Arras–Dunkirk railway

The Arras–Dunkirk railway is a French railway which runs from Arras to Dunkirk. Electrified double track it is 113 kilometres (70 miles) long.

Arras-Dunkirk railway
A TGV Sud-Est train on the Arras-Dunkirk railway line in 2015
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	RFF
Locale	France Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Termini	Gare d'Arras Gare de Dunkerque
Service
System	SNCF
Operator(s)	SNCF
History
Opened	1848-1861
Technical
Line length	113 km (70 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz[1]
Route map km from Paris Paris–Lille railway to Paris 192.1 Arras to Lille-Flandres 000.0 Bailleul-Sir-Berthoult Farbus Vimy Avion to Corbehem to Ostricourt and Don-Sainghin 211.3 Lens 000.0 Loos-en-Gohelle Liévin Bully-Grenay to Brias Mazingarbe Nœux-les-Mines Verquigneul to Lille 229.9 Béthune Fouquereuil to Abbeville 000.0 Chocques Lillers Ham-en-Artois to Armentières Isbergues to Arques Thiennes Steenbecque Lille–Fontinettes railway to Lille-Flandres 264.2 Hazebrouck Lille–Fontinettes railway to Calais 272.7 LGV Nord to Lille-Europe 000.0 Cassel Arnèke Esquelbecq Bergues Coudekerque-Branche– Fontinettes railway to Calais 304.4 1.4 Coudekerque-Branche to De Panne freight line 304.8 Dunkirk

Services

As of August 2011 the line is used for TGV services from Dunkirk and St Omer to Paris via Hazebrouck and Arras, and for local TER Nord-Pas-de-Calais services.[2] A TER-GV service between Dunkirk and Lille-Europe uses the northern section of the line before accessing LGV Nord at Cassel.

History

The line was built in two stages. In 1848 the section from a junction with the Lille-Calais railway at Hazebrouck to Dunkirk was opened. The section from Arras to Hazebrouck was opened in 1861, and this became part of the route for trains between Paris and London via Calais[3] until the Boulogne-Calais railway opened in 1867.[4]

References

1. "RFF - Map of electrified railway lines" (PDF).
2. Timetable lines 6-7 TER-SNCF 2 July 2011
3. "Calais to Hazebrouck, Dunkirk, Bethune, Lens, Arras, Amiens and Paris". Bradshaw's continental railway guide. February 1866. archive
4. "The Opening of the new railway between Boulogne and Calais". The Railway News. 12 January 1867. p. 33. archive