Nantes vineyards: 139 years ago, the train stopped at the station for the first time in this town

the May 2, 1855the law authorized the construction of a railway line connecting Nantes at Napoleon-Vendee (currently The rock on yon). The railway company of Paris at Orleans received the concession definitively of this lineover there agreement signed on April 11, 1857 and approved by a decree of June 19, 1857.

However, changing the trace led to a new investigation and therefore a new ministerial decision.

From the August 13, 1861a statement field plans. It’s only the January 10, 1865 that a prefectoral decree prescribes the work and the June 5 following the Nantes District Court ordered them expropriations for land located on the route. the December 24, 1866the Prefect authorized exploitation of the line from December 30. This section from Nantes to La Roche-sur-Yon was taken over by the state to the railway company of Paris at Orleans by an agreement dated June 28, 1883 and approved by a law of November 20 next. The operation was thus taken over by the administration of the State Railways.

Manual ringing at Croix-Moriceau

Second station after departure from Nantes, La Haye-Fouassiere is endowed with a station because of a passenger traffic, and especially of goods, important. This is also what relaunched the construction of a bridge between the municipalities of La Haye-Fouassière and Maisdon-sur-Sevre (which subsequently became the territory of Saint-Fiacre-sur-Maine).

The crossing of the commonand in particular the village of Moriceau Crosswould transform the countryside and the habits. The axis leading to the pallet was cut off by track and a house was sacrificed. A road was furnished to the north of the town in order to serve the Charbonry, thanks to a railway bridge. As for the road Brissaudiere towards the Pallet, it remained in service thanks to another railway bridge.

At the same time, at Croix-Moriceau and on the street leading to the town centre, a level crossing and a small house for the gatekeeper were carried out.

With each train announced by a alarm, the gatekeeper had to hurry in all weathers to block road traffic by pivoting on their hinges, one after the other, the four heavy half-barriers. The nightthey were permanently closed, which forced the driver to come forward after the sleeping gatekeeper so that the latter opened the way for him. Then came the liftable barriers thanks to a crank. Then, automation resulted in the disappearance of gatekeepers and the sale of small houses still inhabited today. On the other hand, about thirty years ago, the buildings of the station were unfortunately destroyed.

Ransom of progressthe railway will be at its crossings the theater of incidents, breakage of the barriers, especially at the time of harvest andserious accidents, even deadly, especially at La Croix-Moriceau. Thus, in 1928he is a 4-year-old child who was killed by a charcoal briquette fell from the tender of a locomotive. In 1968a dispatch rider immobilized on the way was rammed by the railcar, the occupants were killed as well as two people who had tried to help them get free before the impact. Or again, in 1978he is a man who was snapped up by a train.

Tram-train and TGV

At the end of the years 1990considered insufficiently profitable this railway line should be abandoned for commercial service, while being retained as a route military strategic.

So President from general council of Vendée Philippe de Villiersalerted the Pays-de-la-Loire regional council on the need to maintain a passenger link between Nantes and Les Sables d’Olonne. The need to favor public transport helping, the idea was abandoned and the TER connections develop. And then, from the end of 2008, electrification works of the section Nantes-La Roche-sur-Yon-Les Sables-d’Olonne made it possible to replace diesel locomotives by electrics. The TGV was inaugurated. If the locomotive spitting smoke and some steam had long been an attraction, pollution concerns had changed the way rail traction was viewed.

And then the June 15, 2011, the tram-train Nantes-Clisson completed its maiden run before commencing service by three daily round trips which are added to the service of TER. In order to improve the comfort and reduce noise tram-trains and long-range rails have been put in place beforehand.

Recurring developments

This is how the station in the town benefited from three major developments : a underground passage connecting the two quays, an eco-sustainable modular stopover (the third installed in France) and a parking lot of about 120 parking spaces.

When setting up by shifting under the tunnel railway track precast concrete, serious incident failed interrupt the rail traffic for several weeks. While the ballast had been opened and the operators only had 36 hours to complete the operationthe structure has slightly subsided on one side due to uneven ground, while surveys carried out beforehand by a specialized company had not revealed this problem.

However, for an elder of the commune the problem was obvious. “Since the construction of the embankment that carries the tracks, rainwater from the northern watershed of the town has infiltrated below, the schist soil is rotten. When I was young I saw water accumulating up to the level of the ballast, because the embankment forms a dam. Two tunnels called culverts had to be drilled there to evacuate the water to a ditch in the Allée des Chênes and to another on private land in La Batardière. , he said. The unexpected presence Saint Nazaire of the biggest european crane at the time made it possible to lift the structure into place in the breach and restore circulation.

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