Boulogne–Calais railway

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.

Boulogne-Calais railway
Calais railway station in about 1910
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerRFF
LocaleFrance (Hauts-de-France)
TerminiCalais-Ville station
Boulogne-Ville station
Service
SystemSNCF
Operator(s)SNCF
History
Opened1867
Technical
Number of tracksDouble track
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in) standard gauge
Electrification25 kV 50 Hz[1]
Route map

253.5
Boulogne-Ville
254.9
Boulogne-Tintelleries
259.5
Wimille-Wimereux
270.0
Marquise-Rinxent
273.2
Haut-Banc
freight depôt
freight depôt
278.3
Caffiers
282.3
Pihen
286.9
Calais-Fréthun
289.5
Fréthun
293.0
Les Fontinettes
293.6
Calais St. Pierre
294.6
Calais-Ville
297.3
Calais-Maritime

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

  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
  3. Paris-Amiens-Calais-Hazebrouck-Lille timetable (in French)

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