French Railways
Mainland France
The initial public railway in France was officially started on 1st October, 1828, a year after it had been brought into utilize and just three years after the opening of the pioneering Stockton & Darlington Railway in the United Kingdom. The French line ran from Saint-Étienne to Andrézieux, a distance of few 18km.
The initial railway in the French capital ran from the Place de l’Europe (close to the present Saint-Lazare station) to Le Pecq, a few km short of its eventual destination at Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
In most countries, the “rule of the road” for trains is the same as for road traffic. For example, in England, where cars drive on the left of the road, trains run on the left hand of a pair of rail tracks, while in Germany, where cars drive on the right, trains utilize the right hand track of the pair. France is an exception to this rule. Cars drive on the right, but trains run on the left. This is because the early railways were mainly built utilizing British expertise and standard equipment “out of the box”. No main operational problems are caused, but it did give rise to an oddity: between the Franco-Prussian war of 1871 and the end of the initial World War, the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine formed part of the German Empire, and during this time their lines were converted to right-hand running. When the provinces were returned to France in 1919, right hand running was left in place. To cope with the change from left hand to right hand running at places where there was no necessity to stop for a border crossing, a quantum of flyovers of sauts de mouton (literally, “sheep jumps”) wee installed whose sole purpose was to take one running line over the top of one in the opposite direction.
The Paris Métro also runs on the right; this is believed to be because the initial lines, started at the beginning of the 20th century, were closely based on electric tram technology and operation. Paris trams of course had to run on the right when operating in the streets.
Although the early railways were for the most part developed by private companies, there was close State regulation which meant that there was small of the unnecessary duplication of lines that arose in other countries, notably the United Kingdom. By the 1870s, the bulk of the lines had been merged into just five companies: Est, Nord, PLM, PO and Ouest: organised around groups of lines radiated from the capital. A sixth group was owned and operated by the State. The Ouest company eventually got into serious financial difficulties and was taken over by the State in 1909. This situation continued until 1938, when all the remaining companies merged with the State system to form SNCF.
Under EU regulations, train operation and infrastructure costs must be separately accountable. France, like several other European countries, has chosen to implement this by spinning off a separate infrastructure company (RFF). Local services of SNCF have also been decentralized, on a regional basis. However, all the companies involved are State owned, and there appears small inclination to privatise the passenger sector as has been done elsewhere. Freight, too, remains an SNCF monopoly at the time of writing (2004), although several freight operators have applied for open access licenses.
Apart from the main line railways, there were also a quantum of minor railways and tramways, several of them built to metre gauge. A quantum of these lines survive as tourist operations.
Like England and unlike several other European countries, most French cities lost their urban tramways in the latter part of the 20th Century, the sole exception being a single line in Marseille. However, several cities now have fresh tram and even metro systems, and others are projected or in the course of being built.
• Main Line Railways
• SNCF French National Railways
• TGV a separate SNCF site dealing specifically with TGV (High Speed Train) services
• Réseau Ferré de France the French track authority
• Trans Europe TGV association for the promotion of the Rhine-Rhône LGV (Site in French and German)
• Euro Cargo Rail independent freight operator
• Veolia Cargo independent freight operator
• Tourist and minor railways
• These are covered in detail in a separate group of pages
• Vélorails
Not unique to France, but especially popular there, are otherwise unused lines on which it is possible to hire a hand or pedal powered work trolley and make your own way. The locations where they can be found are listed on the Tourist and minor railways pages.
Pedal power on the LGV
The trolleys have even been hired by RFF for inspecting main lines, as seen here in a still from an SNCF video showing one in utilize on the LGV Méditerranée shortly before its opening.
Metros, Trams and Urban Funiculars
Paris
o RATP Metro, trams and the Montmatre funicular
o CDG VAL automated metro line at Charles de Gaulle airport linking the 3 terminal complexes with the car parking areas and with the RER and TGV stations
o Orlyval automated metro line linking Orly airport with the Paris regional rail network (Site in French)
• Angers proposed tramway system (Site in French)
• Bordeaux trams (Site in French)
• Brest proposed tramway system (Site in French)
• Dijon possible future tramway system (No website located at present)
• Évian-les-Bains funicular (Site in French)
• Grenoble trams (Site in French)
• Le Havre funicular (Site in French)
• Langres Les Panoramics funicular connecting the car parks with the ancient town (Site in French)
• Laon POMA funicular (Site in French)
• Leymen this small community in southern Alsace has a tram service connecting it with the Swiss city of Basel (Site in German)
• Lille Metro and trams (Site in French)
• Lyon Metro and trams (Site in French)
• Le Mans trams (Site in French)
• Marseille Metro and trams (Site in French)
• Montpellier trams (Site in French)
• Mulhouse trams
• Nantes trams (Site in French)
• Nice trams (Site in French)
• Orléans - trams (Site in French)
• Pau - funicular connecting the SNCF station with the town centre (No website located at present)
• Reims proposed tramway system (Site in French)
• Rennes Metro (Site in French)
• Rouen trams (Site in French)
• Saint-Étienne trams (Site in French)
• Strasbourg trams (Excellent detailed site in English and French)
• Thonon-les-Bains funicular (Site in French)
• Toulon projected tramway system (Site in French)
• Le Tréport funicular (Site in French)
• Toulouse Metro, local rail and proposed trams (Site in French)
• Valenciennes trams (Site in French)
• DOM/TOM
• For tramways and light railways in overseas departments and territories, see the relevant tourist and minor railways page.

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