Line of Small Belt

History

About the middle of the 19th century, the construction of the first radial railway Frenchwomen at the beginning of Paris is carried out without any overall plan aiming at connecting the final stations of the various companies. During ten years, those could establish with their own way their own station on peripheral grounds still almost virgin of buildings:

the Station Saint Lazare, of the Company of Paris with German Saint (1837);
the Station Montparnasse, of the Left Company of Versailles-Bank (1840);
the Station of Austerlitz, the Company of Paris in Orleans (1840);
the station of North, the Company of North (1846);
the station of the Barrier of Hell (Station of Denfert-Rochereau), of the Company of Seals (1846);
the Gare de Lyon, of the Company of Paris in Lyon (1849);
the station of Strasbourg (then of Is) Company of Paris in Strasbourg (1849).

This anarchistic situation makes capital an obligatory point of rupture of load, the exchanges of the travellers and goods between the seven Parisian termini being carried out after a fashion by an urban roadway system with the still incomplete layout.

In addition, the Ville of Paris obtains starting from 1841 fortifications to protect its new limits; it proves to be necessary to be able to supply them from the interior of the strengthened city, whether it is as soldiers, supplies or armaments.

The companies being reticent to carry out a system of exchange between them, it is the government which is interested in connection of the stations of Paris by a circular line whose layout fits in the new strengthened enclosure and whose building site gets work with the unemployed of the city. This line of “belt” is built with the expenses of the State, which contributes for four franc million to the project, with a contractual contribution of a million francs for the five companies concerned (of Rouen, of Orleans, of Strasbourg, of North and Lyon), which must moreover meet in trade union for the common exploitation of the junction. The prolongation of the circular railway on left bank of the Seine between Auteuil and parks it of Orleans is declared of public utility by Décret on June 14th 1861, at a cost of twenty-two franc million.

In the beginning, this line 32 kilometers long has a double interest: to connect between them the radial lines which leave large the Gare S Parisian and to allow the exchanges of freight between the networks, and to serve the Fortification S of Paris by the interior for strategic reasons. The line of Small Belt thus runs along the Boulevards of the Marshals, either on viaducts, or in trench, sometimes in tunnels.

The first section of the Belt is brought into service on December 11th 1852 of Batignolles until the ways of the company of North, with the Vault, then the startups follow one another: March 25th 1854, of the Vault at Bercy, on May 2nd 1854 for the Line of Auteuil, on February 25th 1867 the railroad of Left bank (Auteuil with Ivry, via Grenelle), then the junction of the Champ de Mars. The last section of the line is delivered on March 25th 1869, a direct connection between Clichy (girdles Right Bank) and Courcelles (line of Auteuil).

The new line is quickly useful: during the war of 1870, it is used to transport eight hundred and thousand troops from July 16th, 1870 to March 17th, 1871. However, the war highlights the insufficient capacity of the line, which leads to the creation of the Grande Belt, which opens in 1877, bringing to the progressive reduction of the traffic of through-freight, and releasing from the furrows for the service traveller.

It should be noted that, Right Bank, the line had initially been built on level. The level crossings are removed for the World Fair of 1889, by raising of the platform of approximately five meters, in the east, in particular course of Vincennes, and lowering of the platform on six to seven meters, in north. It is advisable to recall that this had been done with an aim of facilitating circulation with the crossroads.

A report/ratio is transmitted to the Municipal council of Paris on June 7th 1931: he concludes with closing from the line to the passenger traffic. Its author, Georges Prade, specifies that with highest of the activity of the line in the Années 1890 - 1900, the passenger traffic forever represented more than 10% of the total of the urban transport of Paris intramurally , and that in 1930, it exceeds hardly the 1%. The removal of the passenger trains is then decided: it is effective on April 1st 1934. The next July 16th, the line of bus of small belt replaces the railway service.

Traffic

In 1855, the Belt (Right Bank) transports: 780000 T of freight, of which: 20000 T in local traffic and the remainder in transit enter the wide-area networks.

The passenger traffic begins on July 14th, 1862 between Batignoles-Clichy and Grate-Bercy, then, gradually, it relates to all the line. The passenger traffic passes from 5 million in 1878 to 39 million in 1900, record year related to the World Fair. After this date, the passenger traffic drops with the progressive opening of the subway by CMP and the North-South, in spite of a ameloration at the time of the service road of the colonial Exposition of 1931 by the station Claude Decaen.

After several unfruitful attempts to yield the line to CMP, the Trade union of the Belt, confronted with important financial problems, obtains State the authorization to remove the service traveller on July 22nd 1934.

STCRP, ancestor of the RATP, immediately brings into service a line of drunk, line PC (today PC1, PC2 and PC3, and T3).

The western, between Bridge-Cardinet and Auteuil, known part under the name of Line of Auteuil, is exploited until in 1985, start date of work of the northern branch of the RER C, brought into service in 1988. connection between Bridge-Cardinet and Pereire is not integrated into the line C; it is exploited until July 1996 in shuttle, replaced since by buses.

The viaduct of Auteuil connecting the Boulevard Victor in the 15 {{E}} district to the Door of Auteuil in the 16 {{E}} and which crossed the the Seine was demolished in 1958, removing connection between the West and the South of the network.

As from 1934, the line of small belt is used more only by goods trains. In the south, it serves the Citroen factories of Grenelle (today Parc Andre-Citroen) until in 1976, the slaughter-houses of Vaugirard (currently Parc Georges-Brassens) until in 1979 and the Gare of Paris-Goblins (under the district of the Olympiads in the 13 {{E}} district) until in 1991. In north and the east, the lines are used for the transfer of trains between stations until the end of the Années 1980. The traffic of goods trains continues until the beginning of the Années 1990.

Stations

In the direction of the needles of a watch, one finds while starting in the west:

Auteuil-Boulogne
Passy-the-Dumb woman
Which occurred Henri Martin (today the RER C)
Which occurred of Wood-of-Boulogne (today the RER C)
Neuilly-Shirt (today the RER C)
Courcelles-Levallois (today the RER C)
Which occurred of Clichy (today the RER C)
Which occurred of Saint-Ouen
Boulevard Ornano
the Vault-Saint-Denis
the Gospel (in the past Station of the Vault), old small marshalling yard
Be-Girdles (halt)
Pont of Flandres
the Belleville-Villette, also goods station
Ménilmontant
Charonne, currently concert hall and multi-media
Rue of Avron
Avenue of Vincennes
Beautiful-Air Girdles
Rue Claude Decaen
Bercy-Girdles
Grate-Bercy, old small marshalling yard
Orleans-Girdles
the Goblins, station goods connected to the Small Belt, opened on May 15th, 1903 in edge of the street of Tolbiac.
White House
the Refrigerator-Gentilly, station goods
Park of Montsouris
Montrouge
Western Belt
Slaughter-houses of Vaugirard, only for the cattle
Vaugirard Girdles
Point-of-Day

Current location

The line of small belt currently consists of 23 kilometers of railways between the Porte of Clichy in north and the Boulevard Victor in the south, while passing by the East of Paris. The Western part was completely removed iron and should be the subject soon of a convention of use between the owner (RF) and the Town of Paris. The line is in addition stopped with the height of work of the Avenue of France (13th district) since years. The connection of the Victor boulevard - also known under the name of “item X” - was cut during a few months for handing-over on technical level and is reopened since the beginning of 2007 to give access to the base camp of work for the extension of the tram line T2 towards Porte de Versailles (which will borrow a route along the peripheral). The interior way is also cut on a few meters under the street Manin, to make place with the anchoring of a post of supporting of this street.

Today, the line of the Small Belt is left with the abandonment on the majority of its course. Some works of art of the small belt are however maintained or improved. Thus, during 2006, the bridge above the avenue of Flanders was widened. Owner (the SNCF) realized in 2007 a study relating to the parts East and North, aiming at determining the state of the infrastructures in order to draw up estimates of repairing partial.

Certain sections of the small belt are used as dump, to the great displeasure of the respectful residents of their environment. One can observe there many varieties of plants and trees, and even more than 1.500 Chauve-souris of the species Pipistrelle, in a tunnel close to the door of Vanves (concentration considered as the largest colony of Île-de-France).

Access to the pedestrians

The access of the pedestrians to the small belt is strictly prohibited (Article 5 of the decree of March 22nd, 1942, modified by decree 69-601 of June 10th, 1969 - OJ of August 23rd, 1942) and the majority of the access is fitted latticework on or walled, which does not prevent certain walkers from being regularly found there. This prohibition is similar to that which relates to the private forests and other grounds.

Future

Several projects were evoked for a re-use of the line of small belt:

a line of Subway, Tram, Tram-train or line of goods transport: part of the small belt is removed iron in the west. The tram line was brought into service on the boulevards of the marshals left bank. Also, the prolongation of the tram to the Versailles started on a route not borrowing the small belt. This one could certainly be used for the prolongation in the north of the tram, which could without difficulty of circulating on the influence of the line. It should nevertheless be partially rebuilt for the occasion, as it was the case for the lines, but it seems that the Town of Paris and the STIF militate so that this prolongation uses to him also the Boulevards of the Marshals and left the Parisian territory to Pantin to serve the Large Mills of them.

a planted walk: on the model of the green casting, it would take again the layout of the old line of the Bastille. It is the direction taken by the Town hall of Paris. This file made the subject of debate between RF (owner of the influences) and the Town of Paris; the draft-agreement which results from this was accepted by the Conseil of Paris in spring 2006. It is also registered in the Plan of Displacement of Paris adopted in February 2006. The opponents with this project point out that the site of the line, often in viaducts or distinct does not make it very easy of access. In addition, several tunnels, length sometimes of more than one kilometer, like that of the Montsouris Park, do not make these parts of the work very gravitational.

a cycle track: an association supports the idea to transform the line into cycle track around Paris. This track in exclusive right of way would have the advantage of being protected compared to the cars and would not disturb the pedestrians, and in addition the weak declivities are ideal to circulate in Paris. Bicycle elevators could be installed in the too major zones to build approach ramps there. The old stations would be reconverted in stations Vélib'.

a tourist line of bicycle-rail: it seems that the services of Yves Contassot think - in complement of the planted walk - of this type of ludic use of the platform.

Gallery

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