Boulogne–Calais railway

Boulogne-Calais railway
Boulogne-Calais railway
	Calais railway station in about 1910
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	RFF
Locale	France (Hauts-de-France)
Termini	Calais-Ville station; Boulogne-Ville station
Service
System	SNCF
Operator(s)	SNCF
History
Opened	1867
Technical
Number of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz
show Route map
	Legend
	Longueau–Boulogne railway
	to Amiens
	Coudekerque-Branche–
	Fontinettes railway
	to
	Dunkirk
	Lille–Fontinettes railway
	to Lille Flandres
	This diagram: view; talk; ;

The Boulogne–Calais railway is an electrified double track railway running between the ports of Boulogne-sur-Mer and Calais in France. An extension of the Longueau–Boulogne railway it meets the Lille–Fontinettes railway and Coudekerque-Branche–Fontinettes railway to Dunkirk at Les Fontinettes station in Calais.

The line opened on 7 January 1867 with railway stations at Wimille, Marquise, Caffiers and St Pierre. It was used only for local traffic between Boulogne and Calais until that March when the Paris to Calais trains were diverted, cutting 30 minutes off the Paris to London mail route.^[2]

Until the start of the Eurostar service from London to Paris in 1994 via LGV Nord it was the main route for the boat trains to Paris which met the ships carrying passengers from Great Britain. As of August 2011 the line is used by TGV services from Rang-du-Fliers via Calais-Fréthun to Lille-Europe and local TER Nord-Pas-de-Calais services.^[3]

References[]

^ "RFF - Map of electrified railway lines" (PDF).
^ "The Opening of the new railway between Boulogne and Calais". The Railway News. 12 January 1867. p. 33. archive
^ Paris-Amiens-Calais-Hazebrouck-Lille timetable (in French)

Coordinates: 50°48′06″N 1°42′59″E / 50.8016°N 1.7163°E / 50.8016; 1.7163

[1] "RFF - Map of electrified railway lines" (PDF).

[2] "The Opening of the new railway between Boulogne and Calais". The Railway News. 12 January 1867. p. 33. archive

[LL1112-3] Paris-Amiens-Calais-Hazebrouck-Lille timetable (in French)

[1]

[2]

[3]