Chemin de fer de Petite Ceinture
Encyclopedia
The Chemin de fer de Petite Ceinture (French for "little belt railway") was a Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

ian railway that, from 1852, was a circular connection between Paris' main railroad stations within the fortified walls of the city. In a partial state of abandonment since 1934, the tracks (and some stations) still remain along much of its right-of-way, and the future of its yet-undeveloped property is the subject of much debate as of 2011. Many French railway enthusiasts nostalgically regard the Petite Ceinture as a surviving element of bygone era, and there are several associations whose aim is to protect the abandoned railway and its remaining stations as part of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

's national heritage.

Origin

Paris' Chemin de Fer de Petite Ceinture was military in origin. A lack of protection around France's principal cities was largely blamed for France's defeat by the Prussian armies in the 1814-1815 wars, and rail transport (a recent invention) was held in high esteem by France's military for its ability to quickly transport troops and material throughout the country. Paris' future circular railway was a meeting of these ideas.

Paris' fortifications; France's railway plans

Paris was only half its present size when France's government adopted Prime Minister Adolphe Thiers
Adolphe Thiers
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871...

' project for a ring of fortifications and forts around Paris on 1 February 1841. Echoing the path of the city's 1784 Fermiers-Généraux tax wall
Wall of the Farmers-General
The Wall of the Farmers-General was built between 1784 and 1791 by the Ferme générale, the corporation of tax farmers. It was one of the several city walls of Paris built between the early Middle Ages to the mid 19th century. It was 24 kilometers long and roughly followed the route now occupied by...

 (following, almost exactly, today's metro lines 6 and 2), the fortifications created a second, larger and better-fortified ring of protection around the city. At the time of its construction, the land between the two walls (except a strip of noisy tax-free-territory bars and cabarets just outside the city gates) remained a quiet landscape little marred by construction.

Rail transportation was developing in many regions of France, but in 1848 the government (then under the Bourbon king Louis-Philippe's rule) decided to direct all future rail development toward its centralist goals. From that year, Paris became the centre and meeting place of all France's railways in a star-shaped railway plan radiating from the capital throughout France.

1848 was also a year of revolution in France and throughout Europe: the Second Republic
French Second Republic
The French Second Republic was the republican government of France between the 1848 Revolution and the coup by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte which initiated the Second Empire. It officially adopted the motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité...

 (which followed the Bourbon regime) found it could not afford to finance the former government's railway plans. Despite the regime change, both rail transport and Paris' fortifications remained pressing matters to France's generals; it was essential that rail transport provide logistical support to Paris' fortifications wall and its several surrounding fortresses for the efficient movement of troops, supplies, arms and ammunition.

Companies

In 1848, Paris had five major stations run by five railway companies: Paris-Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...

 (later Ouest, near today's gare Saint-Lazare
Gare Saint-Lazare
Paris Saint-Lazare is one of the six large terminus train stations of Paris. It is the second busiest in Paris, behind the Gare du Nord, handling 274,000 passengers each day.-History:...

, Nord (at today's gare du Nord
Gare du Nord
Paris Nord is one of the six large terminus railway stations of the SNCF mainline network for Paris, France. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines, including Paris Métro and RER...

), Paris-Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

 (later Est, at today's gare de l'Est
Gare de l'Est
is one of the six large SNCF termini in Paris. It is in the 10th arrondissement, not far from the Gare du Nord, facing the Boulevard de Strasbourg, part of the north-south axis of Paris created by Baron Haussmann...

), Paris-Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

 (at today's gare de Lyon
Gare de Lyon
Paris Lyon is one of the six large railway termini in Paris, France. It is the northern terminus of the Paris–Marseille railway. It is named after the city of Lyon, a stop for many long-distance trains departing here, most en route to the south of France. In general the station's SNCF services run...

) and Paris-Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...

 (at today's gare d'Austerlitz
Gare d'Austerlitz
Paris Austerlitz is one of the six large terminus railway stations in Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine in the southeastern part of the city, in the XIIIe arrondissement...

). Each company maintained routes extending to different (but never intersecting) points in France. All were persuaded that direct connection to a competing line would endanger their regional monopolies. This situation made interchange between the companies and neighboring regions long and onerous. Both freight and passengers had to travel via the congestion of the capital; in some cases, they had to travel significant distances simply to transfer between competing lines. The divided regional monopolies of France's railway network were especially frustrating for the military, as they sought the speed and efficiency of rail service to get troops and supplies quickly to all parts of France.

Even at that early stage of France's railway development, the government
Government of France
The government of the French Republic is a semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Republic"...

 was courting the rail companies for their participation in a plan to build a circular railway inside Paris' fortifications. Unfortunately, all the short-lived Second Republic
French Second Republic
The French Second Republic was the republican government of France between the 1848 Revolution and the coup by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte which initiated the Second Empire. It officially adopted the motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité...

 managed to do (with coercion and blackmail) before its fall was to motivate the private companies to make merger and private deals among themselves.

Chemin de Fer de Ceinture Rive Droite

Napoleon III's rise to power on 2 December 1851 ushered in a new government with more grandiose visions for France's railway future. In an effort to accelerate France's rail development to a pace comparable with that of the rest of western Europe, the new government renewed many of France's railway concession offers on new and more financially-advantageous terms. Paris' circular railway was one of these deals, and the government had obtained concession agreements from the Rouen, Nord, Strasbourg, Orléans (bankrupt, but state-sponsored) and Lyon companies by 10 December.

The plan was to connect all of Paris' main stations through a railway running from the Rouen company lines (north of today's Gare St-Lazare) to the Orléans company's gare d'Ivry freight yards (near today's Gare d'Austerlitz
Gare d'Austerlitz
Paris Austerlitz is one of the six large terminus railway stations in Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine in the southeastern part of the city, in the XIIIe arrondissement...

). As the concession stipulated that all of Paris' stations be connected, a solution had to be found for the only station that would not have lines intersecting the Ceinture's initial path - the old Ouest Paris – Versailles Rive Gauche station (near today's Gare Montparnasse
Gare Montparnasse
Paris Montparnasse is one of the six large terminus railway stations of Paris, located in the Montparnasse area in the XIVe arrondissement. The station was opened in 1840, and rebuilt completely in 1969...

). This was done through a junction with the Paris – Versailles Rive Droite line (from today's St-Lazare station) where they met in the southwest of the city, near the town of Viroflay
Viroflay
Viroflay is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the south-western suburbs of Paris from the center and from the Palace of Versailles....

.

The Ceinture concession agreement stated that the government would finance the landscaping, bridges and rails for the line. All would be placed at the disposal of the private companies for a period of 99 years, instead of the former government's 45-year offer. This period would date from the completion of the new line. As for the private companies, they would contribute ₣ 1,000,000 each, build the stations, provide power and rolling stock, and cover operating expenses. The delay for the railway's completion was set at two years, at which time the new line was to be ready to accommodate freight and passenger traffic. Although the state financed construction of the line, management was confined to a syndicate composed of two members from each company (known as the Syndicat de Chemin de fer de Ceinture).

Because of an earlier deal (until then, forbidden by the government as coercive against Ceinture contract negotiations), the interchange connections began with a direct connection between the Nord and Strasbourg (Est) route stations in April 1852. This rail arc was private, and would later be connected to the Ceinture line. The first length of Ceinture rail (between Rouen's Batignolles and Nord's La Chapelle freight yards) was opened on 12 December 1852. A second section, between Pont du Nord (La Chapelle) and Aubervilliers
Aubervilliers
Aubervilliers is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-Name:In medieval times the name Aubervilliers was recorded as Alberti Villare, meaning "estate of Adalbert"...

 (a point where the Nord-Strasbourg private junction joined the Ceinture railway), was opened on 30 September 1853. Trains could now run between the Batignolles, La Chapelle and (Strasbourg's) La Villette
La Villette, Seine
La Villette was a French commune in the Seine département lying immediately north-east of Paris, France. It was one of four communes entirely annexed by the city of Paris in 1860. Its territory is now located in the XIXe arrondissement, but a neighborhood has retained its name: the quartier de La...

 freight yards.

The contract for the line between Pont du Nord and La Chapelle
Quartier de La Chapelle
The Quartier de La Chapelle is a neighborhood of Paris, in the northern part of the 18th arrondissement. It was originally the village of La Chapelle on the outskirts of Paris and a commune in its own right, separated from the commune of Paris by the wall of the Farmers-General...

 was given to the Est company in November 1853, and by 25 March 1854 the line was completed from La Chapelle to Ivry
Ivry-sur-Seine
Ivry-sur-Seine is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris....

. Extensive work beginning then on other parts of the line included a long viaduct (more than 700m) near Pont de Flandre; tunnels measuring 1km each in length had to be dug under the hills of Belleville
Belleville, Paris
Belleville is a neighbourhood of Paris, France, parts of which lie in four different arrondissements. The major portion of Belleville straddles the borderline between the 20th arrondissement and the 19th along its main street, the Rue de Belleville...

 and Charonne
Charonne quarter
The Charonne quarter is an area of the XXe arrondissement of Paris named after a village in the area which was merged into the city of Paris in 1860 by Napoleon III. Its metro station, Charonne is notable for the demonstration of 8 February 1962....

. In 1855, new freight yards were opened at Charonne and La Villette.

Ouest Company's Paris – Auteuil passenger line


As the Chemin de fer de Ceinture fulfilled the State's goal of uniting all France's railways in the capital, the Pereire-owned Ouest
Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest
The Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Ouest , often referred to simply as L'Ouest or Ouest, was an early French railway company.- Birth of the company :...

 company's 1852 demand for a concession for a railway inside the fortifications around the western rim of the city was originally treated as a project in itself, although the government saw it as an addition to its plan to create a rail ring around Paris. Joining the Rouen (St.-Lazare) station and its terminus in the still-suburban bourgeois town of Auteuil to the city's southwest, this passenger line was created as a means for well-to-do Parisians to travel to their country homes.

Unlike the Chemin de fer de Ceinture, the Paris – Auteuil line was designed for passenger service only. In an effort to avoid any impediment to Paris' traffic circulation, it was built below grade for most of its 9.5km length, requiring 14 bridges. Besides its rue St-Lazare embarcadère (the 'head' station, also serving the Ouest company's other lines), the line had five stations: Pont-Cardinet
Gare de Pont Cardinet
Pont-Cardinet is a railway station in Paris. It is situated on the Paris–Le Havre railway. It is the first station on the line originating from Gare Saint-Lazare, Paris. The station building is situated above the track level alongside Rue Cardinet...

 (an SNCF station today), Courcelles (today's Pereire - Levallois
Pereire - Levallois (Paris RER)
Pereire - Levallois is a station in Paris' express suburban rail system, the RER. It is situated in the 17th arrondissement of Paris.- Lines serving this station :- Adjacent Station :* Pereire on Paris Métro Line 3....

 RER C station), Neuilly-Porte Maillot
Neuilly - Porte Maillot (Paris RER)
Neuilly - Porte Maillot is a station in Paris' express suburban rail system, the RER. It is situated in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. It is on line C.- Lines serving this station :- See also :* List of stations of the Paris RER...

, Avenue de l'Impératrice (Avenue Foch
Gare de l'Avenue Foch
Gare de l'Avenue Foch is a station in Paris' express suburban rail system, the RER. It is situated in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. It had previous been called Avenue du Bois de Boulogne as part of the Auteuil line but was renamed following the change to the road itself.- Lines serving this...

), Passy (Avenue Henri-Martin
Avenue Henri Martin (Paris RER)
Avenue Henri Martin is a station in line C of the Paris Region's express suburban rail system, the RER. It is situated in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.- Lines serving this station :- See also :* List of stations of the Paris RER...

) and Auteuil (unused today). The Paris-Auteuil passenger line was inaugurated on 2 May 1854 and began service on 5 June.

Chemin de Fer de Ceinture Rive Gauche

After the 1854 completion of the Paris – Auteuil line, Paris' Right Bank was surrounded inside its fortifications by rail, but at that time no company saw a commercial future in constructing a similarly-located Left Bank rail line connecting the Right Bank line terminals: creating a true "belt" around Paris. The Right Bank line already connected all of Paris' railway stations except the Left Bank's Paris – Versailles (Rive Gauche) line (already connected with the Paris – Versailles Rive Droite line at a junction in the southwestern suburban town of Viroflay).

The Ouest company eventually agreed to undertake construction of the Ceinture Rive Gauche, probably because they were the only company serving Paris' Versailles Rive Gauche (Montparnasse) station. In the agreement, in addition to the fortification-hugging Left Bank line, the Ouest company was to manage a direct connection between the Chemin de fer de Ceinture and the Paris – Auteuil lines, and build a temporary rail line between the western terminus of the Left Bank line and the Champ de Mars. The project was to be completed in time for the 1867 Universal Exposition.

Construction ended on 27 February 1867; the last portion of track the linked the line from Javel to Champs de Mars
Gare du Champ de Mars
Gare du Champ de Mars is a railway station in Paris. The site has accommodated a total of five stations, the last of which in service for Paris' RER....

 in time for the Exposition. The Petite Ceinture was looped on 25 March 1869, with the opening of the line between Courcelles and Clichy
Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine
-Administration:The canton covers a part of the commune; the other is in the northern part of Levallois-Perret-Twinnings: Heidenheim, Germany, since 1959 Sankt Pölten, Austria, since 1968 Santo Tirso, Portugal, since 1991 Rubí, Spain, since 2005 Southwark, United Kingdom, since 2005Clichy has also...

, and was built under the St Lazare
Gare Saint-Lazare
Paris Saint-Lazare is one of the six large terminus train stations of Paris. It is the second busiest in Paris, behind the Gare du Nord, handling 274,000 passengers each day.-History:...

 main line.
For the 1889 Universal Exposition, many level crossings were removed.
The last extension of the Petite Ceinture was the junction line from Champs de Mars to Passy for the 1900 Universal Exposition.
Traffic gradually diminished until the lines closed – the Champs de Mars branch in 1924 and the PC (Petite Ceinture) in 1934. Only the Ligne d'Auteuil (electrified in 1925) would remain open.

Abandonment

The Petite Ceinture is largely unused. The last portion to be in regular use was the Ligne d'Auteuil until 1985. The connection between Gare du Nord
Gare du Nord
Paris Nord is one of the six large terminus railway stations of the SNCF mainline network for Paris, France. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines, including Paris Métro and RER...

 and Gare de l'Est
Gare de l'Est
is one of the six large SNCF termini in Paris. It is in the 10th arrondissement, not far from the Gare du Nord, facing the Boulevard de Strasbourg, part of the north-south axis of Paris created by Baron Haussmann...

 was in use until the 2000s but (as of 2011) has seen use fall dramatically. Passenger and freight service from both stations are hauled by engines from the SNCF
SNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...

 depots at La Chapelle and Pantin, seldom exchanging rolling stock. The Grande Ceinture is currently used to swap stock and as a diversion line.

Plans were afoot to use parts of the Petite Ceinture as a tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

way (now called Line 3
Paris Tramway Line 3
Tramway line T3 is the first modern tramway in :Paris proper. Opened on 16 December 2006, it is known as the tramway des Maréchaux because it follows the boulevards des maréchaux, a series of boulevards that encircle Paris along the route of the former Thiers Wall . The boulevards are, with three...

), but the Boulevards des Maréchaux (Boulevards of the Marshals, a ring of boulevards encircling Paris) has been used instead. The line opened on 16 December 2006.

RER C

The Ligne d'Auteuil closed in 1985 to make way for the newly-opened Réseau Express Régional (RER
RER
The RER is a rapid transit system in France serving Paris and its suburbs. The RER is an integration of a modern city-centre underground rail and a pre-existing set of commuter rail lines. It has several connections with the Paris Métro within the city of Paris. Within the city, the RER...

) C line. The RER C has been extended to Montigny-Beauchamp and Argenteuil
Argenteuil
Argenteuil is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Argenteuil is a sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise department, the seat of the arrondissement of Argenteuil....

 after the construction of a new tunnel crossing northwest Paris. The line branches off at Champ de Mars, crossing the Seine. From there the line is underground; the Ligne d'Auteuil was covered in 1988, and the line between Henri Martin and Courcelles was reduced from four tracks to two. It exits Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 in a tunnel ending in Clichy
Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine
-Administration:The canton covers a part of the commune; the other is in the northern part of Levallois-Perret-Twinnings: Heidenheim, Germany, since 1959 Sankt Pölten, Austria, since 1968 Santo Tirso, Portugal, since 1991 Rubí, Spain, since 2005 Southwark, United Kingdom, since 2005Clichy has also...

.

External links

Information about current events and construction related to the Petite Ceinture Access information, maps, recent pictures (2007)
  • Illustrated review of Georges Méliès' 1898 film Panorama from Top of a Moving Train (Panorama pris d’un train en marche), believed to have been filmed along the route, but actually filmed from a train of the Chemin de fer de Vincennes, which crosses the Petite ceinture at Bel-Air.
  • Video of route on foot
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