The railway from Orléans to Montauban is an important

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

544-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 ...

line, that connects

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...

and southern France via

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

. The railway was opened in several stages between 1847 and 1893, when the section from Limoges to

Brive-la-Gaillarde Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the aggl ...

was finished.

Route

The Orléans–Montauban railway leaves the

Les Aubrais station The gare des Aubrais (before 2014: ''gare des Aubrais-Orléans'') is a main-line railway station located in the town of Fleury-les-Aubrais in Loiret, central France, and serving the greater Orléans district. It is situated on the Paris to Borde ...

, entering its terminus

Montauban-Ville-Bourbon station Montauban or Montauban-Ville-Bourbon is a railway station serving the town of Montauban, Tarn-et-Garonne department, southwestern France. The station The station lies on the Bordeaux–Sète railway and it is the southern terminus of the Orlé ...

after a total length of 544 km.

Main stations

The main stations on the Orléans–Montauban railway are: *

Vierzon Vierzon () is a Communes of France, commune in the Cher (department), Cher departments of France, department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Geography A medium-sized town by the banks of the river Cher (river), Cher with some light industry and a ...

-Ville station * Châteauroux station *

Limoges-Bénédictins station Limoges-Bénédictins ( French: ''Gare de Limoges-Bénédictins'') is the main railway station of Limoges. It is situated on the Orléans–Montauban railway. It was named Bénédictins due to the presence of a Benedictine monastery closed duri ...

Brive-la-Gaillarde station Brive-la-Gaillarde is a railway station serving the town of Brive-la-Gaillarde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. The station opened on 17 September 1860 and is located on the Orléans–Montauban railway, Coutras–Tulle railway, Brive-Toulouse (vi ...

History

The section

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Châteauroux Châteauroux ( ; ; ) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Châteauroux te ...

was built and exploited by the ''Compagnie du Centre'', that became part of

Chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans 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 a ...

in 1852. The ''PO'' extended the railway afterwards. The first section that was opened in 1847 led from

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and 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 ...

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

) to

Châteauroux Châteauroux ( ; ; ) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Châteauroux te ...

. The line was extended to

Argenton-sur-Creuse Argenton-sur-Creuse (, ) is a commune in the Indre department in central France. Geography Argenton-sur-Creuse lies on the river Creuse, about 28 km southwest of Châteauroux. Argenton-sur-Creuse station has rail connections to Vierzon, ...

in 1854.

was reached in 1856. The opening of the Limoges–

Périgueux Périgueux (, ; or ) is a commune in the Dordogne department, in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux is the prefecture of Dordogne, and the capital city of Périgord. It is also the seat of ...

railway (1861), the Périgueux–

section of the

Coutras Coutras () is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Coutras station has rail connections to Bordeaux, Angoulême, Périgueux, Brive-la-Gaillarde and Limoges. History The Battle of Coutras, one of th ...

–

Tulle Tulle (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in central France. It is the third-largest town in the former region of Limousin and is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Corrèze, in the Regions of France, region of Nouvelle- ...

railway (1860) and the Brive-la-Gaillarde–

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

railway (1858-1864) offered a much shorter connection between Paris and Toulouse than the existing line via Tours and Bordeaux. The opening of the

Nexon Nexon Co., Ltd. (formerly ) is a South Korean video game developer and publisher. It develops and publishes titles including ''MapleStory'', ''Crazyracing Kartrider'', ''Sudden Attack'', ''Dungeon & Fighter'', ''The First Descendant'', and ''Bl ...

–Brive-la-Gaillarde railway in 1875 shortened the distance by 69 km. The distance between Paris and Toulouse was shortened by a further 42 km by the opening of the Limoges–Montauban section of the Orléans–Montauban railway, in three stages:

Cahors Cahors (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Region. The capital and main city of t ...

–Montauban in 1884, Brive-la-Gaillarde–Cahors in 1891, and finally Limoges–Brive-la-Gaillarde via

Uzerche Uzerche (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Corrèze Departments of France, department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regions of France, region of central France. In 1787, the English writer Arthur Young described the town as "the pearl of ...

in 1893.

Services

The Orléans–Montauban railway is used by the following passenger services: *

TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

on the section between Orléans and Brive-la-Gaillarde *

Intercités Intercités (IC), known before September 2009 as ''Corail Intercités'', is a brand name used by France's national railway company, the SNCF, to denote non High-speed rail in France, high-speed services on the classic rail network in France. The ...

from Bordeaux to Lyon on the section between Limoges and Saint-Sulpice-Laurière, and from Paris to Toulouse on the whole line *

TER Centre-Val de Loire TER Centre-Val de Loire (operated under the brand Rémi since 2019 and TER Centre prior to 2015) is the regional rail network serving Centre-Val de Loire ''région'' of France. Network The rail and bus network as of April 2022:

TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the regional rail network serving the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It is operated by the French national railway company SNCF. It was formed in 2017 from the previous TER networks TER Aquitaine, TE ...

and

TER Occitanie TER Occitanie or liO Train is the regional rail network serving the region of Occitanie, southern France. It is operated by the French national railway company SNCF. It was formed in 2017 from the previous TER networks TER Languedoc-Roussillo ...

regional services on the whole line

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orleans-Montauban railway Railway lines in Centre-Val de Loire Railway lines in Nouvelle-Aquitaine Railway lines in Occitania (administrative region) Railway lines opened in 1893