Chemins de fer de l'État

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Chemins de fer de l’État

The Administration des chemins de fer de l’État, commonly called the Etat, was France’s state-owned railway company from 1878 to 1938.

What it did
- In 1878 the Third Republic created the Etat to take over ten small failing railway companies operating in western France, between the Loire and the Garonne.
- It gradually absorbed many more local lines in areas like Charentes, Vendée, Maine-et-Loire, and Poitou, building a large network across the west.

Where it operated
- At its height, the Etat ran a network west of a Dieppe–Paris–Bordeaux line, covering a wide part of western France.
- In 1908 it absorbed the Chemins de fer de l’Ouest, and in 1934 it took over Paris–Orléans lines in southern Brittany, expanding further.

The Paris–Bordeaux line
- The Etat built a major line to compete with the Paris–Orléans route. It connected Paris with Bordeaux via towns such as Chartres, Courtalain, Saumur, Niort, and Saintes.
- By the 1880s–1890s the line to Bordeaux was completed, with Bordeaux-État opening in 1896.
- The Etat’s Paris–Bordeaux line was about 610 km, slightly longer than the competing PO line at about 582 km. In 1938, when SNCF was created, the PO line was retained.

Raoul Dautry and modernization
- Raoul Dautry became managing director in 1928. He set out to win back passengers by modernising the network.
- Projects included new infrastructure and stations, and opening lines like Paris–Chartres.
- The Etat electrified parts of the network, notably the Paris–Le Mans route, one of its most advanced lines at the time.
- It bought around 600 passenger cars, including luxury cars for special services, and began experiments with new railcars (Micheline) and Renault multiple units from 1929.
- In 1937 France nationalised the railways; Dautry resigned and later joined the SNCF board.

End and legacy
- On 1 January 1938 the Etat merged with other French railways to form the SNCF, becoming its Région Ouest (Western Region). The Etat’s separate identity faded as SNCF unified the network, and by 1982 the former Etat presence had vanished.

Note
- The article also lists many lines opened between 1856 and 1930, illustrating the Western railways’ rapid expansion in that era.