Morvan9

The railway station at Clamecy was opened in 1870, terminus at that date of the newly opened line from Auxerre. Clamecy was to become a major country junction serving lines to Cosne-sur-Loire, Nevers, Cercy-la-Tour and Toucy, Montargis.

The line from Clamecy to Cercy-la-Tour was opened in 1878. The line is 84km long and was characterised as a "branch line" to the main rail route from Auxerre to Nevers via Clamecy. 126 years later the "branch line" has survived somewhat better than the "main line", as it is still open throughout its length for freight.

On the other hand from Clamecy towards Nevers, no regular trains run any longer along the overgrown track as far as the silo at Arzembouy from where wagons of grain are hauled to Nevers, from time to time.

South of Clamecy, the line ascends the valley of the Yonne serving a few country communities, notably Flez-Cuzy - Tannay after 18km and reaches the town of Corbigny at PK 258. Corbigny was served also from 1900 - 1939 by a narrow gauge line to Saulieu.

South of Corbigny, the line climbs for 13 km to the summit at Epiry and then descends to Tamnay-Chatillon

(junction with the ultimate branch line to Chateau-Chillon) and then, at Cercy-la-Tour, reaches the cross-country line from Nevers to Chagny.

Clamecy gare in 2003. As was appropriate for a junction serving five destinations, the PLM company built a large version of its standard station design, with two island platforms and a large buffet de la gare, which was situated on the right of this view. The buffet was demolished in 2002, and the station only uses two tracks now for the few daily autorails , like this red and cream EAD which was first introduced in 1970.

CFTA depot at Clamecy in July 2003. The Picasso X 4039 was a visitor. Three resident BB diesels were visible and the large 68000 diesel on the right has since been scrapped.

CFTA maintained, for SNCF, the lines to Entrains, Cercy la Tour and to Nevers and operated the freight trains to and from Entrains, and to and from Epiry. The contract between CFTA and SNCF was terminated with effect from the end of August 2006 after 67 years. On that date, a low cost subsidiary of SNCF (Fertis ) took over the responsibility for all the rail services and infrastructure on the Morvan network. Fertis is a subsidiary of VFLI, and in 2008 VFLI seems to have decided to run all of the freight services in its own name and to eliminate Fertis.

Flez-Cuzy-Tannay, ex PLM station close to the Canal du Nièvre, was served for many years by one passenger train service a week in each direction, on Fridays from Paris, and on Sundays to Paris. The weekly through train from Paris Gare de Lyon to Corbigny (of four or five Corail carriages hauled by a BB 66400) has now been replaced by a daily BGC bimode railcar to Paris Bercy which leaves Corbigny at the unbelievable hour of 04.33 each morning. One assumes that it is empty. Hard to understand !!

Corbigny goods yard in 2002. A classic country station view with the yard crane, piles of logs, weedy track and telegraph poles. Since this photo, the goods shed has been demolished, the crane has gone and a large tarmac surface has cleaned up the scene.

At least there is some activity and the line remains open.

Epiry- at PK 271 at the summit of the line between Clamecy and Cercy-la-Tour. Passenger services ceased between Corbigny and Tamnay in October 1953. Freight in the form of ballast stone from a quarry continues to transit from truck to rail here and is now taken southwards to Cercy la Tour by VFLI locomotives.

Tamnay-Chatillon at PK 283 was closed to passenger traffic in October 1952. North of the station is the junction with the branch line to Chateau-Chinon opened in 1889 and closed to passenger traffic in 1932. The branch line has remained open for intermittent freight but despite creation of a gare-bois at Chateau-Chinon in 2003, the outlook for this line seems bleak, with disputes over pricing making the rail transport of logs from the forest via Chateau-Chinon unattractive to the loggers. On a visit in August 2004, the new gare-bois was empty. As of March 2008 the Chateau-Chinon branch is not used.

Here we have the single track line north to Tamnay, and Corbigny, leaving the cross country Nevers - Chagny line at Cercy-la-Tour.

Note the limitation of 30 kph.

Cercy-la-Tour was the terminus at PK 310 from Paris. Connections would have been made to Nevers and to Le Creusot and Chagny when passenger services arrived here from the north.

Through carriages from Paris to Cercy-la-Tour via Clamecy were introduced in 1926, later limited to week-ends and finally withdrawn in 1952.

Cercy-la-Tour, pictured here in August 2004, was once an important junction, as shown by the acres of sidings that are now partly filled again by traffic up to Corbigny. But the station buildings, on the edge of town, are in good shape. Located 52 km from Nevers, the station sees 7-8 passenger trains a day in each direction, in a monstrously uneven interval service, with a variety of trains ancient and modern. Long freight trains hauled by CC 72000 locos are also to be seen at a steady frequency.

Update March 2008. There are now two direct train services from Clamecy to Paris Bercy, at 05.09 (daily, originates from Corbigny) and at 10.32 (daily except Sunday). In the opposite direction the service from Paris arrives at 09.56 (daily except Sundays) and at 21.34 (daily, continues to Corbigny).

These services are operated with BGC bi-mode articulated railcars of Bourgogne Region.

It is reported that in 2009 an even interval timetable will be introduced with systematic connection at Laroche-Migennes for Paris and for Dijon.

On Sunday mornings, there is now a train service from Auxerre to Corbigny, which returns on Sunday afternoon through Auxerre to Laroche. It is followed from Corbigny forty minutes later at 16.31 by a direct service to Paris-Bercy which stops at Clamecy 17.07/17.17. This service, operated by BGC railcar, replaces the well known weekly Corail express to Paris which ran for more than two decades from 1981.