The Somain to Péruwelz railway was one of the first railways in France. It opened in October 1838, linking Abscon in the department du Nord with Saint Waast-la-Haut. It was gradually extended, and by 1874 it linked Somain in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

with

Péruwelz Péruwelz ( or ; pcd, Piérwé ; wa, Perwé-e-Hinnot) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2018 Péruwelz had a total population of 17,113. The total area is 60.56 km2 which gives ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. At its peak, the line had a length of 25 miles.

History

The line was opened in sections: *21 October 1838: Abscon - Saint-Waast-la-Haut *January 1842: Saint-Waast - Anzin Mines *20 June 1848: Somain - Abscon *23 May 1873:

Vieux-Condé Vieux-Condé (; nl, Oudkonde) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. The village stands on a canalised section of the river Scheldt, adjacent to the northwest of Condé-sur-l'Escaut. It is part of the agglomeration (''unité urb ...

- Péruwelz *1 June 1874:

Anzin Anzin is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.Commune d'Anzin (59014)
INSE ...

- Vieux-Condé The line was closed to passengers in 1963. The section between Péruwelz and Vieux Condé was dismantled in 1975, and freight traffic ended on the remainder of the line on 17 November 1986. Part of the former route of the railway is now being used for the

Valenciennes Tramway The Valenciennes tramway (french: tramway de Valenciennes) is a tram system serving Valenciennes and part of its surrounding areas, in the Nord department of France. Since 2014 the network has consisted of two lines with a total of of track and ...

Route

The line served the following stations: Gare de Somain; Abscon, km 4; Escaudain, km 7;

Denain Denain (; pcd, Dnain) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Denain had a population of 19,877, on a land area of 11.52 km² (4.448 sq mi). It is the largest of 47 communes which comprise the Communauté d'agglomération d ...

, km 10; Hérin, km 15; Saint-Waast (

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

), km 18; Anzin, km 19; Le Moulin, km 21; Bruay, km 23; Thiers la Grange, km 25; Escautpont-Mines, km 27; Fresnes, km 28; Condé, km 30; Vieux-Condé, km 32; Frontière passage, km 37; Péruwelz, km 40.

Gallery

Image:La gare de Somain.jpg, Gare de Somain circa 1900 Image:La gare d' Abscon-.JPG, Gare d'Abscon Image:Denain - la gare des mines en 1905.jpg, Gare de Denain-mines circa 1905 Image:La gare d' Hérin-.jpg, Gare d'Hérin circa 1900 Image:La gare de Saint-Waast.JPG, Gare de Saint-Waast circa 1950 Image:La_gare_d'Anzin.jpg, Gare d'Anzin circa 1900 Image:Anzin - l'arrêt de la Bleuse-Borne (Le Moulin).jpg, Halte de la Bleuse Borne (Le Moulin) Image:La gare de Bruay-sur-Escaut en 1938.jpg, Gare de Bruay in 1938 Image:Gare de Fresnes.JPG, Gare de Fresnes in 2009 Image:Condé-Escaut - la gare vers 1950.jpg, Gare de Condé/Escaut circa 1950 Image:La gare de Vieux-Condé en 1906.jpg, Gare de Vieux-Condé circa 1906 Image:Gare de Péruwelz.JPG , Gare de Péruwelz in 2009

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Somain-Peruwelz Railway Railway lines in Hauts-de-France Cross-border railway lines in France