The Chemin de fer d'Anvin à Calais () was a railway from Calais to Anvin, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France. It opened in 1881 and closed in 1955.
Background
In France, the building of railways was controlled by the Government. This avoided the duplication of routes that was seen in the United Kingdom and meant that the large cities and towns were connected. The citizens of the smaller towns and villages also wanted railways to be built to connect them to the network. The departments were given authority to oversee the construction of these minor lines, some of which were built to standard gauge and others were built to metre gauge or less.
The Loi Migneret of 12 July 1865 established that railways in France were to be classified as of Intérêt Général or Intérêt Local. The former were deemed to be of sufficient importance that they could be partly charged to the state. The latter were charged to the department. The railway came under the control of the Pas-de-Calais department.
History In 1874, Émile Level proposed to build a railway from Calais to Anvin, Pas-de-Calais. Following the usual procedure, hearings in public would have been held before the proposed railway would have been declared to be of utilité publique (in the public interest) and permission granted to construct the line. The railway was the first line in Pas-de-Calais constructed under the Plan Freyciney. Anvin and Calais are apart, but the railway was to be much longer due to the need to avoid heavy engineering and also to serve local communities. The line had a maximum gradient of 17mm/metre and curves of minimum radius. In part, it ran through what is now the Parc naturel régional des Caps et Marais d'Opale, crossing many river valleys and having summits of between Équirre and Verchin, and at Alques-Buisson halte.
Construction started from Anvin and Calais at the same time. the first section, from Calais Saint-Pierre to Guînes opened on 1 October 1881. Anvin to Fruges opened on 1 January 1881, followed by Fruges to Lumbres on 1 April. Guînes to Ardres on 1 July and Lumbres to Ardres on 10 August, giving the line a length of . A final extension from Calais Saint-Pierre to Calais-Ville was made in 1900, which enabled the closure of Saint-Pierre station.
The line cost an average of ₣77,000 per kilometre to build. Rails were Vignole rails, laid on oak sleepers. Wherever possible, earthworks were kept to a minimum, although the highest embankment was and the deepest cutting was . Almost all road crossings were on the level. There were seven bridges and 161 level crossings. Most of the curves were greater than radius, except for those at Lumbres and Fruges. Crossings with the CF du Nord railways were also on the level.
On 3 December 1882, a party of senators and deputies of the National Assembly spent the day inspecting the railway. In 1891, the Aire-Rimeux-Berck railway opened, connecting with the Anvin-Calais line at Gourgesson and Rimeux-Gournay. By 1893, both systems were being run interchangeably, with locomotives and stock from one line being used on the other.
In 1902, the Tramway à vapeur d'Ardres à Pont d'Ardres (TvAPA), operated by the railway, was opened between Ardres and Pont d'Ardres. Serving Messrs Sat et Compagnie's sugar refinery at Pont d'Ardres.
In 1906, it was recommended that a halt be provided at Berthem, where there was a sand quarry. The commune offered to finance it, but the company did not want to provide a stop. The department authorities stated that the railway could not be forced to provide a station and the matter dropped.
Total passenger volume in 1911 was 720,474 passengers. The area remained behind Allied lines during World War I. A major British Army base was established at Calais in 1915. Most of the railway line fell within a security zone known as the Reserved Zone: civilians living within this zone had free travel within the canton in which they lived, but to travel beyond their canton, or in and out of the Reserved Zone, a sauf-conduit (identity card) was required. Civilian passengers had to leave their train and go into the station building to have their papers checked when crossing Cantons. A procedure which led to complaints as some passengers missed their train when it departed whilst their papers were being checked. Military personnel had their papers checked on board the train. Services were reduced in frequency, with military and freight traffic taking priority.
In 1917, a major supply camp was established at Vendroux, occupying land between the Anvin-Calais line at the adjacent Chemin de fur du Nord lines between Coulogne and Écluse-Carrée, and the Canal de Guînes. In 1918, facilities were provided to allow for the transhipment of timber between both lines just north of Écluse-Carrée. The timber was brought in from Balinghem. The railway in this area was made dual gauge with standard gauge for from the Calais end to Vendroux. During 1918, various minor works were carried out at a number of stations. Some loops which had been removed were reinstated and various sidings and passing loops were added. Between May and July 1918, a Metre gauge line was laid alongside the Standard gauge line from Anvin to Teneur, a distance of where a transhipment depôt was constructed. in 1918, a line was constructed by the British Army from Tournehem-sur-la-Hem to Saint-Momelin. It saw little use, but was still being maintained by the British Army in March 1919.
At the end of the war, the railway was suffering from locomotives that were under maintained, and some of its rolling stock having been moved to other lines during the war. On the other hand, it had gained some rolling stock from other lines and there was captured German rolling stock which had been declared a prize of war available. Locomotive deficiences due to the war would affect the company until 1925. In 1919, the line was acquired by the Compagnie Générale des Voies Ferrées d'Intérêt Local (VFIL), along with the TvAPA, the Aire-Ribeux-Berck and the Flanders railways in the Nord department. It was at about this time that the line from Tournehem-sur-la-Hem to Saint-Momelin was dismantled. Reasons for it not being absorbed into the VFIL network were probably a lack of civilian infrastructure, and the fact that it linked with lines under the control of the Société Général des Chemins de Fer Economiques (SE), which showed little interest in the line either. In 1919, all passenger services were provided by mixed trains. At that time, it was not possible to make a return journey between Anvin and Calais or vice versa on the same day.
In 1921, the VFIL acquired five locomotives from the CF Guise-Hirson, which had been converted to Standard gauge during the war and a decision had been made that it would remain so. Thus its rolling stock was available. Three 2-6-0T locomotives and two 2-10-0T locomotives were bought. The 2-10-0T locomotives required that various bridges were strengthened before they could be brought into service. They were restricted to working between Lumbres and Bonningues. Twelve bogie carriages, 62 wagons, 22 vans, 40 open or flat wagons and a crane were bought from the CF Guise-Hirson. A further 29 freight wagons would be purchased at a later date. Responding to complaints of late running in 1922, VFIL's departmental engineer stated that this was due to locomotive maintenance issues caused by the war.
In 1924, three more 2-6-0T locomotives were bought. Also in that year, two railcars with Renault-Scemia petrol engines entered service. RS1 was owned by VFIL, and RS2 was owned by the department. Both seated 25, with 15 standing. One of them was initially put into service on the TvAPA but by 1926 both were in use between Anvin and Fruges. The 1924-25 sugar beet season saw an abundant crop. The 2-10-0T locomotives were of great use in taking beet to the sucreries.
In 1930, the VFIL abolished third class. Third class carriages were reclassified as second class. In 1931, an 0-6-0+0-6-0T Mallet locomotive was bought. It was restricted to operating between Anvin and Guînes. In 1932, VFIL built a railcar at Lumbres. It was fitted with a De Dion JMH petrol engine. Numbered ARB2, it seated 28 with twelve standing. Another railcar, numbered CGL1 was built at about this time. In 1933 railcars RS1 and RS2 were rebuilt at Lumbres. RS1 was shortened and fitted with at Unic diesel engine. It was renumbered CGL11. RS2 was fitted with an Berliot diesel engine. It was renumbered PdC101. In 1934–35, five more railcars were built at Lumbres. These were fitted with Unic M24 diesel engines. Numbered ARB3-5 and CGL6-7, they seated 29 with eleven standing. All railcars were second class only.
By 1939, the line was almost breaking even, despite increased competition from road transport. World War II broke out on 3 September, with Calais falling into German hands on 25 May 1940. The Pas-de-Calais department became a zone of special control, administered by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht in Brussels, Belgium. Along the coast was the "red zone". It was said that French law did not apply in this zone. Under the terms of the armistice, France was to hand over its railways to the Germans undamaged and was to work with the German authorities to restore them to serviceable condition. In 1942, the Marine Verpflegungsamt (MVA) took control of the workshops at Lumbres, which it used for the maintenance of requisitioned rolling stock. Work on requisitioned stock was given priority over non-requisitioned stock In the spring of 1943, the Germans constructed a branch line at Verchin. It was capable of handling 750 tonnes of traffic a day. In the summer of 1943, the railway applied to the department to reduce its services as some of its locomotives had been requisitioned by the MVA. Only two railcars were in use, one of which had been converted to run on gas. The other was one of the diesel engined railcars. A shortage of fuel prevented the others from being uses and a shortage of materials prevented further conversions to gas. Eight steam locomotives were out of service, with five, including the Mallet, deemed "probably not repairable". By August 1943, a further three steam locomotives were out of service, having been damaged by machine gun fire in Allied air attacks. Civilian passenger services had been reduced by half the previous month. In November, the MVA further strengthened its control over the railway. The line was used to transport materials for the construction of V-1 flying bomb launch sites. A storage tunnel for V1s at Bergueneuse was connected by rail, almost certainly with a branch to the Anvin-Calais system. On 25 June 1944 the V1 launch site at Rimieux was heavily bombed. Over of track was damaged and the hamlet was destroyed.
The Allies liberated Calais between 27 and 30 September 1944. Calais-Ville station had been severely damaged in 1940, and further damaged in 1944. The remaining station building were demolished and temporary buildings erected to serve until the station was rebuilt. This would occur until 1955, by which point the Anvin-Calais railway had closed.