Nord-Sud Company
Encyclopedia
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
trains in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
established in 1904, which built two lines (now line 12
Paris Metro Line 12
Paris Métro Line 12 is one of sixteen metro lines in Paris, France. It links Issy-les-Moulineaux in southern Paris to Porte de la Chapelle in the north. With 72 million journeys per year, Line 12 is the eleventh busiest on the Parisian Métropolitan system...
and part of line 13
Paris Metro Line 13
Line 13 is one of the sixteen lines of the Paris Métro rapid transit system. The result of the fusion of the now-extinct Line B of the Nord-Sud Company and the old Line 14 of the CMP. Their creation was destined to be replaced by a north-south RER line before the reorganisation of the...
) and had a concession to build a third. It was taken over by the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris
Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris
The Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris , or CMP, was the forerunner of the RATP, the company managing the Parisian subway.- Origin :...
(CMP) in 1930 and incorporated into the Paris Métro
Paris Métro
The Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...
.
History
The North-South was the initiative of Jean-Baptiste BerlierJean-Baptiste Berlier
Jean-Baptiste Berlier was a French engineer and inventor who was responsible for the Pneumatic tube postal system of Paris, which operated until as late as 1984....
, an engineer from Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
trained at the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne
École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne
The école nationale supérieure des mines de Saint-Étienne is one of the French generalist engineering schools Grandes Ecoles.The école nationale supérieure des mines of Saint Etienne is one of the French "Grandes Ecoles" dedicated to training highly qualified engineers and to carrying out research...
, who had previously attempted to build an underground tubular tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
way in 1897. In 1901 he proposed, with the financial support of Xavier Janicot, to construct a line between Montparnasse
Montparnasse
Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail...
and Montmartre
Montmartre
Montmartre is a hill which is 130 metres high, giving its name to the surrounding district, in the north of Paris in the 18th arrondissement, a part of the Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit and as a nightclub district...
passing through the Gare d'Orsay
Gare d'Orsay
Gare d'Orsay is a former Paris railway station and hotel, built in 1900 to designs by Victor Laloux, Lucien Magne and Émile Bénard; it served as a terminus for the Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans . It was the first electrified urban rail terminal in the world, opened 28 May 1900, in time for the...
and Gare Saint-Lazare
Gare Saint-Lazare
Paris Saint-Lazare is one of the six large terminus train stations of Paris. It is the second busiest in Paris, behind the Gare du Nord, handling 274,000 passengers each day.-History:...
through two parallel tunnels, consisting of a series of metal hoops, at a similar depth to the London "tube"
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
. This method of construction was intended to allow more direct routes to be taken, unconstrained by the street pattern. The City of Paris wanted to try this experiment and he obtained the concession on 28 December 1901. The charter provided that the costs of construction and rolling stock would be borne entirely by the concessionaire, although in the case of the CMP's lines, the City of Paris had fully funded the network infrastructure.
The concession covered three proposed lines:
- line A would join MontmartreMontmartreMontmartre is a hill which is 130 metres high, giving its name to the surrounding district, in the north of Paris in the 18th arrondissement, a part of the Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit and as a nightclub district...
to MontparnasseMontparnasseMontparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail...
as an additional north-south line to the west of line 4 - line B would serve the north-west of Paris only by connecting Saint-Lazare stationGare Saint-LazareParis Saint-Lazare is one of the six large terminus train stations of Paris. It is the second busiest in Paris, behind the Gare du Nord, handling 274,000 passengers each day.-History:...
to Porte de Clichy and Porte de Saint-Ouen - line C would serve the south-west only by connecting Montparnasse stationGare MontparnasseParis Montparnasse is one of the six large terminus railway stations of Paris, located in the Montparnasse area in the XIVe arrondissement. The station was opened in 1840, and rebuilt completely in 1969...
to Porte de VanvesPorte de Vanves (Paris Metro)Porte de Vanves is a station on line 13 of the Paris Métro and a stop on tramway line 3.The station was opened on 21 January 1937 on old Line 14, which was absorbed into 13 in 1976. It was the southern terminus of the line until its extension to Châtillon - Montrouge on 9 November 1976. In 2006,...
.
The Société du chemin de fer électrique souterrain Nord-Sud de Paris (French for "Paris North-South underground electrical railway company", abbreviated to the Nord-Sud company) was created in July 1902 and replaced Berlier and Janicot as the concessionaire. The substitution was approved by a decree on 26 March 1907. The company was affiliated with the Omnium Lyonnais and formed with a capital of two million francs, the capital required increased gradually to seventy-five million francs in 1910, after the raising of thirty-five million francs of capital in 1909. It distinguished itself from its rival by the high-quality decoration of its stations and trains as well as by technical differences. Line A between Montmartre and Montparnasse would provide ansubstantial traffic in the absence of an existing line on this route. But it was a real threat to the tram companies and to CMP which objected to the potential competition. Despite the delay caused by the CMP's opposition the 6.216 kilometres (3.9 mi) line between Montmartre (Place des Abbesses
Abbesses (Paris Metro)
Abbesses is a station on Paris Métro Line 12, in the Montmartre district and the 18th arrondissement. Abbesses is one of the few deep stations of Paris métro, at 36 metres below ground, as it is located on western side of the butte of Montmartre...
) and Montparnasse was declared of "public utility" (a key step in the French legal process for authorising construction) on 3 April 1905. A law of 19 July 1905 completed the concession by declaring of public utility the complementary sections from Montparnasse to Porte de Versailles
Porte de Versailles (Paris Metro)
Porte de Versailles is a station on line 12 of the Paris Métro and a stop on tramway lines 2 and 3.The station was opened on 5 November 1910 as part of the stage of the Nord-Sud Company's line C from Porte de Versailles to Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. The line was taken over by the metro in 1930 and...
and the branch to Saint-Lazare
Saint-Lazare (Paris Metro)
Saint-Lazare is a station on lines 3, 12, 13 and 14 of the Paris Métro on the border of the 8th and 9th arrondissements. It is the second busiest station of the metro system and is the western terminus of line 14....
and the Porte de Saint-Ouen
Porte de Saint-Ouen (Paris Metro)
Porte de Saint-Ouen is a station on line 13 of the Paris Métro on the border of the 17th and 18th arrondissements. Unusually it has an escalator directly linking the platform to the street at the exit to the Rue Leibniz....
. The extension of 1.317 kilometre (0.818347894167796 mi) from Abbesses to Jules Joffrin
Jules Joffrin (Paris Metro)
Jules Joffrin is a station on Line 12 of the Paris Métro in the Clignancourt district and the 18th arrondissement. It is located in Montmartre, between the town hall of the 18th arrondissement and the Notre-Dame-de-Clignancourt church....
was declared of public utility on 10 April 1908. The 1.427 kilometre (0.886698895199274 mi) stretch from La Fourche to Porte de Clichy was declared of public utility on 11 June 1909. On 24 January 1912 the 2.067 kilometres (1.3 mi) extension from Jules Joffrin at to Porte de la Chapelle
Porte de la Chapelle (Paris Metro)
Porte de la Chapelle is a station on line line 12 of the Paris Métro in the districts of La Chapelle and Goutte d'Or and the 18th arrondissement....
was approved and finally the 2.749 kilometres (1.7 mi) line C from Montparnasse to Porte de Vanves
Porte de Vanves (Paris Metro)
Porte de Vanves is a station on line 13 of the Paris Métro and a stop on tramway line 3.The station was opened on 21 January 1937 on old Line 14, which was absorbed into 13 in 1976. It was the southern terminus of the line until its extension to Châtillon - Montrouge on 9 November 1976. In 2006,...
was approved on 19 July 1912. This brough the total length of the network approved under the concession to 19.789 kilometres (12.3 mi).
Construction
During early studies, it appears that construction of a deep underground railway as in London quickly proved impossible because of the different nature of the ground in Paris. Beneath the water tableWater table
The water table is the level at which the submarine pressure is far from atmospheric pressure. It may be conveniently visualized as the 'surface' of the subsurface materials that are saturated with groundwater in a given vicinity. However, saturated conditions may extend above the water table as...
, soil is actually very diverse in nature and waterlogged, making it impossible to build a metal tunnel. Establishing the line at an even greater depth would have been more expensive.
The lines were built well above the water table, like those of the CMP, just below the road, which meant that the line had a particularly tortuous alignment contrary to the original plans. The characteristics of the railway provided the specifications are similar to those of the CMP lines in relation to loading gauge
Loading gauge
A loading gauge defines the maximum height and width for railway vehicles and their loads to ensure safe passage through bridges, tunnels and other structures...
, maximum grades and the minimum radius of curvature
Minimum railway curve radius
The minimum railway curve radius, the shortest design radius, has an important bearing on constructions costs and operating costs and, in combination with superelevation in the case of train tracks, determines the maximum safe speed of a curve. Superelevation is not a factor on tramway tracks...
.
Although the cost of construction was fully funded by the company, the City of Paris placed a levy on each ticket sold. It represented one centime
Centime
Centime is French for "cent", and is used in English as the name of the fraction currency in several Francophone countries ....
per ticket for traffic of less than thirty millions passengers; for higher traffic levels the fee increased to two centimes per 2nd class ticket and 2.5 centimes for a 1st class ticket. The ticket price is set at 15 centimes in 2nd class and 25 centimes for ist class. A return fare is fixed at 20 centimes, with a period of validity of only for eight hours. In fact, fares are identical on the Nord-Sud and CMP networks, with transfers between networks to be provided free by the concession.
After fast construction despite the difficulties, Line A opened on 5 November 1910 from Porte de Versailles to Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, despite being postponed because of the 1910 flood
1910 Great Flood of Paris
The 1910 Great Flood of Paris was a catastrophe in which the Seine River, carrying winter rains from its tributaries, flooded Paris, France, and several nearby communities....
. Line B opened on 26 February 1911 from Saint-Lazare to Porte de Saint-Ouen. The new network is technically very similar to that of its direct competitor, but the stations and rolling stock are more elaborate. The station names are written in porcelain instead of the enamel plates used by CMP, and directions to the trains are set out in tiles in the roofs of the tunnels.
The section of line A from Notre Dame de Lorette to Pigalle opened on 9 April 1911; the section of line B from La Fourche to Porte de Clichy opened on 20 January 20, 1912; and finally the section of line A from Pigalle to Jules Joffrin opened on 30 October 1912. The completion of the northern end of line A from Jules Joffrin to Porte de la Chapelle was then delayed by the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The Nord-Sud company completed this extension during the war: it was opened on 23 August 1916.
During the 1920s the company took the necessary steps for building line C, Porte de Vanves to Montparnasse. But the construction costs of Nord-Sud lines made it impossible for it to survive and on 1 January 1931, it was taken over by mutual agreement by its rival, the CMP.
The former lines of the Nord-Sud company were then gradually integrated into the CMP network: old line A became line 12
Paris Metro Line 12
Paris Métro Line 12 is one of sixteen metro lines in Paris, France. It links Issy-les-Moulineaux in southern Paris to Porte de la Chapelle in the north. With 72 million journeys per year, Line 12 is the eleventh busiest on the Parisian Métropolitan system...
and line B became line 13
Paris Metro Line 13
Line 13 is one of the sixteen lines of the Paris Métro rapid transit system. The result of the fusion of the now-extinct Line B of the Nord-Sud Company and the old Line 14 of the CMP. Their creation was destined to be replaced by a north-south RER line before the reorganisation of the...
. Line C was built soon after by the CMP during the 1930s and became old line 14, until it was absorbed by line 13 in 1976 following the construction of an intermediate section.