Les Tramways de l’Aude operated a departmental network in the department of Aude between 1901 and 1934. [4] A series of metre-gauge lines existed around Narbonne and Carcassonne. The lines were predominantly alongside roads with the exception of short sections where alignments required a deviation from the side of the carriageway.  [1] Gradients could be steep, almost as steep as 1in 20 and the horizontal alignment often had to accommodate tight curves. [4] The extent of this metre-gauge network is shown above. The sketch map is taken from the back cover of the definitive French text about ‘Les Tramways de l’Aude’ by Michel Vieux. [5]

Essentially, trains were steam-hauled throughout the life of the line.   Apparently some use was made of Autorails from 1924 onwards but resulting improvements were only mediocre. [4] Wikipedia [1] suggests that lines were closed by 1933. I have seen one article which talks of final closure on 7th August 1934. [4]

One short section of the network from Carcassonne to Lézignan was built on the territory of the department of Hérault , between the communes of Félines and Olonzac.

La compagnie des tramways à vapeur de l’Aude (TVA), was formed on 7th November 1898 . Its headquarters were in Carcassonne. The new company replaced Mr. Hugues Bardol, contractor and concession holder for a tramway network in the department of Aude. This company adopted a ‘TVA’ logo, although on rolling stock only the letters TA were used. [3] Stations were well equipped and laid out but income and traffic were essentially seasonal and labour costs were relatively high because of the bulk of the transported goods and large numbers of barrels. [4] L’Aude’s economy in the late 19th century was heavily dependent on vineyards and problems with transport were increasingly occurring. La Piege, to the east of the department, fed it with seeds and fodder. An example of the problems being experienced is quoted on the Baraigne village website:

“Transport by carts are currently so expensive, so long and difficult, that in the canton of Belpech, instead of sending the goods on Castelnaudary, we prefer to transport them directly to Mazères and Saverdun, in the department of Ariège , to ship them to Narbonne.” [3]

So, to avoid poor quality roads, goods were transported over a route that was 140 kilometres long! It became imperative to find a suitable solution which mm in I mixed transport costs. As we will see in a later post, the solution in this case was a meandering tramway between Belpech, Salles sur l’Hers and Castelnaudary. [3]

La Société générale des transports départementaux (SGTD) operated several networks (Railways of the Suburbs of Reims , Tramways of Eure-et-Loir , Tramways of the Côte d’Or). In 1928, it began negotiations to take over the network in l’Aude using a mixed rail-road operation. After redemption of the company’s assets trams steam Aude, their service commenced on  1^st August 1930.