The railway from Paris to Brest is a 622-kilometre long

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

line in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

that connects

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and the western port city Brest, via

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

and

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

. It is used for passenger (express, regional and suburban) and freight traffic. The railway was opened in several stages between 1840 and 1865.

Route

The railway leaves Paris-Montparnasse in southwestern direction for the first 3 km, and turns west at Malakoff, skirting the southern quarters of the city of Versailles. It turns southwest again until Maintenon, where it starts following the river

Eure Eure ( ; ; or ) is a department in the administrative region of Normandy, northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2021, Eure had a population of 598,934.Chartres Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...

. At La Loupe, it leaves the Eure valley in southwestern direction until it enters the Huisne valley at Condé-sur-Huisne. It follows the Huisne downstream to

, where it turns northwest. At Sillé-le-Guillaume it turns west, crossing the river

Mayenne Mayenne ( ) is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Il ...

in Laval. After Vitré, it follows the river

Vilaine The Vilaine (; ) is a river in Brittany, in the west of France. The river's source is in the Mayenne ''Département in France, département'' (53), and it flows out into the Atlantic Ocean at Pénestin in the Morbihan ''département'' (56). It is ...

downstream to

. It continues roughly northwest to Lamballe, where it turns west. Just before

Saint-Brieuc Saint-Brieuc (, Breton language, Breton: ''Sant-Brieg'' , Gallo language, Gallo: ''Saent-Berioec'') is a city in the Côtes-d'Armor Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. History ...

(at Yffiniac), it nearly touches the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

coast. It continues west through Guingamp and

Morlaix Morlaix (; , ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. History The Battle of Morlaix, part of the Hundred Years' War, was fought near the town on 30 Septembe ...

until it reaches its terminus Brest, at a bay of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. TGV high speed trains with destination Le Mans and further west use the LGV Atlantique between Paris and Connerré (20 km east of Le Mans) instead of the "classic" line.

Main stations

Gare Montparnasse Gare Montparnasse (; Montparnasse station), officially Paris Montparnasse, is one of the seven large List of Paris railway stations, Paris railway termini, and is located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, 14th and 15th arrondissement of Paris ...

(Paris) * Versailles-Chantiers station * Chartres station *

Le Mans station Le Mans ( French: ''Gare du Mans'') is a railway station serving the town Le Mans, Sarthe department, western France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas re ...

* Laval station * Vitré station *

Rennes station Rennes station (French language, French: ''Gare de Rennes'') is situated in the town centre of Rennes, France. It is situated on the Paris–Brest railway, Paris–Brest, Rennes–Saint-Malo railway, Rennes–Saint-Malo and the Rennes–Redon ra ...

* Lamballe station * Saint-Brieuc station * Guingamp station * Plouaret-Trégor station * Morlaix station * Landerneau station * Brest station

Line history

The railway Paris–Brest was first built and exploited by the

Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest The Chemins Company is a dietary supplement manufacturer based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The company, founded in 1974 by James Cameron, became embroiled in a series of criminal investigations in 1994 after a woman died and more than 100 other ...

. The oldest section of the line is the part between Paris and Viroflay, built in 1840 as part of the railway between Paris and the city of Versailles. The part between Viroflay and

Chartres Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...

was opened in 1849, Chartres– La Loupe in 1852, La Loupe–

in 1854, Le Mans– Laval in 1855, Laval–

in 1857, followed by Rennes– Guingamp in 1863 and Guingamp– Brest in 1865.

Technical information

The line is on a

double track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most li ...

in its entirety. The gauge is the . The overhead current is between Paris and Le Mans, and between Le Mans and Brest. The train protection system Contrôle de vitesse par balises (KVB) is operational on the Paris - Saint-Brieuc section. The signaling is either (BAL) or (BAPR) on the whole line.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paris-Brest railway Railway lines in Brittany Railway lines in Centre-Val de Loire Railway lines in Île-de-France Railway lines in Normandy Railway lines in Pays de la Loire Brest, France