neversmontchanin

[ RURAL RAILWAYS IN FRANCE ][ CHEMINS DE FER RURAUX DE FRANCE ]

[ Nevers - Montchanin ]

NEVERS

00 km

IMPHY

15 km

DECIZE

37 km

CERCY-LA-TOUR

52 km

LUZY

82 km

ETANG-SUR-ARROUX 105 km

Mesvres

110 km

Marmagne-sur-Creusot 120 km

LE CREUSOT

127 km

MONTCHANIN

135 km

The origins of this cross country line can be found in the 1860's when there was an opportunity to provide transport by rail for the coal and iron ore mines near Nevers, and for access to the industrial centres at Le Creusot, Montchanin and Monceau-les-Mines.

This was PLM territory and the company would build two cross country lines linking the their Bourbonnais main line (Paris - Vichy) with their Paris - Lyon "Imperial" main line.

The first section to be completed was from Chagny to Montchanin and Monceau-les-Mines, opened in 1861. A second line was started from Nevers to Cercy-la-Tour via Decize which was close to the coal mines at La Machine in the Nièvre. This was opened in 1866.

The central section from Cercy-la-Tour to Montchanin was completed in 1867.

The ex-PLM station at Decize (Nièvre) with a modern annexe at one end. 140 years after its opening, freight trains rumble through without stopping.

This line is double track throughout and is not electrified, although connecting two electrified main lines. It is a useful route for freight between the west of France and the marshalling yards near Dijon. Many of the smaller intermediate stations have now been closed and abandoned. Telegraph poles and wires remain visible along many sections, but probably will not survive much longer as there are plans to modernise and possibly electrify this line.

Passenger services between Dijon and Nevers are provided by Bourgogne region TER. Diesel railcars of various ages are deployed on most of the trains. These included, in the summer of 2007, X 4300, X 4500, X4650 EAD units in various liveries, ultra-modern BGC units, X 72500 and locomotive hauled Corail trains on Friday and Sunday evenings.

Cercy-la-Tour station is located on the edge of the village and was opened on the 11th June 1866. It was once a busy junction. In 1878, a single track line was opened northwards from here to Corbigny and Clamecy. Passenger services ended between Cercy and Corbigny in 1932, but freight services continue to this day with ballast stone being transported regularly from a quarry at Epiry.

Another line was opened southwards from Cercy-la-Tour to Gilly sur Loire in 1884 but it generated little traffic. It was closed completely in 1954.

Vast, overgrown sidings can still be found at Cercy-la-Tour which are used to stable cross country freights and the ballast trains for the line to Epiry.

CC 72031 waits at Cercy-la-Tour with a train of ballast wagons in July 2007

Photo: Patrick Bennett

An X 72500 of Bourgogne Region accelerates away from Etang-sur-Arroux with a TER service from Dijon to Nevers in April 2007.

The country station at Luzy which was opened in September 1867.

Etang-sur-Arroux. CC 72004 restarts a long freight for Montchanin in 2004. The branch line to Autun from Etang was opened here in 1867 and, a year later, was extended to Epinac. This completed access (with a junction at Dracey-Saint-Loup) to Saulieu and Avallon, a line which remains open in 2007.

A BGC unit decorated in the new livery of Bourgogne Region approaches Etang-sur-Arroux in April 2007 with a TER service to Dijon. The new BGC units are equiped with a diesel motor and an electric motor to work under 1500 v DC when the catenary is present, which is the case between Chagny and Dijon.

Photo: Patrick Bennett

A modernised X 4500 railcar in the new livery of Bourgogne Region leaves Etang-sur-Arroux for Dijon in April 2007.

A train of logs from the forests of the Morvan is hauled along the line towards Montchanin by two BB 66400 locomotives acquired from SNCF by VFLI and operated by its low cost subsidiary Fertis.

An unmodernised X 4300 (soon to be withdrawn) in the Saone et Loire near Mesvres

A somewhat cleaner X 4300 with a modernised X 4500 at the rear passes Mesvres in May 2007

This X 4300 came from another region ( ? Britanny ) and seems unlikely to survive much longer. It is seen passing Mesvres in May 2007

And so we leave the diesel railcars of Bourgogne Region to continue their journeys towards Le Creusot and Montchanin and Nevers, places which present less interest to the viewers of this page.

My thanks to Patrick for his excellent photos to complete this page.

Home pageOther rural lines and stationsNew pagesTop of this page

Published in August 2007