Chemin de Fer de Petite Ceinture

The Chemin de Fer de Petite Ceinture (French: small railway belt ) was a circular railway line of 32 km, and the train stations joined in 1852 at the outer edge of the city of Paris. Since 1934, largely shut down, their largely remaining tracks and stations for decades the subject of debate for its development or preservation.

Background

Middle of the 19th century, the first private railway companies in a star shape converging in Paris railway lines built in France from various parts of the country, each with its own head stations. Since the railway companies wanted to maintain regional monopolies and had little inclination to cooperate, there was initially no connection of the stations with each other.

Goods that had to be transported because of this railway network structure of a part of the country to the other with the detour via Paris, therefore had to be transhipped in Paris on horse carts are transported to the train stations of secondary lines and charged there again. Travelers had to take the same detour.

The terminal stations and their operators in Paris in 1848 were:

• Gare Saint- Lazare, operated by the Compagnie de Paris à Saint Germain (founded in 1837), from 1855 by the Compagnie des Chemins de fer de l' Ouest
• Gare de l' Ouest (later Gare Montparnasse ), operated by the Compagnie de Versailles -Rive Gauche (founded in 1840), from 1855 by the Chemins de fer de l' Ouest
• Gare d' Austerlitz, operated by the Compagnie des Chemins de fer Paris - Orléans (est. 1840)
• Gare du Nord, operated by Chemins de fer du Nord (est. 1846)
• Gare de Denfert -Rochereau, operated by the Compagnie de Sceaux (1846 )
• Gare de Lyon operated by Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon (founded in 1849), from 1858 by the Compagnie des Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée
• Gare de Strasbourg (later Gare de l'Est ), operated by the Chemin de Fer de Paris à Strasbourg (1849 ), from 1853, the Chemin de Fer de l' Est.

The government tried these companies to move to build a common connection line ( droite rive ), all on the right bank of the Seine between Rouen ( Saint- Lazare ) and Ivry- sur -Seine (Paris- Orléans ) should share, while she shrank from coercing extortion and not return. The most that could reach the briefly existing Republican government was forced into merger negotiations between the operating companies and in private contracts between them.

Chemin de Fer de Ceinture Rive droite

The actual birth of the "railway line" ( Chemin de Fer de Ceinture ) failed with the coming to power of Napoleon III. . on December 2, 1851 His Minister of Public Works (French: Ministre des traveaux publics ), Pierre Magne, secured the financing of the construction of the line on the same day. He offered to build everything for the proposed railway ring except the stations, locomotives and rolling stock.

In turn, each individual operating company had paid a contribution of one million francs in the joint venture ( the French state took over this the contribution of the bankrupt Chemins de fer Paris - Orléans ). All companies signed on 10 December 1851, the concession for the link on the right bank of the Seine (French: Rive droite ) and for the joint venture Syndicat de Chemin de Fer de Ceinture.

With the granting of the license a number of conditions was associated, which included the establishment and operation of passenger transport among others. The operators, however, were primarily interested in the lucrative freight. Only from the July 14, 1862, however, the passenger was taken to the whole ring by the Syndicat de Ceinture.

A first provisional freight traffic between Batignolles (today: Pont Cardinet, north of St. Lazare ) and La Chapelle ( connection Nord train station Gare du Nord ) to the branch Paris Bestiaux to La Villette - then Paris Cattle Market (French: Marché aux Bestiaux ) and affiliated to the slaughterhouses (French: abattoirs de la Villette ) - has already been included on 15 November 1852. The first completed sections were inaugurated in a small ceremony on 12 December 1852.

The section between Pont du Nord and La Chapelle was the Chemin de Fer de l' Est passed in November 1853. On March 25, 1854 was extended from La Chapelle to Ivry- sur -Seine on the National Bridge.

Then in the Northeast began extensive work on a large viaduct of more than 700 m in length, near the Pont de Flandre along the canal of St. Denis - the fragmentation of industrial companies to avoid - and the crossing of the Ourcq canal. Following this, the south had two tunnels longer than 1000 m are dug to pass under the hill of Belleville and Charonne. 1855 were the two freight stations Charonne and Belleville / La Villette start work.

The passenger line Paris - Auteuil

In the north- west of the city, the Compagnie de Paris à Saint Germain brothers Emile and Isaac Pereire on May 2, 1854, the line Auteuil. In sharp contrast to the pure freight line of the Syndicat de Ceinture, this was a mere passenger transport route. They led from the Saint -Lazare train station along the western fortifications to the village of Auteuil in the south. After the 1855 merger took place with the Compagnie de Versailles -Rive Gauche line of the Chemins de fer de l' Ouest was operated.

Chemin de Fer de Ceinture Rive gauche

The construction of the link on the left bank of the Seine (French: Rive gauche ) was completed on 27 February 1867. The last route section for connection Javel Champ de Mars was completed in time for the Paris World Exposition in 1867. With the opening of the line between Courcelle and Clichy the "Little Belt " ( Petite Ceinture ) was concluded on 25 March 1869 the route had to be performed in a short section of the Saint- Lazare main road.

Just in time for the 1889 World's Fair many same level crossings were eliminated and performed the last extension of the Petite Ceinture with the intersection line Champs de Mars Passy.

Big Belt / Grande Ceinture

The "Little Belt " from 1877 was supplemented by a "big belt" ( Grande Ceinture ) with the 1877 opened the first section between Noisy- le -Sec northeast of Paris and Villeneuve -Saint -Georges. Touch the other, built to 1886 lines, as seen on the map in a clockwise direction from Villeneuve -Saint -Georges places Rungis ( north of today's Orly airport, with a later parallel route south of Orly on Juvisy -sur -Orge ), Massy Palaiseau, Versailles, Saint- Germain -en- Laye, Achères Sartrouville and again Noisy- le -Sec. The Great Belt has about 160 km length.

Closures

Gradually reduced the demand until 1924 on the branch Champs de Mars and up to 1934 on the entire Petite Ceinture of passenger rail service in favor of buses was discontinued. The corresponding bus hot today " PC1 " to " PC3 " for " Petite Ceinture ". Only the line Auteuil, which was electrified in 1925, remained from Pont Cardinet to Auteuil in operation.

After 1934, even perverse freight trains on the route until early 1990. Until 1976 nor the Citroën factories, slaughterhouses were in Grenelle (now Parc André Citroën ) until 1979 in the Rue Vaugirard (now Parc Georges Brassens ) and until 1991 the Gare des Gobelins operated under the Olympia neighborhood in the 13th arrondissement. In the north and east, the route was used to train transfer between the stations by the end of the 1980s.

At the 2007 level of the Petite Ceinture is given as a closed ring. However, the signaling systems are still in operation, since the train service was not set entirely. The southern section ( Rive Gauche ) was used, for example, to carry away the rubble in the expansion of line 14. The currently (2007) still used north section between the Porte de Clichy and the Boulevard Victor has 23 km rail. Individual nostalgia trips were carried out.

In the western section, the rails have now been completely dismantled and in summer 2006 track use has been the subject of negotiations between the owner Réseau Ferré de France ( RFF) and the city of Paris. At the time, 2007, the route was interrupted for repairs in the amount of the Avenue de France in the 13th arrondissement.

The VMI (RER C)

The line Auteuil was replaced in 1985 by the 1988 New opened RER C. This was extended by the construction of a new tunnel that crosses the north-west of Paris, to Montigny - Beauchamp and Argenteuil. The branch line Vallée de Montmorency Invalides (VMI ) to Champ de Mars crosses the Seine River on a bridge, which was damaged in 1958. After the 1988 overbuilt route is underground. The section between Avenue Henri Martin and Courcelles was dismantled by a four-lane to a two lane road. The exit of the tunnel is located in Clichy.

Plans for recommissioning

Various plans to resume operation from the Petite Ceinture are currently being weighed:

• Freight line: The city of Paris would reduce these occasional uses of the route
• Metro or tram: Tram T3 is already on the boulevards of Maréchaux on the rive gauche (left bank of the Seine ) in operation
• As an avenue (like the old route after Bastille ): In March 2006, suggested the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, prior to plant one of the two tracks with a row of trees in order to obtain the possibility of subsequent re-use for railway purposes. This proposal was the subject of negotiations between the owner RFF and the city of Paris, which led to a contract that is subject to the ratification of the Paris City Council.