By now, many of you will know that I’m working on reworking my diagram of TGV routes in France from 2011. While doing research, I came across this absolutely stunning track map of all railways in France, produced by Latitude-Cartagène, who were also responsible for this great diagram of transit in the Ile-de-France.
Seriously, the level of detail in this is just amazing. Single-track, double-track and multiple-track lines are all shown individually, with extra differentiation between electrified, non-electrified passenger and freight lines. Marshalling yards are drawn in precise detail. The high-speed lignes à grande vitesse (LGV) – of most interest to me, obviously – are shown in prominent cyan lines, even including the soon-to-be-opened Nîmes–Montpellier bypass (shown above). Tourist railways like the line to Digne-les-Bains from Nice are also shown, as are lines that have closed but are still extant. Even here, a distinction is made between “really closed” and “we might open this one again some time”.
In short, this is simply incredible and well worth a detailed perusal by any rail fan: download the latest version of the PDF from the SNCF website here.
The map is now located on this website page:
https://www.sncf-reseau.com/en/carte/carte-reseau-ferre-en-france