Coudekerque-Branche–Fontinettes railway

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Coudekerque-Branche–Fontinettes railway
Tracé de la ligne Coudekerque-Branche - Les Fontinettes.jpg
Route on a 1920s map
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerRFF
LocaleFrance (Hauts-de-France)
TerminiLes Fontinettes station, Calais
Coudekerque-Branche, Dunkirk
Service
SystemSNCF
Operator(s)SNCF
History
Opened1876
Technical
Line length41.159 km (25.575 mi)
Number of tracksSingle track
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification25 kV AC Overhead[1]
Route map

Legend
304.8
 Dunkirk
Freight
to De Panne
304.4
1.4
 Coudekerque-Branche
Line to LGV Nord and Hazebrouck
 Petite-Synthe
Freight
Grande-Synthe Marshalling Yard
6.6
 Grande-Synthe
8.1
 Courghain
Freight
to Dunkerque Maritime
Loon-Plage
Craywick-Coppenaxfort
17.6
 Bourbourg
to Watten-Éperlecques
23.6
 Gravelines
Movable bridge over the Aa
Pont-d'Oye
Offekerque
Marck
40.2
 Beau-Marais
Saint-Pierre
43.7
104.1
 Line from Lille
CF AC to Anvin
104.9
293.0
 Les Fontinettes
Calais St. Pierre
294.6
 Calais-Ville
Line to Boulogne
The line and a former station at Pont-d'Oye

The Coudekerque-Branche–Fontinettes railway runs along the English Channel and North Sea coast of France from a junction near in Dunkirk to a junction near Les Fontinettes station in Calais. It is 41.159 kilometres (25.575 miles) long and AC electrified single track for much of its length, except for the first 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) from Dunkirk which is double track electrified with 25 kV 50 Hz. Line speeds are from 80 km/h (50 mph) to 120 km/h (75 mph).

There is a movable bridge over the Aa at Gravelines to allow navigation of the river.

As of August 2011, an irregular service of 3 to 5 trains run each day.[2]

History[]

The line was built by Compagnie du Nord-Est and opened 10 August 1876. Operations were transferred on 5 June 1883 to Compagnie des chemins de fer du Nord.

The whole length of the line was doubled in 1915, to be resingled along much of its length in 1960. The first ten kilometres of the line from Coudekerque was electrified in 1962 and the marshalling yard (triage de Grande-Synthe) at Grande-Sythe built between 1962 and 1965.

Plans to electrify the line were completed by 2015.[3]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Atlas ferroviaire de la France Tome I Nord. Cologne: Schweers + Wall. 2015. p. 2. ISBN 978-3-89494-143-7.
  2. ^ Dunkerque-Calais timetable (in French)
  3. ^ Les TER plus nombreux et plus rapides vers Calais, et davantage de TER-GV entre Dunkerque et Lille - La Voix du Nord - 11.04.2011 - Bruno Verheyde (in French)

References[]

  • "La Vie du rail" (in French) (1539). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)[full citation needed]
  • Blier, Gérard (May 1993). Nouvelle géographie ferroviaire de la France (in French) (Éditions La Vie du Rail ed.).
  • Lartilleux, Henri (January 1955). Géographie universelle des transports (in French). Tome 1: Géographie des chemins de fer français. Librairie Chaix.

Coordinates: 50°58′58″N 2°13′31″E / 50.9827°N 2.2252°E / 50.9827; 2.2252

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