The railway from Orléans to Montauban is an important French 544-kilometre long railway line, that connects Orléans and northern France to Montauban and southern France via Limoges. The railway was opened in several stages between 1847 and 1893, when the section from Limoges to Brive-la-Gaillarde was finished.
The OrléansâÂÂMontauban railway leaves the Les Aubrais station, entering its terminus Montauban-Ville-Bourbon station after a total length of 544 km.
By extension, the route from Paris via Orléans and Limoges to Toulouse, a length of over 700 km, is known by the initialism POLT.
The main stations on the OrléansâÂÂMontauban railway are:
The section OrléansâÂÂChâteauroux was built and exploited by the Compagnie du Centre, that became part of Chemin de fer de Paris àOrléans in 1852. The PO extended the railway afterwards. The first section that was opened in 1847 led from Orléans (on the existing line from Paris to Tours) to Châteauroux. The line was extended to Argenton-sur-Creuse in 1854. Limoges was reached in 1856.
The opening of the LimogesâÂÂPérigueux railway (1861), the PérigueuxâÂÂBrive-la-Gaillarde section of the CoutrasâÂÂTulle railway (1860) and the Brive-la-GaillardeâÂÂToulouse railway (1858-1864) offered a much shorter connection between Paris and Toulouse than the existing line via Tours and Bordeaux. The opening of the NexonâÂÂBrive-la-Gaillarde railway in 1875 shortened the distance by 69 km.
The distance between Paris and Toulouse was shortened by a further 42 km by the opening of the LimogesâÂÂMontauban section of the OrléansâÂÂMontauban railway, in three stages: CahorsâÂÂMontauban in 1884, Brive-la-GaillardeâÂÂCahors in 1891, and finally LimogesâÂÂBrive-la-Gaillarde via Uzerche in 1893.
The OrléansâÂÂMontauban railway is used by the following passenger services: