Ligne de Paris - Caen

Ligne Paris-Caen is an express, regional and suburban railway line between Paris and Caen in Calvados, France. The line is one of the oldest in France, having been open in 1855 by the Ouest under the orders of Napoleon III.

Route

The line serves Mantes-la-Jolie, Évreux, Bernay, Lisieux, Caen, and is extended to Cherbourg. It is 371km long from Paris to Cherbourg and is electrified in 25kV AC. It shares its tracks with other intercity and suburban rail lines. The ligne Paris-Caen is one of the main lines if the French rail network. It shares its tracks with the Ligne Paris-Le Havre from Paris Saint-Lazare to Mantes-la-Jolie at which points it splits from its High Norman friend to serve Lower Normandy. It also shares its tracks with Réseau Saint-Lazare suburban lines as far as Mantes-la-Jolie and RER A as far as Poissy.

Line history

The first section of the line to be built was the link between Paris and Saint Germain-en-Laye in 1837. The second was from Asnières-sur-Seine to Mantes-la-Jolie in 1843, followed by Mantes-Lisieux in July 1855 and Lisieux-Caen in December 1855.

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. Followed electrification in June 1996 and the use of BB16000 and BB 26000 locomotive-hauled trains.