Final train to Felletin

Shortly before 7.15pm on Sunday, 31 August 2025 the 143-year life of Felletin railway station was brought to an end when railcar X73810 drew into the station with train TER 868716 from Limoges Bénédictins, setting off numerous detonators as it drew in, and became the last ever passenger train to serve this attractive small town in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Central France.

Despite an energetic local campaign, with demonstrations, an anti-closure petition attracting more than 30,000 signatures and a visit by local dignitaries to meet political leaders in Paris, the scenic 33km (21-mile) branch line from a junction at Busseau-sur-Creuse, around 60 miles east of the city of Limoges, has gone the way of so many similar rural lines across France.

In suitably dismal weather railcar X73568 departed Felletin with 21 of us aboard for the last ever departure at 17.28 on 31 August 2025, with a further five joiners at Aubusson. Returning after a 25-minute wait at Busseau-sur-Creuse, where 14 of us had alighted, there were once again a total of 26 passengers for the last ever trip to Felletin (17.10 ex-Limoges), formed by railcar X73810.

That total was swelled by four joiners at Lavaveix-les-Mines and eight at Aubusson, including the town’s mayor, leaving a total of 36 aboard for our arrival into Felletin, where we were greeted in torrential rain by detonators, fireworks and a huge demonstration of more than 100 anti-closure campaigners, including three local mayors.

At the time of its closure, Line 25 in the TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine network saw just two daily round trips, with weekday services to Limoges Bénédictins from Felletin at 06.23 and 16.42, and return services from the city at 13.01 and 17.10. But an end-to-end journey time of two hours was almost identical to the time it takes on a vastly cheaper “Cars Regionaux” 204 bus.

What had made the Felletin branch a hopeless case was this huge discrepancy between the rail single fare from Limoges of €27.00 (or €13.50 with a 50% Carte+ discount) and a flat fare of just €2.50 charged on the competing 204 bus, which runs from the SNCF station in Felletin to the bus station in Limoges, which is alongside Limoges Bénédictins station.

The euphemistically-termed “suspension of services” has come about because no funds are being made available to replace life-expired track and carry out work on two tunnels along the route, which require re-lining as they do not meet current safety standards. Infrastructure owner SNCF Réseau said earlier this year that it would cost between €50 and €80 million to renovate the line.

Having been won over by the charm of this line, and the delightful towns of Felletin and Aubusson which it served, while visiting the area in March 2025, I had decided to pay a return visit a few days before the fateful Sunday, in order to travel on some of the route’s final trains and take the very last journey down the line on an historic railcar.

Taking full advantage once again of my Nouvelle-Aquitaine “Carte+” card (offering 50% off local TER fares for one year at a cost of €29.00) I more than recouped the cost of the card with my first journey (on 27 August 2025), having flown from Gatwick to Bordeaux, travelling from Bordeaux St. Jean to Limoges Bénédictins station, then on the 17.10 service to Felletin, for a fare of €30.20.

Travelling to Felletin just five days before closure of the line, I was interested to see how passenger numbers would compare to the rather modest total I had noted when making that same journey on 24 March 2025. That day I had counted 26 passengers on departure from Limoges, with just five aboard for the journey down the branch line from Busseau-sur-Creuse, and only three of us remaining aboard on arrival at Felletin.

Five months on from that trip and there had been something of a pick-up in numbers on 27 August 2025, with railcar x73569 departing Limoges with 34 passengers aboard, of whom all but six had alighted by time we reached Guéret. But there were four joiners here, two of whom alighted by the time we reached Aubusson, to leave eight passengers on board by the time we reached Felletin.

Thursday, 28 August 2025 was just four days before final closure and the date that I would be travelling on the last ever special train down the branch line, which was formed by preserved railcars X2844/X2907. This was making a run from Guéret to Felletin before a return up the branch to Busseau-sur-Creuse and back and then a final return from Felletin to Guéret.

My plan for that day was to travel by bus from Felletin to Aubusson, the line’s principal intermediate station, where I planned to photograph the historic railcars en route for Felletin from a great vantage point above a level crossing in Avenue de la République, before walking to Aubusson station to join the special train on its trip to Busseau-sur-Creuse and then return on it to Felletin

Being the last ever working by the historic rolling stock, the service on 28 August 2025 was formed of two preserved railcars, X2844 in red livery and X2907 in blue. These were full to capacity for the trip I took to Busseau-sur-Creuse and back to Felletin and it was hard to escape the thought that if only a fraction of these passengers had chosen to use the regular TER service then it might not be coming to an end.

While Felletin is a quiet and sleepy place, the biggest loser from closure of the line is Aubusson, 8kms (5-miles) to the north and an attractive and lively town of around 3,000 inhabitants straddling the Creuse River and a world renowned centre for tapestry manufacture. Its well-preserved, though sadly locked-up, station stands on the northern edge of the town, rather less convenient than the centrally-located bus station.

As this extract from the Nouvelle-Aquitaine rail map shows, the Felletin branch diverges from a route heading north-east from Limoges to a town called Montluçon, so for a spot of new French rail mileage I decided to take a trip there (Friday, 29 August 2025) on one of only two trains a day to cover this route, with the return service getting me to Busseau-sur-Creuse in time to capture the afternoon Felletin-Limoges service crossing the magnificent viaduct there.

Keen to avoid a three hour wait if I took the 06.23 train from Felletin, I had planned to take a route 210 bus to Guéret, which would have given me a mere 90-minute wait for the 11.09 departure for Montluçon. But consulting the SNCF Connect app, the Montluçon train was cancelled and replaced by a bus, so I instead went directly there on a 258 bus from Felletin, having checked that my return train to Busseau and then the one on to Felletin were both running.

There were  suspicious number of cancellations on the Felletin branch in the final days of its life. On 28 August the 13.01 from Limoges and 16.42 ex-Felletin was cancelled to provide a path for the last working by the historic railcars, but on 29 August the 06.23 Felletin-Limoges and 13.06 return were both cancelled, meaning that the unit which had arrived at 19.10 the previous evening spent all day at the doomed terminus before returning to Limoges (29 August) at 16.42.

Montluçon is a sizeable town that is served by a large five-platform station and fairly sparse regional services mainly provided by the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with the exception of the twice-daily Limoges service. There is a fine preserved roundhouse not far from the station (as seen above) with a collection of historic railcars, including a couple of examples of the X2800 series I was travelling on the previous day.

After my extended lunchtime visit to Montluçon I travelled on the one train that day to be running to Limoges (15.14 – delayed by 10 minutes), as far as Busseau-sur-Creuse and along another pleasantly rural line, which I understand is now also under threat of closure, due to high infrastructure costs.

Besides the three stations that have closed – Felletin, Aubusson and Lavaveix-les Mines – another major loser is the attractive junction station at Busseau-sur-Creuse, which has lost half of the services it previously enjoyed and is now only served by the twice daily Limoges-Montluçon workings, with just one journey each way at weekends.

Another casualty of the Felletin branch closure is the signal cabin at Busseau, which was only staffed to operate the junction, so has also closed with the branch. That means the fine booking hall/waiting room in the station building will be locked out of use and the signals, including those in the photo above, will have a white cross attached to indicate that they are no longer in use.

Having got the viaduct shot I most wanted at Busseau-sur-Creuse, I then once again travelled to Felletin aboard what would be the last weekday working of the 17.10 Limoges-Felletin service. There were 12 passengers aboard on departure from Busseau, one of whom alighted at Lavaveix-les-Mines and six at Aubusson, leaving five of us aboard railcar X73568 on arrival at Felletin.

Saturday, 30 August 2025, proved disastrous for those hoping to take a farewell trip on the Felletin branch, when the lack of a signaller at Guéret, the cause of the previous day’s cancellations, meant that the entire rail service that day was cancelled, along with the Sunday morning arrival from Limoges. This meant railcar X73568 remaining in the station for almost two days, until it formed the last ever departure from Felletin at 17.28 on Sunday (31 August 2025).

Weekend services on the Felletin branch varied somewhat from the weekday schedule and made a day trip from Limoges possible, with the 09.32 arrival, and another at 14.26 on Saturdays, and an 11.19 arrival on Sundays. Returning towards Limoges, there were Saturday departures at 11.10 and 16.42 and a single Sunday service at 17.28.

Felletin station opened as a terminus in August 1882, but became a through station in June 1905 with the opening of a 43km (27-mile) section south from Felletin to Ussel by the Paris to Orléans Railway Company (PO). It became a terminus once again from 30 September 1979, however, when the section of route south to Ussel was closed.

One significant loser from the railway closure is Felletin’s only hotel, “Au Relais du Parc de Millevaches” where I was staying once again. Being the only hotel in town, it was the place used by the two-person SNCF crews, who had a second floor suite permanently reserved and would walk there off the 19.10 arrival from Limoges and leave early the following morning to crew the 06.23 departure.