are excessiye1y narrow. Bridges
are particularly poor in the southern part of the Central
Massif, in Languedoc, theAlps.t and the Rh6'he Valley.
At the outbreak of the War the only major piece of
new road construc.tion underway was a section of the Route
des Alpes from St. Gervais to Bourg St. Mannice. Also in pro
gress ,in 1939 was tl}e Porte St. Claude exit from Paris
leading to Versailles. Five such radiating motorwaYs, with
twin traffic lanes each about 29 feet wide, were planned at a
cost of one billion francs.
The German press of Oatober194l carried an announce
ment that the French were planning to build three new high
ways. onerunn1ng to northern France from Paris which would
connect with the projeoted Reichsautobahn at Liege;
a second running from Paris to Lille; and a third from Paris
to Calais. For the construction of these three roads it
is claimed that four billion francs have been appropriated.
At Lyon a vehicular tunnel under the Croix Rousse
section of the city may be already completed, but it 1s not
certain. The completed tunnel will constitute with its
projected approach the junction of two of the most important
routes in France from Paris to the Mediterranean via
the Rhone-SaSne Valley and from Bordeaux and other Atlantic
ports to the Alps by the Upper Bh6ne Valley.
(r) Level Crossings. There are 35,000 level cross
ings in France, 5,000 of which were on the national roads.
It was decided to eliminate 3,000 of the most dangerous
crossings at a cost of 2 million francs; the work ",as to
start in Paris with the replacement of level crossings by
subways or viaducts.
(5) Snow Blockades.
Roads in the Alps, the Pyrenees and thtCentral
Massif are SUbject to snow blockade. As late as 1939,
wedge and rotary plows were used" on the main "routes. Most
secondary routes were cleared of snow,although not always
promptly. Snowblocking .becomes a problem in the Alps at"
an elevation of 3,280 feet; with the exception of Mont
of the passes are blocked completely tor from
6 to 8 months. Traffic on roadssk1rt1ng the P:lrenees 1.h the
west via Biarritz and in the east via p'erpignan is seldom
interrupted by snow. In the central Pyrenees,roads are
blocked from 4 to 8 monthlby heavy snow beginning as early
as August. For four months of the" year travel 1s suspended
in the Central Massif at elevations above:4,265 feet.
(6) Motor Transport Facil1t1ese
On January 1, 1940 France had the following re
motor vehicles:
Passenger cars 1,885,000
Buses 40,000
Trucks 455',000
Diesel Units
2,398,5'00
This stock was increased by the construction of about
40.,000 trucks and buses and 20,000 passenger Cars by June
1940. These figures are equal to roughly half of the pro
duction reported for the period from September 1939 to
December 1940. The total number of about 2,450,000 vehic
les was greatly reduced in 1940 by destruction,
or purchase by the Germans. In the m1ddleof 1941,
1,300,000 vehicles had been lost. Of those remaining, only
about 300,000 were in operation in September 1941; 240,000
of these were trucks and buses, .30,000 of which used char
coal for fuele Later reports bring the estimate of the cars,
trucks, and autobuses in use as low as 100,-000 or 3 1/2
percent of the total number registered in pre-war days.
The total number of trucks in Paris is estimated at 3,000
or less. There are serious shortages of gasoline, rubber,
and lubricating 0118,a5 well as repair parts. Charcoal
sticks used as a substitute f,er gasoline are estimated to
be about seven percent o normal.
Internal Waterways and Canals.
(1) Extent.
French inland waterways are divided naturally into
seven or eight groups, either based on major river systems
or composed of artificial and regulated streams connecting
two or more such systems. While France has a number of
large rivers, they are rarely suitable for navigation. The
RhSne, greatest river in is too turbulent and cap
ricious, while the Loire and the Garonne have smallcatch
ment areas and are SUbject to seasonal f100dsand drouths.
For shipping purposes rivers like the Loire and the Garonne
in the south, and the Oise, Alsne, and :Marne in the north
been supplemented by lateral canals. ,
'" _ Ii .. _
There are over 12,000 kilometers of navigable.water
ways in France, about 5,000 kilometers first-class and
7,000 kilometers second-class, divided as follows:
Class Minimum Depth Rivers Canals -Total
I. 3.00 meters or over 489 72 561
I. 2.00 to 2.99 meters
1,491 3,331
4,822
II. Under 2.00 meters
5,132 1,8l9 6,951
All French waterways 7,112 ,,222 12,334
(2)C1assiflcation.
The waterways of France are divided into three
official categories -- primary, secondary, and ra!'ting. A
primary or major waterway must conform to the Freycinet
Law of 1879, which stipulates the following minimum dim
ensions for canals and locks:
Dimensions Meters (Feet)
Depth 2.00 ( 6'6")
Locks, length 38.,0 (126'3")
Locks, width 5.20 ( 17' 0")
Bridge clearance over
average water-level 3.70 ( 12'1")
The Freyctnet Law was intended to apply to canals
and t-eg:ulated. but it is customary to list all
waterways according to its requirements. Most of the canals
cut since 1879 have to these dimensions, but
. some have not. There are also a number otolder canals and
regulated streams that have never been reconstructed. streams
suitable only for rafting have no importance for inland
navigation. . .
In order to utilize as much space as possible, a
special type of barge was developed in France after the pas
sing of the Freycinet Law. This barge is very nearly rect
angular fore and aft, measures
114.' 10" ) 3 !50 x5.00 x 1.80 IDf3ters
126' 3" x 16t 4" x 5' 10" . and metric tons. This
(
_EIIOJSrl... 4"
---
barge 1s called a (gallicized from the English
pinnace) or, on the nCb.rthern canals, more often a b1lander.
The chaland is a slightly larger measuring
40.00 ( - \
5'0.00 x 8.00 x 1.80 x 26'3" x ,'10"7.
It is not possible to estimate the fleet at pre
sent available on the French waterways. !he latest official
figures available are for 1936, and German requisitioning
would have changed the situation radically since the Armistice.
(4) Administration.
The central authority in the administration of French
inland navigation is the 'National Office of Navigation (ONN) ,
operating under the Secretary of State forCommun4.cat:Lons
through two intermediate organs, the General Directorate
of Transport, concerned with rates, traffic, etc., and
the General Secretariat of Public Works and Transport in
charge of maintenance of way and the engineering matters ap
pertaining to it. (SEE CFJffiT).
The ONNwas originally established in 1912, but
after the general of the administration in
1940 some changes were made in its generalmsrrangement and
competence by a law of November 11, 1940. ONN 1s cnarged
with three general fields of competence:.
(a) Administration and CoordWAt:lon
i. The study and execution of all regulations
pertaining to inland navigation
. ii. Regulations on the chartering, replacement
or dimensions of inland craft.
11i. Coordination of rail, road,and water
transport.
(b) Personnel. Technical qualifications, status and
tenure.
(0) Technical. General exploitation of the water
ways, organization of mechanical traction,
etc.
J1' l
Chart
Administration of French Inland waterways
(as of December 31, 1940)
/ . /
Se6retaire d'Etat
aux Communications
.....
....
....
....
.....
. ,
Secretariat
Direction G6narale
des Travaux et
Transports
des Tra.nsports
,
,
'V
Service
de la
Coordination
Direction des Ports
Maritimes et des
Voies Navigables
""I
If' ,
OFFICE
DE LA NAVIGATIO)l
ONN )
Bureaux
d e
Frets
LesDocuments Francais, 3 (Clermont
Souroe:
Ferrand) March, 1941, page
The officials in office at the end of 1940 were as
follows:
Secretary of State for Communications: Jean Berthelot
TONS LOADED ON FRENCH INIl.AND WATERWAYS
. \ 1938 1 9 3 7
System (Provisional) (Final)
In thousands of metric tons
Waterways of the North,
Pas-de-Calais, a.ndSomme
Paris- Belgium
Seine .system
Paris - Strasbo_urg a.nd the East
-.-------,---------'
Rhine
. Central waterways
Midi waterways
Western waterways
ROUGH
I S yst e m
'-- . I
Northeastern Waterways
.Seine System
Eastern Waterways
Loire System
Southern
Western
T 0 ta 1
9,972.9 9,620.0
4,451.5 4,906.8
12,217.7 15,454.7
8,625.4 8,934.1
4,203.9 5,408.2
. 2,598.7 2r;:681.4
2;311.5 2,549.3
624.5 696.8
45,006.1 50,251.3
OF TRAFFIC
4I
BY
i
/ I 1 9 38 I I' 19 3 7 /
L IL /
- -mirr:---%"-- rnilJ. %
14.5 32. 2 14.5 .28.9
13.0 16.5 32.8
12.0 26.7
26.6
2.6 5.8 2.'7 5.4
2.3 5.1 2.5 5.0
0.6 0.7

45.0. 100.0 50.3 100.0
t!2G ad] tl
- 54
(6) Separate French System.
(a) The Seine 15 the most important single water
way in France, and the Seine system of interconnected
waterways has the most traffic of any group. There is a
sufficient and regular flow of water, and the tributaries
are very rarely all flood or/deficient'simultaneously.
The Seine is tidal as far as Rauen, one of
the greatest French ports both for maritime and inland
navigation. The principal activity is the carriage of
coal, and next to that -- especially on the lower Seine -
of hydrocarbons (petroleum Whereas Rouen is a
trans-shipment port, Paris is principally a port of
reception; most products of the Paris area are dispatched
by other modes of transportation.
The 01se and the Marne are the principal tri
. butariesof the Seine, but for purposes of later
al canals have been cut along side them. A third important
river in navigation is the Yonne,which connects the Seine
at Montereau with the Burgundy Canal at Joigny. The
system carries between 13 and 15 million netric tons (about 3u
percent of total French waterway traffic).
(b) The may be
into four groups: ,
1. %he colliery canals serve the L111e
Roubaix industrial area and coalfields, and connect the
Lys, Scarpe)and Escaut (Scheldt)rivers ..
ii. canals connect the
coalfields with the northern channel ports., Agricultural
products, especially sugar beets, are carried on these
canals.
1il. The St. Quentin Canal connects the North
eastern waterways and the Paris areas across the low water
shed of northern France.
1v. The Somma Canal forms an' additional con
nection with .the English Channel through '
The northeastern waterways carry about
14 million metric tons annually, approximately 30 percent
of the French total.
,(c) The Eastern waterways are based on the Moselle
and the Rhine r1vers,and the principal canals are the great
East Canal from Sedan to Nancy and from Nancy to the SaBne
at Corre,the Marne-Rhine and the Rh15'n.e-Rhine, the Sambre
Oise, and the Sarre (Saar) Colliery, Canals. The network
, ,
l _-;: ' .... ' -< ,)!!<>'
serves the greatest 'single ironfield in Europe (Lorraine)
and the Sarre coal fields. Eastern waterways account tor
about a quarter of inland waterway traffic. in France.
, (d) The Southern w?:terways group themselves in two
major systems and one minor system:
i. The system, including the
two rivers, the Burgundy Canal, and the canals of the Rh8ne
delta, connects the Seine system and the eastern network with
The greatest port is Lyon}where the
Beane .and the Rhone flow together. Due toa high velocity
of cur;:rent and extreme sinuosity, the Lyon
and ArIes 1s less valuable commercially than its length
and situation would otherwise suggest.
11. The Gilronne-Midi system,consisting of
'the Garonne River, the Garonne Lateral Canal,and the Midi
Canal, is the 'shortest inland waterway between
the Atlantic and the Mediterranean coasts. The Garorme and
the western part of the Lateral Canal have some general
traffic, but the system is important chiefly for the ship
ment of wines.
iii. The ADQur and its tributaries
near the Franco-Spanish border is unimportant commercially,
for it serves. an unproductive area and penetrates inland
for only a few kilometers.
The waterways of Southern France carry
only about , percent of total French tonnage.
(e) The Loire System, based on the Loire River
and its great lateral canal, is the central network of
France. It !lowsnorthwest from the vicinity of st. Etienne
to then west by southwest through Touraine to
empty into. the Atlantic at Nantes. From Orleans and Briare)
canals connect it with the Seine system below Montereau.
With its small catchment area and rapid run-offs,
the Loire and its tributaries are SUbject to serious floods
durirtg periods of heavy rain or thaw, and in dry seasons
they are inadequate rOT commercial transportation. The
principal commodities are industrial products froID.and
coal toithe metallurgical centers 'of Nevers and Le Creusot,
and bu1 ding materials, moving downstream. Total tonnage
is about five percent of French waterway traffic.
. :';', ..."
OJ
,6 -.;. ----,
(f) The Western waterways form no system, but are
miscellaneous and disconnected rivers and canals flowing
into the Atlantic. The artificial waterways are, for the
most part, short and serve, to connect estuary towns with
the open sea. The only long waterway is the
canal across Brlttany, which carries coal, and
agriculture1 mAchi.nery from the seaports at each end to
the interior.
There are no industrial concentrations in
western France; so the western are used chiefly
for, domestic coal, agrieultural products, ano. fertiliz,er.
The freight carried amounts to less than 2 percent of
total French waterway tonnage.
g. Civil Aviation.
In the l'eriod between wars the French government
manifest6d greet interest in civil aviation, which in a
normal year received seven-tenths of the total aviation
budget. The majority of airports, navigational aids, and
other installatioL.s were built and maintained at state ex
pense. A reserve of pilots was created by free flight
for young civilians and by sUbsidizing the pur
chase of planes by flying clubs. Mo'st of the government's
attention and by far the largest proportion of civil
aviation funds were, however, directed to the support of
cOTIllilercial airlines, which, although extremely unprofitable,
were maintained on a large scale, particular1Y in the
colonial field.
(1)
Prior to the war, contra! of civil 8y1ationin
France was highly centralized. The Air Ministry'd1rectly
supervised a Central Administration, twc Field Services,
Military Aviation, and the National Office.
The detailed plan of organlzation of the Air Ministry fol
lows, with indications of some of the functions of
various subdivisions:
(a) Central Administration,
i. Direction of Civil Areonautics.
International agreements and air trans
port companies.
Pilot's licenses and certificates.
Flying equipment
Airports,

. - 57,... ..
Legislation and administration.
TelecommunicationSe
Records and statistics ..
li. Direction of the Budget and Claims.
iii. Military Aerlal Equipment.
iv. Direction of Works and Installations.
(b) Field Services.
1. Direction of Plane. 1'tanufacture ..
Centralization of control.
Statistics and prices.
Inquiries and production.
Industrial mobilization.
11e Office of Technical Services.
School of Aeronautical Mechanics.
Aircraft centres.
Scientific research..
(0) Military
(d) National Meteorological Office.
i. Research.
110 Teaching of meteorology.
11i. Weather forecasts.
lv.. Transmission of meteorological data.
v. Checking instruments and operating meteoro
logical stations ..
(2) Airfields and.- Seaplane Bases.
In 1939 there were 227 airfields in continental
France: 36 were civil,- built and operated by the D.A.C.
(Direction de 1&Aeronaut1que Civile), 72were military, and
12 shared by civil and military aircraft; 66 were private
fields, built and operated by clubs, chambers of coxmnerce,
aircraft manufacturers or private individuals; the remaining

41 airfields were public, being the property of communes or
departments. There were in addition 15 .seaplane bases: 10
military, 3 civil, 1 public, 1 private. About half of the
military fields and many of the so-called "private" fields
were open to civilian air traffic; converselYi a few of the
c1vilairports were closed to all but scheduled airline
operation. The location and relative importance of these
air bases are shown on the accompanying map. .
Reports indicate that the fields used by the
German Air Force have been well maintained and in many
cases enlarged and would apply particularly
to those on the Channel coast and, more recently, to those
in southern France. Some of the fields not in use been
temporarily obstructed. Many of the smaller fftields are
.undoubtedly now under cultivation; some of them, perhaps,
could be reconditioned.
(3) Flight Hazards.
Although in the south of France flight hazards
are to be found in the mountainous country of the Alps
and the Pyrenees, and in the ruggec_, broken terrain of
the Central Massif, meteorological cond;tions throughout
the country are generally favorable to flight.
(4) Radio Facilities.
" .....
was before the war with a network
of radio stations, radio beacons, and direction-finding
stations that waS under constant improvement. The country
was divided into districts, each controlled by a master
aeronautical and direction-finding station, assisted by a
number of aUXiliary stations", The master stations were
Bordeaux, Ie Bou.rget, D1jon, Lyon, Mar1gnane, Nancy, Toul
ouse, Tours, Most of the airdromes and seaplane bases were
provided with radio or D/F or both. The power of most of
the stations was 500 watts, although some of them used
watts. Most of them had both telegraphic and telephonic
emission, the latter on 336 kc. D/F equipment waS usually
Standard Adcock. The accompanying map shows the location
of radio stations and beacons.
Air Traffic
The relative volume of traffic at the principal
civil airdromes before the war is shown by the following
table the Annua1re for 1936: .
, ,)
... '--- ......;.0. - - ,"
.. ' - ,"'..
- 59
Plane Passengers Mail Freight
arrivals & arriving & ( metric tons) tons)
departures departing Departing Departing Arriving
-
LeBourget 20,952 77,267
397.3
420.9 972.2 772:2
Marseilles
.9 ,039 .
18,953 232.6 171.1 134., 39.9
. Lyon 4,39
8 2,392 64.6 26.9 24.8. 7.0
Toulouse 2,076 4,724
63.2 101.0 19.2
Strasbourg 1,998 2,326 2.2 3.1 15.8 14.6
Bordeaux 1,668 098
12.9 20.2 1.1
0.,
(6)
Commercial Air TransportatioDe
Before the war, there were in France four com
mercial air transport c.ompanies,. all controlled to some ex
tent by .the State. The routes maintained by these companies
were the second longest in Europe and the aircraft miles
flown in 1938 were exceeded only by those of Russia and
Germany, but the factor was very low. Consequently
the lines required large subsidies in addition to the sup
port given by mail contracts, and were only gradually mov
ing toward a self-sustaining basis. The long routes to Indo
China were least profitable, and carried on mostly for
purpOses of prestige and imperial interest. Only the Paris
to London line and the domestic services approached a status
of self-support. .
Two of the airlines, Aeromarit1me and Regie' Air
Afrique, operated wholly outside of continental France. One,
Air Bleu, carried mail only. Thus Air France, entirely
state-contro11ed,was the important national continental
airline. .
(a) Regie Air Afrigue, founded in 1934, was a state
enterprise operating from Algiers (with branc.hes to oranan.d
Tunis) south and east across the Africam continent to Mad
agascar. Its line covered 8500 miles, and in 1938 it flew
a total of nearly a million miles with 4600 passengers and
56. metric tons pi mail and fre1ghtlJ In June of 1939 the
company owned 14 planes and had 185 employees, of whom 34
were flying personnel.
(b) ,iromaritime, founded in 1937, was the air
branch of the Chargeurs shipping company. Because it
needed government encouragement in the form of mail contracts,
the State put in its own controller. It operated a line from
Dakar along the west coast of Africa to Pointe Noire on
the Congo. In 1938 it flew 372,000 miles, carrying 1146
passengers and 30 metric tons of mail and freight. In
June of 1939 it had 7 planes and 30 employees, of. whom 7
were pilots. "
(c) engaged in the carrying of mail
only within France. itself, was taken over by the Postal
Telegraphic and Telephonic Ministry after a year's unsuccess
ful operation Gaudron Aircraft-llianufacturingCompapy.
The state owned 5270 of the stock, and Air France subscribed
for half the balance. Air Bleu expedited such postal service
between Paris and the large cities of southern France as
was not taken care of by Air France on its regular schedules .
There were four routes: . .
Paris-Bordeaux- Mont de Marsan-Pau
Paris-Toulouse-Perpignan
Paris-Clermont Ferrand-St. Etienne-Lyon-Grenoble
Marseille-Nice
In June 1939, the company had 13 planes, 11 pilots, and 10
radio operators. The daily average of the total mail
carried on its line during 1938 was one metric ton.
(Q) Air France was formed in 1933 by the merging
of five airlines - all rivals and dependent upon the
wh1In:
r
ofaUthority for subsidies- into one state-controlled
company. A subsidiary, France Transatlantique, under .
tripartite mal},agement of the State, Air France, and the
Compagnie Transatlantiqu..e, was set up in 1937 to
survey and study a north-Atlantic route. The company had
5 planes, and a sixth under construction, in 1939. Bis
carosse was be the French base and st. Pierre-Miquelon
the North American terminal, with stops at the Azores, Ber
muda, and New York.
The ren1aining operations of Air France were
divided among three
1. Africa and the South
France-Morocco: passengers, mail and
freight cdaily from Tou+ouse to Casablanc_at twice weekly,
These trips connected at
various points, and a varying number of times a week, with
the services of Air Afrique and Aeromaritime.
Dakar-Natal, with connections to Bio de
Jane"iro, Buenos Aires ,. Montevideo, and Santiago de Chile:
mail only, once a week. In 1938 this branch took in 71.4%
of itssubsid1es in receipts.
II.Tf gI[Iu,
_e 1 _
ii. Mediterranean and the East.
Paris-Lyon -Marseille :3 services daily,
connecting with African and Mediterranean routes.
Marseille -Ajaccio-Tunis: 6-times a week.
Marseille -Beirut: twice weekly, (once via
Naples, and Athens, once via Tunis and Tripoli).
Beirut-Saigon-Hanoi-Hongkong: weekly.
111. Continental.
Paris-London: several trips daily. (This was
by far. the most active European route).
Paris-Amsterdam: daily.
Paris-Brussels-Copenhagen-Stockholm: daily.
Paris-Cologne-Berl1n: daily.
Par1s-Prague-Warsaw-Bucharest.
Paris-Zurich; daily.
Paris-Geneva: 6 times a week.
Paris-Bordeaux-:Madrid (Suspended in 1936).
Paris-Rome, (tmtil 1938, when Ala Littorla
prolonged its route to Paris 3 times a week).
Paris-Lyon-Marseille: (see under Mediterranean).
services to resorts:
Paris-Le Touquet:twice
Paris-Dinard: once a week.
Dinard-Jersey: 4 times a week.
Paris-La Baula: once a week.
Paris-Vichy: once a week ..
Paris-Lyon-Cannes: once a week.
Parls-Biarritz: 6 times a week.
Marseille -Canrles-Calvi: 4 times a week.
V. Special postal services to Bordeaux, Toulouse,
Marseille .
The continental schedules of Air France were worked
out under various "pooling" agreements with tIle lines of other
European countries. Usually these took the for:n of alternat
ing runs. Sometimes one company would have the exclusive use
of a route for a certain period of time; then the associated
company would take over. At other times, twocompan1es would
fly the same route concurrently, one making express trips
and the other trips with local stops. Air France had pooling
arrangements with Imnerial Airways,K.L.M. (Dutch), A.B.A.
(Swedishl, Deut$che LUfthansa, Swissair, e.I.D.N.A. (Jugoslav),
Ala L1ttoria, and C.N.A.C. (Chinese.)
In 1938 Air France filled 97% of its schedule. A
t a ~ l e from the Annua1re Statistigue, 1938, shows the traffic
carrieCiin the same year. '
In the spring of 1939 the company's employees in
eluded 282 members afflight crews, of whom 92 were pilots.
There were 71 airplanes and 14 hydroplanes in service.
TRAFFIC CARRIED BY AIR FRANCE,

Length Distance Passengers
(not Mall
cnrrled 1ncl. baggage, (metric "tons)
Line (ml1es)(thouaands of miles)
metric ton 8)
Paris-rLondon 217 31,919 313<>9 67.6
Parie-Cologne
565 19L!- 3,736 119 24.9
Berlin
Paris-Frankfurt-
5g7 \37
970 3.g 6.1
Berlin
PB.ria-Zurich
332 70
1,936 15.9

292 131
4,467 66., 9.6
Pari a-Stockholm
1,031 92

3 7
.4
Paris-Bucharest
1,4-17 765 9,559 176.9
36.g
Parte-Wa.raaw
332 96
1,310 22.1 2.3
Ms.rseille -
267 173
2,425 134.g 52.2
BEl.rce1ona
Ps.ri s-Me.r aeille
444 626 13,642 14-.4- 31.5
Lyon -Geneva 7g
1, g)+9
19.9 6.6
Marseille -Cannes go 4,30g
36.9 1. 9
99
Marseille
- 631 5,
g2
1 24.3 225
Ajaccio-Tun1a
Marseille -Algiers
519 316
520 g3. 0 65.6
Marse1lle -Hanoi-
g,575 909
i, '-1-20 '?7.6
Hongkgng
Dsmasous-B8gdad
4-97 52
522
2.g
0.5
(con'tinued)
TRAFFIC
CARRIED BY AIR FRANCE, 1938 (cont' d)
Length Distance flol.,n Passengers
(ml1es1(thousandsof miles) carried
Toulouse-Oran-Fez
Ce..se-blanca
Casablcnca-Santlago
de Chile
Total(regular Lines)
.'
Supplpmentary Services
Parls-Toulouse
. PS.rl a-Geneva.
t (dlrect)
Parls-Bordeauit
Blarr1tz
Pari B-
D
lna,rd-
Jersey
Bordeaux-Toulouse
Lnndon-leTouquet
Dakar-Ke.olack-
Bemako
Grand Tote.l
Freight (not
incl.
metrio tons)
245.7
152
1,341.7
5-7
11.g
32
1.9
.9
25
3
1,,368.2
Mail
(metric tnns)
l60.g
51.3
gS9.4
,20.1
1.1
()'\
0.3
:p,.
0.6
g!1.7
1,15g
7,133
21+,,155
394
267
432
252
It!6
102
746
26,494
E!74

6,354
43

621
6
12
12
66
6,504
9,164
1,613
99,g55

1,370
967
45
0
100
64-7
397
424
I
-65
SELECTED REFERENCES
British N.I.D. Geographical Handbook on France, Vol. IV, October 1942.
The information on tha five regions is taken verbatim" from this
source.
M. "Le Nouveau Regime des Chemins de Fer Francais,lI in
Generale des Chemins de Fer, 1937, ii, pp. 225 ff.
"Rail and Road Rate Regulations in France", Modern Transport, October
7, 1939.
Marcavi, nNationalization of the French Railroads", Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science, January, 1939,
pp. 217 fr.
Ve,rbeck, "Der"Verwal tungsaufbau der Eisenbalmen",
Archiv fur Eisenbahnwesen, 1938, pp. 1529 ff. .
France. des Travaux Publics, Annuaire 1938-1939.
Paris, 1939.
France, Office National de la Navigation, Guide de 18 NaviKation
Paris, 1933.
France. Office National de la Navigation, Statistigpe de 1& Navi
gation Paris, issued annually.
Science at Industria, ?aris. Special Edit'ion, Les Voies Navigables
Francaises, 1934-35.
Annuaire de l'Aeronautique. (1939, paris)
Bulletin de 18 Kavigation paris)
(Official periodical published the French Air Ministry)
Jean Romeyer, l'Aviation Civile Francaise,
Michelin, Guide Aerien, France, 1935-1936.
l'Aeronautique, No. 241, June,. 1939.
I,issitzyn, o. J., International Air Trans rt and National Polic , (New YOrk,
1942) (Published by the Council on Foreign Relations.
------
-
Length of Hne (km.) Employees Locomotive stock
I
No. Steam Railway
Single Double
per Total No. Electric
track track
km. Total Tender Tank
1
82 4,210 61
4
2,776 Etat 9,5
81
75,5
6
3 5,37
1
3,39
0
63
I
81
4
29,067 1,019 1,276 13'9 1,415 A.L. - 396
3
. 2,9
1,886 66,296 16'9 681 2,567 Nord 1,29 3,79
6
2,5
6
-
61,030 119 ! ,912 4,159 2,377 - Est 4,9
88
4
6
5 75
8
2)008 1,618 390
4
' 4,952 2,441l P.O. 7,393 257
85,376
7'5
81 1,219f 3,094 Midi
3
26 643 7
2
4 4,3
1
3
108,464 10'9 4,74- . 891
7
4,9
88
P.L.M. 4,9
61
9,949 5,595
4
1
Paris
-
9
- - Ceintures - 149 - 149 146 146
Total, major
systems 21,267 20,921 18,222 10'2 .687
Secondary
lines
42,259 14,558 3,664 425,79
6
.212 1, 687 18 1,593 10
Total, 'interet
general'
2'5 94 194 3,73
22,860 21, 01 5 9'8 18,434 14,576
429.499 3,858 43,94
6
697
Notes. 1 'Including 46 narrow gauge.
2 Including 232 electric railcars.
3 Including I 1 narrow gauge.
4 Including 30 narrow gauge.
D Including 102 electric railcars.
Tabl. I
Rail
cars
4
2
7
2
31
71
68
150}
110
6
294
8
-
1,15
110
36
1, 187
I
Traffic
eassengers Freight
('ooo's) ('000 tons)
176,237 29,571
55,95
6
38,048
117,958
5
1
,603
81,469
45,245
74,
08
4 27,661
I
82,725 38,094
:
I
1,486
Lh947
577,226 1 7 3 , 8 2 ~
4,"33
8
8,274
5
81
,5
6
4 182,096
6 Including 57 standard-gauge electric railcars and 28 narrow-gauge
electric' railcars.
7 Including 7 narrow gauge.
8 Including 162 narrow-gauge electric railcars.
I Lines worked by Nord and Etat.
10 Including 391 standard-gauge electric and 190 narrow-gauge electric.
__.. .
\
)
,
,
,
,.
---_.. -_..__...
__-4..-. __ .Mil\'s

..

c
<;>__
' ..

. .
u Tour de> c.,rol'
'- --.-------- .__---:---:.....::.__1 _
FigbI. Electrified railways, and the chief generating and transfonner stations
There are three sources of electric Pyrenees, the Central:\lassif and
the Alps. Electrification is notably absent from the industrial areas of the north
and east, which are ,,"ell served by coal and from the cconon1ically poor
areas of thc'west whcre traffic ,,'ould not fcr the cost of conversion to electric
traction. Only sections of the sho\\'n on this tnap. 'rht'fl' arc also
several secondary and local' lines \\'hich use c1ectric traction, e.g. the J.. a l\lurc
lines aqd the Hautc-Vienne systctn.
0,-, Mill!s
0,-,.....L...--'---O'_.......... Km s.
____ Standard Gau8c, 2 or molY tracks.
___ Standard track. .
.. ", .. -. .Narrow
(".
/
I
i
i
)
l. 1
\.
I.
!12
in northern France
Boulogne
lel
-------1
NORTHERN REGION
\' I , '2 5 J.11 h s
9, , .! Kms
Locomotive Sh ..ds
X ChiffMur.r;hallIfLq
La Chapelle. le.Bourget
and Shunt !ILl[ Ya "ds
PAR1S
Fig.'J:Zr 4' rrhc main lines of the Region i.Vord
Sho\\'ing the -location of the chief loconl0tivc sheds and yards,
rrhc more inlportant sheds arc indicated by the symbols.
t\.xle -lC'.lds
___ 20t"lllS
__
'-If ....t S.ulS"
",lm(\st .\1. h.\ hlnS)
,. 5(\ toO Kms
Fig. Permissible axle-loads
Based on data in Achsdruck'l'e1'zeichnis (Berlin, Verein Mitteleuropaischer Eisen
bahnvenvaltungen, 1938). The axle-load allovved onany.1ine depends onthe \veight
of the rails per: unit length, on the type and spacing: of the sleepers and the method
of tying the rails thereto, on the' nature and depth of the ballast, and above all
on the strength of bridges, etc., over \vhieh the line passes.. French rails are
generally heavy, 44-62 24 lb. 'yd.), and in consequence it is the other
factors \vhich largely control the permissible load. The concentration of high
axle-load in the northern/region, heavy coal traffic, is very marked. I t is
note\\'orthy that the" Nord raihvay \vastheonly French line continuing to rely
on six-coupled express engines (4--6-2' Pacific' type) for its passenger trains. All
the other steam:-operated rail\\'ays have for over a dceade employed eight-coupled
engines (4-8-2 'Mount(iin' type},\\'hich for an equal or greater total "'cight have
a lighter ,,'eight on each axle
"L,;..__"'-_'___'___'__...."S9 MilfS
.....~ _ - - l ' _ _ ~ _ 5 p Kms.
Fig. Jl. Railways in eastern France. For key see Fig.)I_
. \
I
EASTERN REGION
..
locomotive Sheds.
"
"'\
.....
)( Chief Marshallins
". .......i
&- Shu.ntl'3 Yards.

1 .....-."'._.,,1
o
,-I,... .......
50
--1' JH. des
o
,-I -'
100
.....J Kms.
'
InaUl lin<,'s of the l?(t.:ioll Est
Showing the location of the chil'f )ocomoti\'l"' sheds and n1arshalJing
o
,
)
\
,
I
".
\
~
~
\
'
\
"".J"\-.
...........
-,
"I
....... --., .. -..
Figm, Hailways in south-eastern France. For kc)\see Fig. ]I.
__.
__..... __ __ Kms
Fig.2Dt.Railways In south-central Franct.'o For key st:e Fig. ]I.
I
,
i
"
;,.
. \. .,....

Fig.lX The main lines of the Rt!gion Sud-Est
Showing the location of the chief locomotive sheds and marshalling yards.
C.R. S.P.St Paul; P.A. Pont de rAnt:; R.G. Rive-de-Gier.
I
\
\ ,
L.-_ _-' MileS ...
Q"L. _.a.--'-....... Kms
Fig.X. Railways In southwestern France. For key ,see Fig. U.
.--- Standard Gau8t. Double huck.
__ '.. ,. SinS't tnlck..
.......- .Narrow Gaugt. Sins't t1uck..
Spanish 5'6"
9...._ ......._ _ _'O'---J5p Miles
__ .:;;J5p Kms.
FiI::xI. Railways in southern Fran(;c. showing connexions with Spanish lines
SOUTH-WESTERN. REGION
Locomotiw Slaw
(E) - - also ustcl by ElfCtTic l.ocos.
x Chi!fMarshaUi'!9' and
Shunt'irw Yards
, PARIS
(E) tv
JuVisy(f)
Oourd.ln(E). Bretigny (E)

M.llesherbes
Miles
80 Kms.
Fig.X1tThe main lines of the Region Sud-Ouest
Showing the location' of the,lchief locomotive sheds lind marshalling yards.
0.. , _ ......._ _ .........._ ........._5..... 0..MIIt's
0"-----'- --'---"---'50 Kms
.-- Standard Gatt'fE', Double Track.
-- Standard Gau8l!.Si"jll! Track.
Narrow Gaujl.".
Fig:'XJir. Hailways in wcstl'rn France
W'ESTERN REGION
Shtds.
(E) locomotiw Shrds (used
also by E1rctric locos).
X Chirf Marshallins
and YarCfs.
?'-- ......... l-JOf,Milts
0..__-"- 100 Kms. , ......
Fig.m. The main lines of the Region Ouest
Showing the location of the chief locomotive sheds and marshalling yards.
...._...;;a")Mdf'Sl
...
""- _'""'-"---'_
5
.M i ItS --0
l -'5 Kms
LINES
A =
}o',.ds
1,"'I'
(;"",,15 Stati""s
GolSW"ritS
.. lr.-tnt Rn....,.
\ Srdtl"ns
" Trn"sf.,!"mrr
-
1ll Abart,,;;:$'
o Cmrrul J'rocfurr
.Mark,,
Fig.=xvc.. The rail net"'ork of the Paris region
The map shows the location of locomoti\:e sheds, goods stations and marshalling
yards, and of certam elements in the food and power supplies of the cit\" Owing
to the congestion of symbols (all of which are accurately placed in relation to' the
railway lines), no attempt has been made to distinguish the relative importance of
the sheds and yards; reference should be made to the foregoing text and to
Figs. 76, 82, 86,93, 98. See also vol. III; chapters II and v of this Handbook.
Kev to abbrcviations: Stations: St L, St Lazarc; S. :\'ord; E. Est; B, 'Bastillc;
L, 'Lyon; A, Austerlitz; 0, Quai d'Orsay; L, Luxembourg; "1, :\lontparnassc;
I, Invalides; Others: P.C. Petite Ceinture; G.C. Grande Ceinture; L.C. La
Chapelle; L. V. La Villette; Vd, Vaugirard. The un-named spot south of'\"augirard
is Montrouge loco. shed, which replaced an old one at YalH{irard
SN
court t
Stations
StO
...-.
Pte. . _._._ .. _lr _. Pte.la .. ('nttrd14J"8')fgrtJurwl
4- ChapeHe \ }Abov,
j'TOun
/;
12 1
l ! l Sceaux
II Pont de Neuilly Abo\."(' qround I
I c..
l//
'/'
1
\. _ ,,- .. -,I of fonner fortiFications
'Vi Gef"a\S
.;..... 11 'Mairie des lilas
.
,
I(
I
lil
I
x
I
l{
I
III
I
"I
I
II(
I
\II
I
II

,
o Mil"
? Kms.
Fig.m,.. The Paris Metro
l'he \'arious routes are indicated hy the nUl11hcrs by which they are kno\\"n. There are five tunnels under the Seine,
:u1d t h n'(' \ iad llcts on'r the ri \t'"
__
Autor.uls. other .
.... scrv,cfS "pbcing tnins.
O............--.=so::O.............:J'90 Kms.
-:)
->
J
\
"
"'"
Fig:-lrU[Railcar and road services on the S.N.C.F. In 1939
PIIOYJIJOtfAL I:o'r,oll
FRANCE
RAI LWAY S
....... Tri:Id.StorIM ....
DolilI6t Tr," ,,...,. ......
.... T.......... Ghte
SlNJ'- TrKk GlKI"
i'
ENG
-........
SEA
MAP NO. 841 JULY 1141
RIPRODUCID' '01;"
III
PROVISIONAL EDITION fiRST REVISJON .
L
ENG
o
s
\..,
';",-.. ....r-"-.J
(
' ..
\
FRANCE ....., -I
NAVIGABLE WATERWAYS
S.i
c J:>
CANALS
....- Main Canals (Min. Depth 6.5ft. Loo" 12611,17ft)
';. Secondary Conals
"f
.".. \
RIvERS
- Main Riverwoys {M;nOepth 6.!5ft, LoekSl26ltl7ttl
;.
- SeeondoryRiverwoys
(
""'rvilll
(
5u .....'
SHonOIl::tIoot. 6ColWll.t
'1. 7 Conde'
SCALE
so
-_.
30
s

\,."".......,.. _.. ""'\............ s......... 5 A
p \'.---..
A N l.."\...,
DRAWN IN THE BRANCH o:)F RESEARCN AND ANALYSIS, ass
REPRODUCED IN TliE SECTlON,OSS
MAP NO. 683' JANUARV:30. 1S43
-66

on
SUPPLEr.1ENTARY NOTE ON COMrltJNICATIONS
Beca.use Sect.ion ;CII on Comrllmications is not
available, these su.prlementary notes on Com
hnve beeninoarporated in Section
XI on Transportation Systens.
A separate section onCommlll1ications will be
available later.
Prepared 'bJr
Office of Stratefic Services
for
Government Division
Office of the General

$.
um ...
NOTE ONCOMMUN!CATIONS IN FRANCE
a. Considerations.
The postal service, telegraphic and telephone systems, (includ
ing most of the submarine cables) and state-owned broadcasting
ste..tionsin France were all administered in peacetime b"y a
Mlnistrr varl'ously k.nown as .postes, Telegraphes at
(P.T.T.) a.nd pommunications.Under Vichy this ministry was
first low$red in status to a Secretariat of state; recent reports
state that the former P.T.T. functions are being, handled by the
Secretariat of state for Industrial Produ.ction under Jean
Bichelonne.
For P.T.T. ad7f1inistrative purposes pre-war France was divided
into I? regions, each with a di:rector--who was also departmental
director in the department in which his office was located.
Actually, the powers of the regional director were llmited, and
the department was the administrative unit. The regional di
has been increased under Vichy, and a regional
engineer appointed, thus further expanding the role of
the region
.2. Technical Details.
(1) Radio Broadcasting.
(a) Medium-wave Stations.
In peacetime the French state owned, and the P.T.T.
operated, fifteen broadcasting stations.
Alpes-Grenoble Montpell1.er-Languedoc Radio-Paris
Bordeaux-Lafayette Nice-CSte d'Azur Radio P.T.T.-Nord (L1lle)
Limoges P.T.T. Pont- Radio Strasbourg
Lyon P.T.T. oise,Les Essarts le Roi,Rennes-Bretagne
Marseille-Provence Allouis, Issoudun) Toulouse-Pyrenees
Paris P.T.T. Tour-Eiffel(Paris)
The strength of these stations and their locations
were so planned that a listener anywhere in France could hear
at least one of the P.T.T. 5,tations. The underground telephone
cable network carries chain broadcasting circuits linking the
provincial broadcasting stations with Paris, so- that many pro
are heard simultaneously throughout France. It is probable
that the Germans have taken over these stations, but there is no
evidence to indIcate that eqUipment has been destroyed or moved
away.
The private stations were as follows:
,..
Ile-de-Fran ce Radio-Bordeaux Sud-Ouest
Rad10-Nimes
Poste Parisien Radio-CitEl' (Paris)
Radlo-Normandie
Radio 37
(Louvetat, formerly
Radio.Mi1'd.iter.. r.. 9.l1 .. ie(Juan- F6camp)
:?adio-Montpellier -
Radio-Toulouse >

-68
These stations were before the war to re
strictions similar to those imposed on American stations. Like
American sta.tions ,many of their programs were paid for b
J
commercial
T
sponsors. After the 1940 occupation, the private stations in occupied
France were presumably under rigid German control (though it is known
that Frenchmen continued to operate at least one of them}, while in the
Unoccupied Zone, Vichy increased government The private
in southern France "IN ere combined in a Fe'd{ration francaise
de Radiodiffusion, which seems to have become to some extent. Et secnnd
government-controlled network, with the same programs often being
broadcast from several or all of its stations. It is said that the
pre-war:brend Vias toward the nationalization of these ste.tions, which
were not economically served as politice.l organs of
wealt1w politicians ano j The political power of these
owners apparently nationalization.
It is not clear in all cases (Radio-MctiJ!ellierJ e.g.)
whether these stations are still operating or evert in existence.
(b)
Stations providing peacetime radio service for public
or official use, were as follows:
i. and. Colonial
Government (P.T.T.)-owned: Croix dlHins
(near. Bordeaux), St. Villeban
(Paris i.S.F.),Lyon; new one at st. Nazaire.
One reported under construction 'near Menton;
(ii) Cie. Radio-France: St. Assise.
ii. Internal long- and short-wave: Grasse, Sangatte, Nice.
iii. Meteorological long-and short-wave stations: Paris-Fort
d' Issy, Paris-MinistE3re de la Guerre, Paris-Tour
iV. Peacetime Radio Telephony:
Transmitting From Receiving From.
P.T.T.Pontoise Champigny
Cie.Radio-France (Saint-Assise Villecresnes
(c) Aeronautical Facilities.
France was divided into districts for the purposes of
aeronautical services. The master aeronautical and direction-finder
(DjF) stations for each district were at Bordeaux, LeBourget (nea.r Paris)
Dijon, Lyon, Marignane (nea.r Marseille), Nancy,Toulouse, and Tours.
In 1939 there were 39 auxiliary stations at airdromes all over France
. Most of the B.irdromes with1Bradio also had DjFracilities; a few also
had aeronautical radiobeacons. French aeradio, provided both telegraphic
and telephonic facilities. Operation was in the hands of the Air Ministry
or the government-controlledCie. Air-:F\rance. Presl.lI1lHbly the P.c:r' .:e
exercised some jurisdiction ")VE'T' radio operations.
(d) Coastal Facilities.
of the larger ports had coastal radio.., mari time D/F,
or both. These were normally opera.ted the loca.l civilian or naval
port authorities under jurisdiction of the of Iv:arine , although
in a few cases the loc9.1 Charrben" of Commerce operated the radio and the
railroads ha J B. few set,s whieh were used in connection with the channel
'crossings and boat. tralns. In addition a series of radiobeacons ilt
opere,ted. in conjlIDction wi1,l1 Jir:htholises at various points. along the
coast'; these were udrrdnis:t.ered (8.8 'were a few of the ra.dio stations) by
the Service des Phares et Balises (Lighthouses and Buoys). Facilities
are listed
List of COflstalRE.dio Facilities
Coastal
.-Men (Brittany)

Bordeaux
Cherbourg x o
BcUlogne o
Brest
Calais
Dieppe
D1ID.kerque
Dyck (near Calais) o
Le Havre o
La Jument (Brittany)
Lorient X
Marseille
Nice
Rochefort-Soubise
X
La Rochelle .
Maritime D/F at Agde, C/pet, Cherbourg, Port-enBessin, Rochefort,
Lorient, Moulin du Seigneur, Niou-Huell.a, Penmarch, Pointe du Raz, St.
Nazaire, Tr{guier.
liTaritime Radio Beacons; (automatic, usually operate in connection vlith a
lighthouse) at Ailly, Les Baleines, Belle-lle-en-Mer, tloulogne, Cap Ferret,
Cherbourg, La Coubre, Crt1"'ach 18. Palmyre, Planier,
Porquerolles, Roches-Douvres, Ver, Yeu.
(e) Broadcasting Reception.
In 1939 thAre were over 5 million declared receiving sets
in France, with a natural concentration of s et-ovmers in large urban areas.
Almost 50% of the sets were equipped for short-wave reception. But since
no new sets or parts are no . repairs are hard to get, these
,. "\
.:; .. .. >-
" _J ;
-70
pre-warrigures are misleading for current estimates.
(2) Telephone and Telegraph.
It is important to realize how centralized French
communication is from the local point of view; in -s great majority
of cases, postal, telegraph and telephone offices are located in the
same building and mane,ged by the same organization. The, same poles,
wiresa.nd cables are used far telephone'bransmission.
Almost evel1r commune in France possesses a telegraph and telephone
service.
(a) telephone Offices.
Interurban telephone networks are organized into
several classes of bureaus: Centers of transit (1), of distribu
tion (2), of groups (3), and the local b'ureaus(4):
(1) Transit genter -- these number about 30 in France;
5 key centers are at Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Strasbourg
. Key:c_ers are all connected by CJ. irect ..routes: H center of transit can
reach any other by direct special circult or through asingle key trans!t.
center.
(b)
'Long-dista,nee cables . are usually buried in the shoulders
of the highways. The railroad I s 0\'1/11 telegraph lines usually follow the
tracks. Sta,tistics on stations and lines are appended.
France is behind other countries -in the number (1 tele-'
phone 29 persons in 1936) and modernity of telephone instru
ments and ot):Ier equipment, but was making'rapid progress in both
rural and urban areas. Since 1940 the only development has been in "the
installation by the Germans of equipment for military use.
(c) Personnel.
The highly trained personnel and elaborate organization
of the P.T.T. is worthy of note. 'The Germans have had to rely on this
personnel, as wquld any occupiers.

-71
statistics on Telephone and Telegraph Lines and Stations, 1937.
Telegraphs
Length of line, overhead wires 369, 527
Length of appropriated circuits 75, 800
Length of long distance submarine cables 36, III
Length of coastal cables 1,852
No. of telegraph stations:
Open continv.Gusly 19
Open for long periods . 1,288
Open for limited periods 38,456
Telephones
Length of lines, overhead 168,122
Length of lines, underground, urban 247,753
Length of lines, underground, long distance 10,465
Length of wire, a have and below ground 9,381,201
No. of telephone exchanges 27,600
(3) Submarine cables.
Most cables to France are at least partially controlled
by the P.T.T. Fxceptions a.re Marseille-Barcelona (Tii.rect Spanish
Telegrt:l.ph 0.0. and Cable and Wireless Ltd.) and Algeria,
(Cable and W,ireless, Ltd.) cables. The French were dependent on British
cables .for communication with their colonie::: bey6nd Suez
...
52
PROVISIONAL EDITION
48
46
44
TEL E COM M U N IC AT ION 5
o F NOR TH
FRANCE
SEA
RAI)IO STATIONS
Long wove - 100,000 watts and over
50, 000 - 100,000
Less than 50,000
() Short ."ave - 100, 000 wolfs
() 25, 000 and under
GERMANY
TELEGRAPH LINES
Appe r,
weIer

B A' Y 0 F
Marligny /
_
Chaman.. r'
\--,.-..., ,.
BISCAY
-
_
s
P
4 M EDITE R RA N E A N
-
-
N
Mile. SEA
50 100
60 80 160
20 40 0
Kilometers
50
48
46
44
DRA N IN THE GEOGRAPHY DIVISION, O. S. S.
MAP NO 720 AUGUST 4, 1942

42
42

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