French "Gares Maritimes"

[AY1975]

There have been a number of older now-closed threads covering the French "Gares Maritimes" (maritime stations at ferry ports) over the years, such as this one:

Trivial:- Calais and Boulogne Maritime stations

As the Channel ports have been in the news very recently. Could anybody tell me where the furthest through coaches went from the above two stations. Particularly towards the end of their working lives

www.railforums.co.uk

And this one: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/general-reminiscences-about-train-to-ferry-travel.208578/

However, there are a few points that the earlier threads do not appear to cover. For example, Calais and Boulogne Maritime stations both closed on 21st January 1995 when dedicated boat trains to these ports ceased, although I seem to recall that Boulogne Maritime reopened for a short time in the mid to late 1990s presumably to cater for Hoverspeed SeaCat passengers on the Folkestone-Boulogne route. Can anyone remember when it reopened after its initial closure in 1995 and how long it then remained open? I presume it closed again when the SeaCat was withdrawn (which I think was around 2000ish, and I also seem to remember that Folkestone Harbour boat trains, albeit no longer non-stop and running from Charing Cross instead of Victoria, continued until around that time).

Did any of the French ports other than Boulogne, Calais, Dunkerque and Dieppe (such as Cherbourg or Le Havre) ever have their own dedicated "Gares Maritimes" that were separate from the main station?

Boulogne also had a separate station to serve the hoverport used by the hovercraft (Boulogne-Aéroglisseurs). Did Calais ever have its own dedicated hoverport station, or were hovercraft passengers always bussed between the hoverport and Calais Ville station?

 

[urpert]

It’s tangential but some of the Boulogne Maritime facilities were definitely reopened when Speedferries and briefly LD Lines operated Dover - Boulogne in the early naughties. At the time I took a photo through the locked glass door of one of the original passenger lounges but can’t find it now!

 

[30907]

Did any of the French ports other than Boulogne, Calais, Dunkerque and Dieppe (such as Cherbourg or Le Havre) ever have their own dedicated "Gares Maritimes" that were separate from the main station?

They did, but they were essentially for liner traffic.
The Havre service is shown as a bus connection Quai-Ville, while the St Malo boat used the Gare Maritime but with no onward rail connection (Gare Maritime can mean Shipping Terminal anyway!). Cherbourg wasn't historically a rail-sea-rail route.

Did Calais ever have its own dedicated hoverport station, or were hovercraft passengers always bussed between the hoverport and Calais Ville station?

Definitely bussed - the hovercraft apron was quite remote from memory.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

St. Malo had its own 'Gare Maritime' right by the city walls at a time when the ferries still entered the inner harbour by the lock gates. It was destroyed by Allied bombing at the end of WW2 and not reinstated. It would have far better as the principal station for the city - the main station is very inconveniently situated (and it moved even further away when through TGV services started). BR operated the Southampton to St. Malo route until 1963 using SS 'Falaise' which was quite a superior vessel for the time, with a dedicated boat train from Waterloo to Southampton, the 'Brittany Express'.
Because of the huge tidal range at St. Malo, at certain states of the tide passengers had to embark / disembark by launch in the roadstead which sounded fun - the SR timetables of the period contain stern warning notes of when this applied.

 

[D6130]

Cherbourg wasn't historically a rail-sea-rail route.

Cherbourg had a massive and very imposing Gare Maritime, which was completed in 1928 and designed for ocean liner traffic. I recall seeing it looming over the adjacent ferry terminal when we arrived on the overnight Thoresen ferry from Southampton in July 1969 - en route to our first family camping holiday in Brittany. I believe it was taken out of use in the early 1990s and has now been converted into "Le Cite de la Mer", an interactive museum of the town's maritime history.

 

[30907]

Cherbourg had a massive and very imposing Gare Maritime, which was completed in 1928 and designed for ocean liner traffic. I recall seeing it looming over the adjacent ferry terminal when we arrived on the overnight Thoresen ferry from Southampton in July 1969 - en route to our first family camping holiday in Brittany. I believe it was taken out of use in the early 1990s and has now been converted into "Le Cite de la Mer", an interactive museum of the town's maritime history.

Yes, I recall the building, but couldn't remember what it had been repurposed as. Le Havre has/had something similar, and Marseille, and I'm fairly certain all 3 had boat trains.

 

[Gloster]

My 1964 Atlas des lignes ouvertes au trafic marchandises shows a number, although possibly only those with goods facilities. Dunkerque had a Ferry station and there may also have been a gare maritime at Sete (*). Dredging back in my mind, I think there used to be one on a pier at Le Verdon.

* - Why is it that often when I put an English word in it will put on accents if there is a similar French word, but put in a French word and it doesn’t bother.

 

[Struner]

Marseille springs to mind?
& Cherbourg and Le Havre for transatlantic ferries.
Don’t know about Bordeaux.

 

[Gloster]

Marseille springs to mind?
& Cherbourg and Le Havre for transatlantic ferries.
Don’t know about Bordeaux.

It is possible that there was a station at Bordeaux, possibly out at Bassens. However, deep in my memory is a feeling that the pier at Le Verdon was built because the passage up the Gironde was very slow: urgent mail and passengers in a hurry could disembark from liners at Le Verdon and catch a train.

 

[30907]

My 1964 Atlas des lignes ouvertes au trafic marchandises shows a number, although possibly only those with goods facilities. Dunkerque had a Ferry station and there may also have been a gare maritime at Sete (*). Dredging back in my mind, I think there used to be one on a pier at Le Verdon.

* - Why is it that often when I put an English word in it will put on accents if there is a similar French word, but put in a French word and it doesn’t bother.

Sete is entirely plausible, as it is still a trans-Med port.
Brest comes to mind, and La Rochelle - which is still rail-connected.
But none of these are cross-channel...

 

[Gloster]

At Le Verdon the pier (mole d’escale) was opened in 1933, but destroyed in 1944. It looks as though the line on it was electrified.

 

[Bletchleyite]

One curious one is that the terminal building at Ouistreham (Caen) is and long has been signed as "Gare Maritime" despite having no railway. Did it ever have one way back when?

 

[Gloster]

One curious one is that the terminal building at Ouistreham (Caen) is and long has been signed as "Gare Maritime" despite having no railway. Did it ever have one way back when?

I think that Gare Maritime is a somewhat fluid (no pun intended) term in French. In this case it means something like ferry/shipping terminal; a bus station can be a Gare Routière.

EDIT: A quick look at the French Wikipedia shows that Ouistreham was served by a 600 mm gauge line from Caen from the early 1890s until it suddenly stopped operating on 6 June 1944. (I wonder why.)

 

[jopsuk]

yeah, Gare maritime is a term that in no way implies anything to do with railways- it is simply "sea station", like "gare Routière" is "road station" and "gare de chemin de fer" is "railway station".

on which, looking at maps Gare Maritime Orsetti, at Sete (with ferries to Morocco and Algiers) appers to have tracks almost to the terminal and a building that seems t have a large empty space under the raised passenger building. is this an ex railway station?

​

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Whilst not called Gare Maritime, Ajaccio had a port station a few hundred yards beyond the main station for the town. Some trains extended to the 'Port' to connect with ferries to the French mainland.

 

[52290]

Whilst not called Gare Maritime, Ajaccio had a port station a few hundred yards beyond the main station for the town. Some trains extended to the 'Port' to connect with ferries to the French mainland.

Here's a photo I took in 1987 at the Gate Maritime, Ajaccio. As you can see the station facilities were fairly basic!

 

[paul1609]

When I used to commute to Pompey Dockyard about once a week early in the morning I'd meet someone looking for the Channel Island Ferry at Portsmouth Harbour Station.

 

[Gloster]

A few years (at least a dozen) I was waiting at the bus stop in Wootton on the Isle of Wight when the buses were disrupted. While asking me in a rather clueless manner about how long he would have to wait, a chap let drop the comment that he thought that the Red Funnel ferry from East Cowes went to France. Needless to say, when he stood for the parish council (or maybe it was the county one) a year or two later, he did not get my vote.

When I used to commute to Pompey Dockyard about once a week early in the morning I'd meet someone looking for the Channel Island Ferry at Portsmouth Harbour Station.

They still do from time to time: they have even been known to catch the Gosport ferry.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

The May issue of 'Today's Railways Europe' has been delivered today and includes the first part of a two part article 'A History of the French Gares Maritimes'. Part 1 covers Dunkerque, Calais and Boulogne - the latter including the Aeroglisseurs terminal - and includes a summary of 'high summer' train services for summer 1971 at both Calais and Boulogne.

 

[Marten]

The May issue of 'Today's Railways Europe' has been delivered today and includes the first part of a two part article 'A History of the French Gares Maritimes'. Part 1 covers Dunkerque, Calais and Boulogne - the latter including the Aeroglisseurs terminal - and includes a summary of 'high summer' train services for summer 1971 at both Calais and Boulogne.

Sounds interesting, I must look out for that one.

 

[Marten]

Part 2 is in the June issues, Dieppe, Le Havre and Cherbourg, the latter two for Transatlantic connections.

Part one generated sufficient interest that five readers letters relating to that article are published in the June issue - one correcting some points but mainly readers reminiscing about cross Channel travel in the pre Eurotunnel age. On such relates to travelling by Couchette from Calais on honeymoon - perhaps not the most intimate start to that event!

 

[D6130]

On such relates to travelling by Couchette from Calais on honeymoon - perhaps not the most intimate start to that event!

Oh, I don't know....there's something rather sensual about the motion of a moving train - especially back in the days of jointed track!

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Oh, I don't know....there's something rather sensual about the motion of a moving train - especially back in the days of jointed track!

Did the earth move for you darling?

 

[peri]

Wandering off topic, as usual, but should it be Gares Maritime like courts martial?

 

[D6130]

Wandering off topic, as usual, but should it be Gares Maritime like courts martial?

Mais oui....bien sur!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Wandering off topic, as usual, but should it be Gares Maritime like courts martial?

I thought you did pluralise both words in that sort of phrase in French, e.g. poulets rotis (a very common sign in France).

 

[D6130]

I thought you did pluralise both words in that sort of phrase in French, e.g. poulets rotis (a very common sign in France).

Yes....actually, come to think of it, you're correct. I take back what I wrote in post #25.

 

[Maybach]

For what it's worth, here's a picture of the 'Fleche d'Or' at Calais-Maritime, taken by my father, in June 1967 (or so he claims).

 

[D6130]

For what it's worth, here's a picture of the 'Fleche d'Or' at Calais-Maritime, taken by my father, in June 1967 (or so he claims)

Nice shot of an ex-PLM class 231 G four cylinder compound pacific....originally built for the Paris-Lyon-Marseille 'Ligne Imperiale' in the 1920s, but transferred to the Region Nord after the electrification of that line in the early 1950s.

 

[Maybach]

Nice shot of an ex-PLM class 231 G four cylinder compound pacific....originally built for the Paris-Lyon-Marseille 'Ligne Imperiale' in the 1920s, but transferred to the Region Nord after the electrification of that line in the early 1950s.

Thanks for the details!