The Chemin de fer de Lyon à la Méditerranée () was a short-lived railway company in the south of France. It was formed in 1852 and merged in 1857 with the Chemin de fer de Paris à Lyon and others to form the

Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée 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 ...

(PLM).

Origins

A concession was granted in 1843 for the line from

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

. In 1850 a draft law was discussed to merge the

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 ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

and Lyon-Avignon concessions. The city of Lyon opposed the merger since it would threaten its transit and warehouse operations, and it was agreed to keep the concessions separate. Based on a law of 1 December 1851, on 3 January 1852 the concession for a line from Lyon to Avignon, which had been suspended since 1847, was given to a company whose members included

Paulin Talabot François "Paulin" Talabot (; 18 August 1799 – 21 March 1885), also known as Paulin-François Talabot, was a French railway and canal engineer and politician. Educated at École polytechnique, Talabot started his career building canals. Inspire ...

. The law of 1 December 1851 authorized formation of the Chemin de fer de Lyon à Avignon, owned by Genissieu, Boigues & Cie, Emile Martin & Cie, Edouard Blount, Parent (Bazile), and Drouillard Benoist & Cie.

History

The Chemin de fer de Lyon à Avignon company was formed by deed of 22 March 1852 to operate railway lines from Lyon to Avignon, Marseille to Avignon,

Alès Alès () is a Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southern France. Until 1926, i ...

to Beaucaire, Alès to the Grand'Combe mines,

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle (district), Celle in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller (Germany), Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about ...

, Montpellier to

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

Rognac Rognac (; ) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France. Located to the east of the Étang de Berre, north of Marseille Provence Airport, it is part of the Aix-Marseille-Prov ...

Aix Aix or AIX may refer to: Computing * AIX, a line of IBM computer operating systems *Alternate index, for an IBM Virtual Storage Access Method key-sequenced data set * Athens Internet Exchange, a European Internet exchange point Places Belg ...

and

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

. A law of 8 July 1852 approved merger of the companies of Avignon-Marseille, Montpellier-

Sète Sète (; , ), also historically spelled ''Cette'' (official until 1928) and ''Sette'', is a commune in the Hérault department, in the region of Occitania, southern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Sétois'' (male) and ''Sétoises'' (fem ...

, Gard and Montpellier-Nimes with the Lyon-Avignon company. The law approved an agreement on 19 June 1852 between the Minister of Public Works and the Chemin de fer de Lyon à Avignon. The merged company had the concession to build the Marseille-Toulon line. It was named the Chemin de fer de Lyon à la Méditerranée. Talabot became its director. The industrialist

Jules Hochet Jules Louis Hochet (17 March 1813 – 2 April 1867) was a French industrialist who managed an iron foundry and a railway line in the south of France. Early years Jules Louis Hochet was born on 17 March 1813 in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. Hi ...

(1813–1867) was an administrator. The renamed company was recognised as an anonymous company on 8 December 1852. The section from Valence to Avignon was opened in 1854. On 16 April 1855 the line was connected from Lyon to Valence. In 1856 the line was opened connecting the Paris-Lyon terminal of Lyon-Vaise to the Lyon-Marseille terminal of Lyon-Guillotiere.

Merger

The Paris-Lyon and Lyon-Mediterranean companies were not rivals, and recognized that they must merge. This took place in 1857. The combined Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée was constituted on 11 April 1857.

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT: Railway companies of France Railway companies disestablished in 1857 1857 disestablishments in France French companies established in 1852 Railway companies established in 1852