Mantes-la-Jolie–Cherbourg railway

The railway from Mantes-la-Jolie to Cherbourg is an important French 228-kilometre long railway line, that connects Mantes-la-Jolie, a western suburb of Paris, with the northwestern port city Cherbourg via Caen. At Mantes-la-Jolie, the railway line is connected with the Paris–Le Havre railway. The line was opened between 1855 and 1858 by the Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest.^[3]

Mantes-la-Jolie–Cherbourg railway
Carentan railway station
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	RFF
Locale	France (Île-de-France, Normandy)
Termini	Mantes-la-Jolie station Cherbourg station
Service
System	SNCF
Operator(s)	SNCF
History
Opened	1855-1858
Technical
Line length	313 km (194 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track[1]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz[2]
Route map Legend Line from Paris-Saint-Lazare 57.3 Mantes-la-Jolie Line to Rouen and Le Havre 70.9 Bréval 80.1 Bueil to Rouen from Saint-André-de-l'Eure from Gravigny 107.3 Évreux-Normandie 117.0 La Bonneville-sur-Iton 125.2 Conches 132.9 Romilly-la-Puthenaye 143.2 Beaumont-le-Roger to Rouen 148.9 Serquigny 158.8 Bernay 190.1 Lisieux to Trouville-Deauville 214.4 to Le Mans 215.5 Mézidon 224.9 Moult-Argences 231.2 Frénouville-Cagny 239.9 Caen to Flers 252.2 Bretteville-Norrey 258.5 Audrieu 268.8 Bayeux 282.6 Le Molay-Littry 295.2 Lison Line to St-Lô and Lamballe 313.1 Carentan 342.6 Valognes to eastern port of Cherbourg 370.4 Cherbourg to western port of Cherbourg

Route

Caen Station in 2003.

The line serves the towns Mantes-la-Jolie, Évreux, Bernay, Lisieux, Caen, and is extended to Cherbourg. It is 313 km long from Mantes-la-Jolie to Cherbourg (370 km from Paris). It was electrified with 25 kV AC in June 1996.

Main stations

The main stations on the Mantes-la-Jolie–Cherbourg railway are:

• Mantes-la-Jolie station
• Évreux-Normandie station
• Lisieux station
• Caen station
• Cherbourg station

Line history

Intercity train at Saint Lazare.

The railway from Paris to Rouen via Mantes-la-Jolie was opened in 1843. A concession for a railway from Mantes to Caen was already granted in 1846, but the first section from Mantes to Lisieux was only opened in July 1855. Lisieux–Caen followed in December 1855, and the final section Caen–Cherbourg in July 1858.^[3]

The line was known for using the post-World War II, American-built SNCF 141R steam engines as well as turbotrain-type trains from September 1970. After electrification in 1996, BB16000 and BB 26000 locomotive-hauled trains are used.

Services

The Mantes-la-Jolie–Cherbourg railway is used by the following passenger services:

• TGV from Cherbourg to Dijon
• Intercités from Paris to Caen, Cherbourg and Saint-Lô
• TER Normandie regional services