Private company

Chemins de fer du Nord

Railway company in northern France (1845–1937)

The Chemins de fer du Nord (French: Compagnie des chemins de fer du Nord or CF du Nord; English: Northern Railway Company) often referred to simply as the Nord company, was a rail transport company founded in September 1845 in Paris. It was owned by, among others, de Rothschild Frères of France, N M Rothschild & Sons of London, Charles Laffitte and Edward Blount, and Baron Jean–Henri Hottinguer. Baron James de Rothschild served as the company's president from its inception until his death in 1868.2 It ceased to exist in 1938.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

Sep 10, 1845Founded1
  • Industryrail transport1
  • HeadquartersParis1
  • Founded inParis1
  • Legal formjoint-stock company1

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Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons4

The Chemins de fer du Nord (French: Compagnie des chemins de fer du Nord [kɔ̃paɲi de ʃəmɛ̃ də fɛʁ dy nɔʁ] or CF du Nord; English: Northern Railway Company) often referred to simply as the Nord company, was a rail transport company founded in September 1845 in Paris. It was owned by, among others, de Rothschild Frères of France, N M Rothschild & Sons of London, Charles Laffitte and Edward Blount, and Baron Jean–Henri Hottinguer. Baron James de Rothschild served as the company's president from its inception until his death in 1868.2

Corporate structure

Chemins de fer du Nord sits at the top of its group. 2 entities, 2 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Chemins de fer du Nord Paris
    • Compagnie du Nord - Belge Subsidiary · Paris, Belgium
    • Ancienne gare de Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine Owned · Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, France
    • Gare de La Plaine-Voyageurs Owned · La Plaine Saint-Denis, France
    • Syndicat d'Exploitation des chemins de fer de Ceinture de Paris Owned · France

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

What it owns

What Chemins de fer du Nord reports owning in its annual reports to the SEC: buildings, land and equipment, real estate and locations, investments, intangible assets and inventory, at the end of its latest fiscal year and a year before.

Stakes and holdings (Wikidata)

  • Ancienne gare de Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine
  • Gare de La Plaine-Voyageurs
  • Syndicat d'Exploitation des chemins de fer de Ceinture de Paris

Things Wikidata records the company as owning, with the share when stated.1

The story

A royal ordnance, dated 10 September 1845, granted the CF du Nord a concession to build a railway from Paris to Valenciennes and Lille, with branch lines to Dunkirk and Calais, and lines from Creil to Saint-Quentin and Fampoux to Hazebrouck. From the Gare du Nord, the station the company built in Paris, the Paris–Lille railway led north towards Belgium, connecting to Amiens, Douai and Lille in 1846, with a branch line from Douai to Valenciennes. Lille and Valenciennes had already been connected to the Belgian railway network in 1842. The new line made it possible to travel by train from Paris to Brussels and further.

The network was rapidly expanded in the following years:

Competition

The potential for expansion of the CF du Nord territory was limited by other companies: the Chemins de fer de l'Ouest to its south-west, and the Chemins de fer de l'Est to its east. By opening a line from Paris to Hirson via Soissons and Laon from 1860 to 1871, the CF du Nord protected its eastern border against CF de l'Est expansion. The concession for the line from Creil to Beauvais, owned by CF de l'Est predecessor Chemins de fer des Ardennes, was exchanged for the Nord's concession for Laon–Reims in 1855.

In 1937, the CF du Nord was nationalised, as were the other main railway companies, to become part of the Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF).

From Wikipedia’s article on Chemins de fer du Nord, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Leadership

Who has led Chemins de fer du Nord, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Board members and other officers (1)

Subsidiaries and ownership

Subsidiaries

Also owns

  • Ancienne gare de Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine
  • Gare de La Plaine-Voyageurs
  • Syndicat d'Exploitation des chemins de fer de Ceinture de Paris

From Wikidata.1

Acquisitions

  1. Succeeded Namur and Liege Railway1
  2. Succeeded by Société nationale des chemins de fer français1

Timeline

  1. 1938Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. Sep 10, 1845Founded Founded in Paris1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
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