The ''Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans'' (PO) was an early French railway company. It merged with the '' Chemins de fer du Midi'' to form the ''

Chemins de fer de Paris à Orléans et du Midi The Chemins de fer de Paris à Orléans et du Midi, often abbreviated to PO-Midi, was an early French railway company. It was formed in 1934 following the merging of the Chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans and the Chemins de fer du Midi. In 1937 i ...

'' (PO-Midi) in 1934. In 1938 the PO-Midi was nationalized with five other companies to become a part of the ''

Société nationale des chemins de fer français 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 traffic ...

'' (SNCF).

History

Beginnings as railway company

The company was founded on 13 August 1838 under the name ''Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans'' (PO). It had the right to form a limited company and was equipped with a starting capital of 40 million francs. In addition, the company had one of the French government's awarded temporary concession of 70 years, to build and operate a railway between the cities of Paris and

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Gare d'Austerlitz The Gare d'Austerlitz (English: Austerlitz Station), officially Paris-Austerlitz, is one of the six large Paris rail termini. The station is located on the left bank of the Seine in the southeastern part of the city, in the 13th arrondisseme ...

, the network extended over the territory from the Loire and Garonne to Orléans and Tours. From there, the branches led to Vendôme, Le Mans, the Atlantic coast of Angers, Nantes, St Nazaire to Landerneau, south of Villefranche, Clermont-Ferrand and Toulouse, south-west of Poitiers and Angoulême to Bordeaux.

Network in 1912

Second merger and nationalization

In 1934, ''Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans (PO)'' was merged with the ''

Chemin de Fer du Midi The Compagnie des chemins de fer du Midi (. CF du Midi), also known in English as the Midi or Southern Railway, was an early French railway company which operated a network of routes in the southwest of the country, chiefly in the area between ...

'' into '' Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans et du Midi'' (PO-Midi)". After the merger, the new PO-Midi's network was almost . To create an efficient, uniform and nationwide network under state control, on 1 January 1938, it was nationalized with five other companies to become a part of the newly founded

(SNCF). Then this also took on more rail activities of five other companies.

Legacy

After the Second World War, the banking family

Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish family originally from Frankfurt that rose to prominence with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), a court factor to the German Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel in the Free City of Fr ...

took over the remains of the Paris Orléans and transformed it into a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

for its banking activities and corporate investments.

References

Literature

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris a Orleans Railway companies of France de:Paris-Orléans