The Compagnie du chemin de fer de Caen à la mer (CM) was an early French

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

company.

History

The first railway to reach

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Chemins de fer de l'Ouest The Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Ouest (CF de l'Ouest), often referred to simply as ''L'Ouest'' or ''Ouest'', was an early French railway company which operated from the years 1855 through 1909. History Birth of the company The Compa ...

's line from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

(

Gare Saint-Lazare The Gare Saint-Lazare (English: St Lazarus station), officially Paris-Saint-Lazare, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It serves train services toward Normandy, northwest of Paris, along the Paris–Le Hav ...

) and Mantes-la-Jolie to Cherbourg. In the early part of the 19th century only the country's main cities and towns were favoured by a rail service, but by the 1850s the local authorities in

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norm ...

were demanding that the

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

be served by additional local railways for the benefit of industry.

The line "from Caen to the sea"

The CM's line in

was inaugurated on 30 June 1875 and originally ran for 16 km between stations at Caen Saint-Martin and

Luc-sur-Mer Luc-sur-Mer (, literally ''Luc on Sea'') is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population Sights * The "Maison de la Baleine" created by Jean Chabriac. On January 15, 1885 a 40-ton and 19 me ...

. In July 1876, the line was extended by 8 km from

Courseulles Courseulles-sur-Mer (, ), commonly known as ''Courseulles'', is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Until 1957, the town's name was simply ''Courseulles''. It lies 3 km west of Bernières-sur-Mer and 18 ...

. A 4-km-long connection between the CM and the Ouest company's main line in Caen was opened on 12 September 1877 and several intermediate stations – at La Folie, Malon, Le Cizey, and Épron – were opened to passengers. All the company's tracks were ; however in 1900 a third rail was laid between Luc-sur-Mer and Courseulles to allow through running to the latter town of 600-mm-gauge

Chemins de fer du Calvados The Chemins de Fer du Calvados was a narrow gauge railway in the département of Calvados. History The railway was originally planned as a line. The département had actually accepted a tender for the construction of such a line but with int ...

(CFC) trains operating from Caen via the CFC's

Ouistreham Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France. Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders the mo ...

to Luc-sur-Mer branch.

The beginning of difficulties

The company makes a profit during the summer season, but most services stop during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, with only 3 return trips operating. After the Armistice, normal operation resumed and the company diversified its operations with a

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

service to provide a corresponding bus to its trains. The economic difficulties of the 1920s brought the first deficit in 1930, then 1931. The

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

took over operations on 23 March 1933. The line was modernised between 1937 and 1938. On 9 August 1937, the concession was ended and powers transferred to the Courriers Normands, who signed a contract with the newly created

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

to have its track maintained by the nationalised railways. Omnibus services were then transferred to buses and trains mainly circulating during the Summer season. The line was little touched by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and although a few tank movements deteriorated the tracks, the military did replace the damaged sections for use by military trains. Civilians are once again accepted on the one daily passenger train in 1944 and the company finally took back their network on 21 December 1944. In 1945, traffic was six times less than it was in 1938, although twice what it was in 1943, and most passengers were war veterans who benefited from

free public transport Free public transport, often called fare-free public transit or zero-fare public transport, refers to public transport funded in full by means other than by collecting fares from passengers. It may be funded by national, regional or local gover ...

. By 1950, rail service only ran during the summer and the decision to close the long branch line took into effect on 8 December 1950.

Line openings

Stations

The line ran from Caen to Courseulles and served the following towns and villages: *

Mathieu Mathieu is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname * André Mathieu (1929–1968), Canadian pianist and composer * Anselme Mathieu (1828–1895), French Provençal poet * Claude-Louis Mathieu (1783–187 ...

( station) *

Douvres-la-Délivrande Douvres-la-Délivrande () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. The name was simply Douvres until 1961, when it was expanded to refer to the basilica Notre-Dame de la Délivrande ("Our Lady of Del ...

( station) * Chapelle-la-Délivrande *

( station) *

Langrune-sur-Mer Langrune-sur-Mer (, literally ''Langrune on Sea'') is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europ ...

( station) * Saint Aubin-sur-Mer ( station) *

Bernières-sur-Mer Bernières-sur-Mer (, literally ''Bernières on Sea''), in the arrondissement of Caen, is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, in no ...

( station) *

Courseulles-sur-Mer Courseulles-sur-Mer (, ), commonly known as ''Courseulles'', is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Until 1957, the town's name was simply ''Courseulles''. It lies 3 km west of Bernières-sur-Mer and 18 ...

( station)

Rolling stock

The company possessed but a small fleet of

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s; it was composed of four

0-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This was the most common wheel arrangemen ...

engines built in 1875 by

Fives-Lille Fives-Lille was a French engineering company located at Fives, a suburb of Lille. It is now part of the Fives Group. History The company began as in 1861 and made a joint venture with the Société J. F. Cail & Cie. and were of Belgian orig ...

specially for the line. A

Corpet-Louvet Corpet-Louvet was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Paris, France. History Founded in 1855 as Anjubault, based in the Avenue Phillippe-Auguste in Paris, the firm was taken over by Lucien Corpet in 1868. Corpet's daughter Marguerite married ...

was received in 1883 to complete the fleet as well as 030-1392 of the Chemin de Fer de l'Ouest. Finally, a 0-6-0 St Léonard and a 0-6-0 Corpet Louvet built engines were received in 1927. Passenger cars were Bidel wooden carriages of which twenty were double decker coaches, identical to those used on

Réseau Saint-Lazare Réseau Saint-Lazare is the network of railway lines originating from Saint Lazare Station in Paris. The network stretches from Paris to Normandy and encompasses suburban services. Parisian suburban rail services are operated under SNCF's brand n ...

. A few bogie carriages manufactured for the

Chemin de fer de l'État Chemin or Le Chemin may refer to: Arts and media * ''Le chemin'' (Emmanuel Moire album), 2013 album by French singer Emmanuel Moire * ''Le chemin'' (Kyo album), 2003 album by French band Kyo ** "Le Chemin" (song), title song from same-titled Kyo ...

for

direct services. From 1924 the Chemin de Fer de Caen à la Mer equipped itself of

DMUs A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

. Their fleet of DMUs was composed of one

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

RS4 and four tyre ''Michelines''. These were withdrawn in 1939.

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Compagnie Du Chemin De Fer De Caen A La Mer Transport in Normandy Railway companies of France Railway lines opened in 1875 Standard gauge railways in France