Engineer creates a map showing every single train route in France

An engineer in France has created a map that shows every kind of train journey and connection possible across the country - from major high-speed services to small countryside links.

Jean-Luc Levoux, a 28-year-old engineer from Brittany specialising in transport, said he stumbled upon the idea because the train is his preferred mode of transport, he told Ouest France. 

This is partly because it is more eco-friendly than taking the car, and also because he lives in the city of Nantes (after growing up in Ile-et-Vilaine).

He also said: “What I like about it is that you can take your time, let yourself be lulled to sleep, watch a film or read while travelling. It's comfortable and it's also a place that encourages conversation. It is also the most ecologically advanced form of mass transport.”

However, Mr Levoux felt that there was a gap in the information available, namely a nationwide map that shows all possible train line connections.

Read also: How far can you get by train in five hours from near you in France? 

‘6,000 stations shown’

The engineer was spurred on to create his paper masterpiece after feeling that “we have lost faith in paper”, and overhearing customers asking for a more extensive rail travel map at a travel bookshop in Rennes.

“A lot of the data is available free of charge,” he said. “The most difficult part was the graphic work and the choice of colours. I wanted to show the natural parks, the exceptional forests, [and] the starry sky reserves.”

He also launched a successful crowdfunding bid to help finance the project.

Every train station in France is shown on the final map (there are around 6,000). 

The map unfolds like an old-fashioned road map, and shows everything from the major and regular TGV, Intercités and TER lines, to tourist trains such as the Panoramique des Dômes, the Montenvers train to the Mer de Glace glacier, the steam train on the Baie de Somme, and the train des Pignes between Nice and Digne. 

Other trains represented include the yellow train in the Pyrenees, the Hirondelles line in the Jura, and the Côte Bleue train between Marseille and Martigues. It also shows night services, and has practical information on how to travel by bike, which is more needed in certain regions.

It also includes a guide to reduced TER fares, advice on how to pay less, and the best journey times.

“A map gives you an idea of the whole area,” said Mr Levoux. “Even just looking at it, you feel like you are travelling. It offers ideas for trips and alternatives.”

‘That’s huge!’

The map has now been printed in Vendée, with 5,000 copies now available across 70 independent bookshops nationwide (plus Switzerland). The book has been designed to be ‘pocket sized’, to make it easier for travellers to carry with them. It is part of the Cartotrain series, and called: ‘France - Voyage en Train’.

A list and map of stockists can be found on the Cartotrain website here. You can also order it online (links not affiliated to The Connexion).

And while the map’s publisher states that “we are committed to promoting the use of paper maps”, there is also a digital version of the project in the works. The cartes.app app is still under development, but aiming to be fully operational soon.

“We have sold 500 copies since June - that's huge!" said Léo Grégoire, at the Ariane travel bookshop in Rennes, to Ouest-France.

“It is true that with the ecological transition, our customers are travelling in new ways [by train rather than plane],” he said. “We have seen a lot of interest in the Paris-Berlin and Paris-Vienna night routes. More and more publishers are producing guides to train travel.”

The Cartotrain website states that more than 3,000 copies of the book have already been sold nationwide.

‘Unfortunately, everything starts in Paris’

Not only is the map useful for passengers, said Mr Levoux, but it also shows the inequality of services across the country.

“Unfortunately, everything starts in Paris. And we can see that the region is unevenly served, depending on geography, population density and local resources,” he said. 

“Central Brittany is poorly equipped. It's also quite difficult to get from Brittany to Normandy, which takes longer by train than by coach.”

European map

Mr Levoux has no intention of stopping with France. He is already working on a European rail travel map of similar scope.

The prototype is almost finished, and he plans to launch a crowdfunding campaign in November to help him fund the costs of the project, before moving on to production.