Why did the train reach Ax 11 years after Tarascon?

Ax has had baths since the Middle Ages: the Bassin des Ladres is their most famous witness [link to our article on the Bassin des Ladres, forthcoming]. In the 19th century, the resort equipped itself with more modern thermal establishments [TO VERIFY: Teich, Couloubret, Breilh… construction dates and sources]. But to get there, one had to reckon with the road.

[TO DOCUMENT: the state of the roads and passenger services between Foix, Tarascon and Ax before 1888; the resort’s attendance before the train’s arrival, at the Ariège departmental archives or in thermal statistics.]

In 1862, the train reaches Foix. It remains to be seen how far it will go. On 30 August 1862, at the Ariège general council, Lucien Saint-André, general councillor for the canton of Tarascon and forge master, argues for extending the line to Tarascon. He puts forward two arguments: thermalism and the Rancié iron mines. The council’s president, Henry Busson, also supports the extension. [TO VERIFY: minutes of the general council at the Ariège departmental archives; these details currently come from a local blog.]

Construction of the Foix-to-Tarascon section begins in 1871, and the line opens on 20 August 1877. Tarascon then becomes the terminus. In the meantime, on 14 December 1875, the concession for the Tarascon-to-Ax extension had been granted. [TO VERIFY: text of the concession, its conditions and planned schedule.]

Meanwhile, another spa town in the valley takes advantage of the train. Ussat-les-Bains benefits from the railway’s arrival at Tarascon in 1877: its hotels organise a coach service from the station. Ax, meanwhile, keeps waiting.

The sources give a first answer: the difficulty of the works. Between Tarascon station (472 metres above sea level) and Ax’s (702 metres), the line has to climb 230 metres over roughly 25 kilometres, following the Ariège valley upstream. [TO VERIFY: exact route, bridges, tunnels and other structures. The 25-kilometre figure is derived from the two stations' kilometre markers, 97.982 and 123.329.]

The original project, in fact, stopped at Tarascon. It was for the sake of thermalism that the line was subsequently extended to Ax. [SOURCE: Wikipedia, to be cross-checked against the archives.]

Other explanations are possible, and they will need to be examined without favouring any in advance: financing, the priorities of the Compagnie du Midi, the context of the 1870s. A local association states that the war of 1870, followed by the Carlist wars in Spain, considerably delayed the plan to push the line toward the border; it remains to be seen whether this context also weighed on the Ax section. [TO COMPLETE: what the archives actually say.] At this stage, we do not claim that the delay was a choice, nor that it was imposed.

The Ax station was built between 1886 and 1888 by the Compagnie du Midi. From 1886, it comprised four buildings: the passenger station, the goods station, the engine shed and the lamp room. Three of them still stand, altered over time. In 1888 a water tower was added, sometimes referred to in documents as the "beffroi" (belfry). On 22 April, the spa town finally had its station, at 702 metres above sea level.

[PHOTO: an old postcard of Ax station, with caption and reference (for example the Labouche collection at the Haute-Garonne departmental archives, or a private collection). Check reproduction rights.]

On this point, the only thing we can state with confidence today comes from the Inventaire du patrimoine: the train’s arrival, followed by the line’s extension, notably increased the resort’s attendance.

[TO COMPLETE: attendance figures before and after 1888; number and opening dates of hotels and villas; any change in prices. Leads: Ariège departmental archives, registers of built property from 1882 to 1911 (3 P 1075), which allow new constructions around the station to be identified; thermal statistics; local press.]

Two readings are possible. In the first, the train brings Ax into the era of modern thermal tourism. In the second, it arrives too late, after competing resorts such as Ussat have gained ground. A study by Steve Hagimont, cited by the Inventaire, deals with a 19th-century tourism and thermal boom that was "hindered." [TO READ: which resort exactly the author is discussing, and what he says about the railway’s role.]

Ax remained the line’s terminus for over forty years. The idea of crossing the Pyrenees by rail is nonetheless an old one: in 1855, a French agent of the Spanish Treasury, M. Ferrère, initiated the first study of such a project, which took up older ideas (Colomès de Juillan, 1837). The source reporting this then mentions a route via the Port de Salau, in the Couserans, rather than via Ax. [TO VERIFY: exactly which route, and which primary sources?]

On 8 March 1905, a protocol was signed to extend the line to the Spanish border; the concession went to the Compagnie du Midi in 1907 and works began in 1908 [TO VERIFY: primary source]. On 21 July 1929, the transpyrenean line from Ax to Puigcerdà was inaugurated: it now connected Toulouse and Barcelona. Ax station, which had closed off the line, became a stop on the road to Spain. [TO COMPLETE: consequences of 1929 for Ax, traffic and activity.]

Even today, Ax-les-Thermes station is served by TER trains from Toulouse-Matabiau and by a night train from Paris-Austerlitz, heading toward Latour-de-Carol. [TO VERIFY: services and timetables in effect at the time of publication.]

If you’re planning a stay in the valley, see our guide to thermal baths and wellness; the Studio Natik is a 160-metre walk from the baths.

A date that varies. An Inventaire listing devoted to Ax station places the train’s arrival at Tarascon in 1882. Several other sources, including the listing on the opening of Tarascon station, give 20 August 1877. We use 1877. [TO CONFIRM at the Ariège departmental archives.]

Sources consulted