Montauban-Montpellier Railway
This line was created by the Company of the Midi Railways following the concession granted by the State on April 23, 1874. This concession was itself derived from the agreement of 1868 in which the State granted the Midi Company several lines including Béziers-Mazamet.
This line of 270 Km starting from Montauban passes through Villemur (branching with the local line to Toulouse) St Sulpice du Tarn (crossing with the Toulouse to Paris line via Capdenac) - La Crémade, crossing of the Castelnaudary to Castres line. Castres, Mazamet, St Pons, Olargues, Lamalou-les-bains, Bédarieux (bifurcation towards Neussargues) Faugères (bifurcation towards Béziers) Montbazin, Gigean (bifurcation to Balaruc and Sète), Montpellier.
78 Km shorter than the line via Toulouse and Narbonne, this line was achieved in several sections, and 23 years were necessary to complete it. The first link, La Crémade (Castelnaudary)- Castres was inaugurated on April 15, 1865.
Then, little by little, the commissioning of the other parts came:
· on April 23, 1866 Castres - Mazamet,
· on September 20, 1858 Béziers - Bédarieux,
· on December 28, 1858 Bédarieux - Graissessac.
· The section St Pons - Bédarieux (37 Km) was the last to be commissioned, it was inaugurated on November 10, 1889.
Many technical problems added to the natural difficulty of the route, notably the major floods, such as that of the Hérault river in October 1868, and of the Jaur and Orb in 1875.
Moreover, in the sector between Labastide-Rouairoux and Bédarieux, the number and importance of the structures did not simplify the task for the builders. For example, the Fenille tunnel and its 766m length at 470 m altitude, the Bédarieux viaduct requiring 37 arches and 2 tunnels, and 10 other tunnels, making a total of 2068 m.
It was also necessary to build the Hérépian viaduct of 60 m, the Carels Bridge of 5 arches in Lamalou-les-Bains and the Eiffel-type viaducts of Olargues (131 m and 3 spans for the one exiting the station, and that of Julio a little less significant).
During construction, many farmers came to the sites to assist the workers, which allowed them to significantly improve their income by practicing two trades for several years.
The 1868 agreement indicated the establishment of a direct Lamalou-Paris car attached to the omnibus, hence the grand name of Express Paris-Lamalou-Les-Bains.
There were two locomotives with their tender, a freight wagon, 4 passenger cars including one Lamalou-Paris, larger and more comfortable, and two or three freight wagons to finish.
Later, in the great thermal era before the 39-45 war, a true rapid Lamalou-Paris made the journey in 12 hours and did not stop at the small stations. It passed through Mazamet, Castres, St Sulpice du Tarn, Capdenac, Limoges, Paris Gare d'Orsay.
In the second half of the 19th century, with the emergence of the railway, an economic war had broken out between the different companies competing for a section, a sector, a limit. For us, it was mainly the economic interest that prevailed in this railway war, which in our south was closely linked to the wine war and opposed the PLM to the east, the PO to the west, and the MIDI in the center to transport wine to Paris.
It was on July 10, 1972 that the transport of passengers was stopped on this line between Bédarieux and Mazamet, and in 1987 it was the definitive stop.
A tourist train attempted to revive the part of the line from Bédarieux to Mons-la-Trivalle for several years, thanks to a team of volunteers, but as the years went by, managing this small line became difficult, and it is now discontinued.
It is on this route, between Bédarieux and Mazamet, that the Departments of Hérault and Tarn imagined the current Green Way « PASSA PAIS ». Through the Regional Natural Park of Haut-Languedoc, the palette of landscapes stretching along its tunnels and bridges, from the Montage Noire to the Jaur and Orb Valleys, invites the discovery of a preserved nature and a cultural and economic heritage enhanced by the municipalities crossed by this path of freedom.
