Auray–Quiberon railway
The Auray–Quiberon line is a single-track, standard gauge French rail line that serves the Quiberon peninsula. It branches off at Auray from the Savenay–Landerneau line, a radial line south of Brittany. A draft plan was presented on July 15, 1879, and the Chemins de fer de l'État (State Railways Administration) began construction. Operations commenced on July 24, 1882, and the line was transferred to the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Orléans (PO) the following year.
| Auray–Quiberon railway | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Native name | ligne d'Auray à Quiberon |
| Owner | SNCF |
| Locale | Brittany, France |
| Termini | |
| Stations | 9 |
| Service | |
| Operator(s) | 1879–1884: state 1884–1935: PO 1935–1937: State 1938–1997: SNCF 1997–2014: RFF since 2015: SNCF |
| History | |
| Commenced | 15 June 1879 |
| Opened | 24 July 1882 |
| Closed | 6 March 1972 |
| Reopened | 1 July 1985 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 27 km (17 mi) |
| Number of tracks | single |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| Electrification | not electrified |
| Operating speed | 60 km/h (37 mph) |
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In 1972, passenger service—which had already been discontinued during the winter—was reduced to two daily trains during the summer.
To cope with the chronic congestion of the only road to reach the Quiberon peninsula from the mainland, the line was relaunched in 1985 with the introduction of single fare shuttles, jointly sponsored by the Brittany region and the SNCF as part of the TER Bretagne service. The name of this shuttle service is directly related to traffic jams that trains can avoid: "Corkscrew". This operation provides a more consistent service to the peninsula during the two months of the summer season. The rest of the year, a road bus service "TIM", organized by the department of Morbihan, links the stations of Auray and Quiberon.