Operation of the Corsican network by the railway companies

The choice of the operating company

All the legislative acts mentioned so far authorised the Ministry of Public Works to provide for the construction of the infrastructure of the various lines concerned without prejudging their future mode of operation. Discussions were therefore initiated with various Railway Companies, of which only the Sté Gle des Chemins de fer économiques (S.E.) and the Cie des Chemins de fer départementaux, (CFD) recently formed for the purpose of operating the lines of local interest, presented positive proposals. It was with the latter that the Minister of Public Works signed an agreement on 21 February 1883 by which the C.F.D. made a commitment:

• to build the lines from Ponte- Leccia to Calvi and from Casamozza to Fium'Orbo
• to to provide tools, station furniture, rolling stock and supplies necessary for their operation, as well as to to operate the two above-mentioned lines and the Ajaccio to Bastia line on a temporary and trial basis, the construction of which was continued by State engineers, for a period of 15 years, unless one of the parties denounced it beforehand, this agreement was to remain valid beyond the first 15 years, for successive periods of 3 years.

The Company further undertook to build and operate the lines from Fium'Orbo to Bonifacio and from Ajaccio to Propriano if declared a public utility.

The operation was carried out on behalf of the State, with a ceiling on the State's charges and a profit-sharing scheme for the Company by means of a savings bonus and a share of the profits received above a certain threshold.

This agreement was approved by the Law of 19 December 1883.

The first openings for exploitation

From 1884, the C.F.D. set up a design and construction department in Bastia, and gradually took possession of the installations of the new network. Leading at the same time the organization of the future operation and the construction of the complementary network, they also studied the supply of the rolling stock which was at their charge. It is therefore not surprising to see circulating in Corsica the same type of equipment as on the continent's C.F.D. networks. One particularity, however, was that this equipment was equipped with the central coupling with a single turnbuckle located under the buffer, whereas on the mainland the double spreader coupling system prevailed. This explains the lack of exchange of equipment with the other C.F.D. networks, a very common practice on the mainland.

The first line delivered to the farm was the State section from Bastia to Corte, accompanied by the first C.F.D. section of the east coast line from Casamozza to Tallone, on 1^er February 1888, followed closely by the second Tallone-Ghisonaccia section on 17 June 1888.

On 1^er December 1888, the opposite section of the central line from Ajaccio to Bocognano was handed over to the company, forcing it to split its operation in two. This situation, which lasted six years, did not make things any easier for the C.F.D., which had to set up an autonomous annex depot in Ajaccio, with no direct link with the central depot in Bastia.

On 10 January 1889, the first section of the Balagne line was handed over for operation as far as Palasca and the rail reached Calvi on 15 November 1890. In the meantime, the G ajaccio section was extended to Vizzavona on 14 July 1889.

The existing gap between Vizzanova and Corte was removed in two stages; the first on 9 October 1892 by the opening of the Vizzavona-Vivario section, the second on 3 December 1894 by the putting the Vivario-Corte section into operation. It had taken five years to build 33 km. But what a journey I In a ramp of 20 and 30%o, it has no less than twenty-three tunnels and eleven viaducts, not forgetting the famous Vivario loop.

Also noteworthy is the construction of connections to the ports of Bastia by decree N 31773 of 1 June 1896 and Ajaccio by decree N 42166 of 4 March 1902.

The period of exploitation by the C.F.D

The operation of the network will continue unchanged under the leasing regime until 1911, when the C.F.D., after long studies, will finally complete the administrative work of the extension on Bonifacio. By the law of 1 December 1911, the Ghisonaccia-Bonifacio section was declared to be of public utility. By the same law, the leasing agreement was renewed in favour of the C.F.D. for a period of thirty years, i.e. until 31 December 1941.

The company's effort will be focused on the construction work of the East Coast Line, which was slowed down by the events of 1914-1918.

The openings concerning this line were pronounced in two stages: the first concerning the section Ghisonaccia-Solenzara on 15 September 1930, the second concerning the section Solenzara - Porto-Vecchio on 21 September 1935.

The work on the last section to bring the line to Bonifacio, for which studies were very advanced, could not be completed because of the 1939-1945 war. It was the same for the Ajaccio - Propriano line. Let us also mention two projects which would have happily completed the existing network:

• Calvi in Ajaccio via Porto and the west coast,
• Propriano - Bonifacio, but whose studies were stopped for the same circumstances.

As early as 1934, the C.F.D. became concerned with modernizing the network by introducing self-propelled Billiard cars, after an unsuccessful trial with Crochat self-propelled cars ten years earlier. This programme, which was to be extended to the delivery of other elements, and in particular the introduction of models with articulated bodies such as the Vivarais 220 series, was also stopped because of the world conflict.

"The network war"

1939-1945: a devastating period

As early as 1939, during the German invasion of France, relations with the Paris headquarters became difficult. These relations worsened with the repatriation of the General Management to Saint-Jean-d'Angély for some time (I.G. Network Centre in Charentes and Deux-Sèvres). The director of the network was then obliged to run it by his own means, without the help of the General Management.

In 1941, the lease was again renewed for five years to the company C.F.D.

Occupied since November 11th 1942, Corsica was liberated on September 8th 1943, and the Local Direction was definitively cut off from the central offices of the continent. The network was then placed under the provisional delegation regime from 3 November 1943. Moreover, the Germans, in full retreat, destroyed the majority of the bridges of the East coast line (eighteen completely or partially destroyed) of which the most important: that of Tavignano, as well as many station buildings and rolling stock (15 locomotives, 3 railcars, 25 cars and 250 damaged cars).

Paradoxically, from that time on, the network had a preponderant role in the supply of Pile Indeed, the port of Bastia having been forbidden access, the east coast having been decreed dangerous for navigation, only the port of Ajaccio was used for the transit of supplies from the continent. The role of the railroad was thus to distribute these supplies, as well as the supplies needed by the newly landed French and Allied armies , throughout the island, and in particular on Bastia and on the American camp of Caldaniccia.

Unfortunately, the central line was cut between Casamozza and Ponte-Nuovo, and important damage was done to the Torreta tunnel at Bastia. As a result, traffic was limited to Barchetta from November 1943 to 10 July 1944. In order to reinforce the rolling stock remaining on the part of the line in operation, it was even considered to transfer by road some of the isolated material to Bastia station and in particular two self-propelled cars.

Similarly, in order to supply the liberating armies, six locomotives were brought from Algeria, as well as bridge elements, to re-establish the central line. It is very regrettable that, at the time, the same principle was not applied for the east coast line, the most profitable of the network.

In practice, operation under the provisional regime by the C.F.D. came to an end on 1 July 1945, when the C.F.D. abandoned the leasing of the network, as the East Coast line did not have to be rebuilt. The east coast line was not to be rebuilt. Since the east coast line brought more than 50% of the resources, the condition for the company to continue operating was linked to this reconstruction.

source : MTVS 1984-4