Through Ile de France editorial staff
Published on
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They welcomed up to 38 million travelers in 1900, the date of the Universal Exhibition. The trains of the “Small belt” at Paris refueled for several years before the final closure of the line to travelers on July 22, 1934.
The fatal competition of the metro
The decision to create a belt railway inside the fortifications of the capital dates back to 1851. Opened in sections from 1852 to 1869, the 32-kilometer line was initially intended to allow freight trains to bypass Paris by avoiding the terminal stations. From 1862, it integrated the Auteuil line in its western part and opened to travelers, offering circular services through the outskirts of the capital.
After the peak of traffic in 1900, the line experienced a long period of decline. In 1932, the “little belt” was used by only 7 million travelers. Parisians are abandoning it because of growing competition from the metropolitan area and its unattractive frequencies. Hence the decision to close it to travelers. “The Parisian landscape will lose one of its oldest elements: the passenger trains of the Petite Ceinture which will enter the garage will no longer leave it”, writes then Paris-Evening.
From July 1934, the line was no longer used except by freight trains and “main line” passenger trains connecting the north and south-east of France at night, as well as by a few night trains from south-eastern network, the terminus of which was transferred to Paris-Nord, and for train transfers between stations, to the north and to the east, until the end of the 1980s. to him, until the early 1990s.
Sections open to the public
Today, only part of the Auteuil line remains, which has been integrated into the RER line C since 1988 to form the new line from Ermont – Eaubonne to Champ-de-Mars.
Left fallow, the infrastructure has been invaded by vegetation.
Pedestrian access to the “small belt” is strictly prohibited and most of the accesses are fenced or walled. The place is a popular playground for urban explorers, taggers and even party lovers.
However, several sections are open to the public:
- In the 16th arrondissement, between Auteuil and La Muette stations
- In the 15th district, between place Balard and rue Olivier-de-Serres
- In the 13th arrondissement, between the Charles-Trenet and Moulin-de-la-Pointe gardens
- In the 20th arrondissement, between rue des Couronnes and rue de Ménilmontant
- In the 14th arrondissement, between rue Didot and avenue du Général-Leclerc
- In the 12th arrondissement, between rue Rottembourg and rue de Montempoivre
- In the 19th district, between rue de Thionville and rue de l’Ourcq and between avenue de Flandre and rue Curial.
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