Introduction of SNCF Corail stock

[AY1975]

IIRC the oldest SNCF Corail coaches date from about 1975, meaning that they are now 50 years old (if any of the oldest ones are still in service).

Can anyone remember which routes were the first to get Corail coaches and which services they initially operated?

 

[signed]

They got first on the Paris Austerlitz - Bordeaux Saint-Jean - Hendaye service as is shown by this news archive

Naissance du Corail, « confort-rail » - SNCF

La carrière des voitures Corail - « confort-rail » - débute le 9 juin 1975, sur la relation Paris-Hendaye. Un an plus tard, on peut voyager en Corail à bord de 100 trains au départ de toutes les gares de Paris. L’ensemble des trains rapides et express est progressivement équipé.

sites.ina.fr

La carrière des voitures Corail - « confort-rail » - débute le 9 juin 1975, sur la relation Paris-Hendaye. Un an plus tard, on peut voyager en Corail à bord de 100 trains au départ de toutes les gares de Paris. L’ensemble des trains rapides et express est progressivement équipé.

The career of Corail trains - « comfort-rail » - debuted on 9 June 1975, on the Paris-Hendaye relation. A little later, on a Corail voyager on board 100 trains at the end of all the Paris races. The rapid and express train ensemble is progressively teamed.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Retranslating, "relation" works better as "link" and then "...one year later, you could travel on a Corail on 100 trains leaving from all Paris stations. All rapid and express trains are being progressively equipped [with the coaches]"

 

[AY1975]

I wonder which services from each of the Paris termini were the first to get Corail stock?

My guess would be Paris Nord to Calais and Boulogne (especially boat trains), Paris Est to Strasbourg, and St Lazare to Le Havre.

Not sure if the Paris to Le Havre services were worked by Corail push-pull sets right from the introduction of Corail stock but they certainly were by the mid-1980s.

 

[Beebman]

I've got an abiding memory of spotting with my Dad on a platform end at Gare du Nord in 1976 and seeing an arriving train made up of scruffy green stock with one shiny gleaming Corail coach in the middle of the rake. I also remember that there was still quite a few ex-Nord coaches around and I'd love to know if a Corail vehicle was ever marshalled next to one (assuming it was possible to do that) - I've done many photo searches over the years but I've never found anything.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Corail coaches on express services out of Paris Lyon on the PLM main line only had a brief reign as TGVs took over from 1981 onwards. 'Le Mistral' had its own dedicated stock, but towards the end I think only the first class coaches were used with second class Corail vehicles.

Out of Paris Nord the Brussels and Amsterdam services had their own dedicated 'oxy' stock - the first Corail services were the more commercially important Lille / Dunkerque route rather than the boat trains.

 

[AY1975]

I've got an abiding memory of spotting with my Dad on a platform end at Gare du Nord in 1976 and seeing an arriving train made up of scruffy green stock with one shiny gleaming Corail coach in the middle of the rake. I also remember that there was still quite a few ex-Nord coaches around and I'd love to know if a Corail vehicle was ever marshalled next to one (assuming it was possible to do that) - I've done many photo searches over the years but I've never found anything.

Not sure but you certainly used to get the odd Corail coach in a set that was otherwise formed entirely of older non-air conditioned stock, particularly green & white liveried stock colloquially known as "verte" stock (or the odd "verte" coach in an otherwise all Corail set).

 

[MarcVD]

Out of Paris Nord the Brussels and Amsterdam services had their own dedicated 'oxy' stock - the first Corail services were the more commercially important Lille / Dunkerque route rather than the boat trains.

The dedicated stock used on Paris - Brussels - Amsterdam was in fact made - for the French part - of corail stock painted in the C1 livery, orange with a grey stripe below the windows. They were complemented by 10 VSE first class cars. Out of the 100 VSE cars ordered by SNCF, all 1st class, 10 received the C1 livery and the 90 others received the standard corail paint scheme. But I suppose that by "oxy" stock you mean the inox cars used only on TEE trains ?

 

[StephenHunter]

I know that the Corail stock out of Nord in 2022 had 1990s-era network maps on the train, but I can't exactly say much about the introduction as it was before my time.

 

[Transilien]

'Le Mistral' had its own dedicated stock, but towards the end I think only the first class coaches were used with second class Corail vehicles.

'Le Mistral' was a TEE train which meant that it was first class only for most of its life. The inox carriages were only ever first class I am pretty sure.

I know that the Corail stock out of Nord in 2022 had 1990s-era network maps on the train

I went on a ouigo train classique last year which also had those maps.

 

[MarcVD]

'Le Mistral' was a TEE train which meant that it was first class only for most of its life. The inox carriages were only ever first class I am pretty sure.

On the sud-est network I'm not sure. On the north, on the line to Brussels, mistral inox stock was also used for TEE trains, and when those got derated, some of those carriages were converted to second class with denser seating.

 

[DesDobramento]

By way of background, the builders plates on at least the Corails used by Grand Est are dated.

 

[Jamesrob637]

So are any 1975-1977 stock still in service?