The railway from Mantes-la-Jolie to Cherbourg is an important French 228-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 ...
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 ...
, with the northwestern port city
Cherbourg
Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...
via
Caen
Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...
. At Mantes-la-Jolie, the railway line is connected with the
Paris–Le Havre railway
The Paris–Le Havre railway is an important 228-kilometre long railway line, that connects Paris to the northwestern port city Le Havre via Rouen. Among the first railway lines in France, the section from Paris to Rouen opened on 9 May 1843, fol ...
. The line was opened between 1855 and 1858 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 ...
Évreux
Évreux () is a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy.
History Antiquity
In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century AD, was named '' Mediolanum Aulercorum'', "the central town ...
Caen
Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...
, and is extended to
Cherbourg
Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...
. It is 313 km long from Mantes-la-Jolie to Cherbourg (370 km from Paris). It was electrified with 25 kV AC in June 1996.
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 ...
from Paris to
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...
via Mantes-la-Jolie was opened in 1843. A concession for a railway from Mantes to Caen was already granted in 1846, but the first section from Mantes to Lisieux was only opened in July 1855. Lisieux–
Caen
Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...
followed in December 1855, and the final section Caen–Cherbourg in July 1858.
The line was known for using the post-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, American-built SNCF 141R steam engines as well as turbotrain-type trains from September 1970. After electrification in 1996, BB16000 and BB 26000 locomotive-hauled trains are used.
Services
The Mantes-la-Jolie–Cherbourg railway is used by the following passenger services:
* TGV from Cherbourg to
Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô (, ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy.TER Normandie regional services