Amiens–Rouen railway

Amiens–Rouen railway
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	RFF
Locale	France (Hauts-de-France, Normandy)
Termini	Amiens station Rouen-Rive-Droite station
Service
System	SNCF
Operator(s)	SNCF
History
Opened	1867
Technical
Line length	114 km (71 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz
Route map Line from Longueau (Paris–Lille) 130.6 Amiens 132.6 2.0 Saint-Roch (Somme) Line to Boulogne 19.2 Namps-Quevauvillers 25.8 Famechon 30.3 Poix-de-Picardie 37.4 Sainte-Segrée 44.1 Fouilloy Line from Le Tréport 50.8 Abancourt Line to Beauvais 56.0 Formerie Line from Dieppe 71.4 Serqueux Line to Gisors 80.4 Sommery 89.2 Montérolier-Buchy freight line to Motteville 96.0 Longuerue-Vieux-Manoir 100.3 Morgny 115.8 137.1 Line to Paris 139.5 Rouen-Rive-Droite Line to Le Havre

The railway from Amiens to Rouen is a French 114-kilometre long railway line, that connects Amiens to Rouen. It was opened in 1867. The line was electrified on 27 August 1984 at 25 kW 50 Hz, and was equipped with the restrained permissivity automatic blocking system, which since the 1990s has offered increasingly unsatisfactory operating conditions with respect to the increasing mixed passenger and goods traffic on the line.

Route

The Amiens–Rouen railway begins near the Saint-Roch (Somme) station in Amiens, where it branches off the railway from Amiens to Boulogne. It runs in generally southwestern direction, passing through Poix-de-Picardie, Abancourt and Serqueux until it reaches its terminus in Rouen.

A branch line from Montérolier-Buchy station to Saint-Saëns has been closed and removed.

Main stations

The main stations on the Amiens–Rouen railway are:

• Amiens station
• Abancourt station
• Serqueux station
• Rouen-Rive-Droite station

Use

One of the peculiarities of this line is the role of freight traffic, which is far more important than passenger traffic. In 1992–93, this line saw transport of 8,000 tonnes of goods daily, 60% of it in the Amiens - Rouen direction. The importance of the freight traffic is explained by the industrial importance of the two regions linked by the line and in particular by the ports of Rouen and Le Havre at the Rouen end. On the other hand, passenger demand is not strong but tends to be focussed by the express TER Rouen - Amiens - Arras - Douai - Lille axis.

The Amiens–Rouen railway is used by TER Hauts-de-France and TER Normandie regional passenger services on the whole line. The typical daily service (2019) sees five passenger trains in each direction, two of which are extended to/from Lille.

External links

• TER Hauts-de-France railway map