The town of Angoulême was served by railway from 1852, on the line from Paris to Bordeaux (see earlier post). The section Orléans - Bordeaux was built by the Compagnie du chemin de fer d'Orléans à Bordeaux, later Paris-Orléans. Electrification of the line took place in 1938.
The Gare d'Angoulême, or Gare du PO, or Gare d'Orléans, was built incorporating a part of the old Collège royal de la Marine and officially opened on 10 October 1852 by Napoléon III.
The station of the Compagnie des Charentes which became the Gare de l'État, was built on the other side of Avenue Gambetta and initially accommodated traffic between Saintes, Angoulême et Limoges, the line inaugurated in 1875. This modest building was destroyed in a bombardment during WW2.
The Gare d'Orléans was also bombed on 15 June 1944 by American planes, causing 140 deaths.
The Gare CFD (Compagnie de chemins de fer départementaux, a typical metre gauge network for regional traffic) was installed in 1896 on the side to the north, as was the Gare CFEC (Chemins de fer économiques des Charentes, known as Petit Mairat).
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