page_title: Chemins de Fer du Nord
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Chemins de Fer du Nord / History
caption_attribution_description: English: French "Chemin de fer du Nord" From "Les chemins de fer français" (French railways) by Victor Bois, Paris, Hachette, 1853. Français&#160;: Réseau français du "Chemin de fer du Nord" extrait de "Les chemins de fer français" par Victor Bois, Paris, Hachette, 1853.
context_page_description: The Chemins de Fer du Nord, often referred to simply as the Nord company, was a rail transport company created in September 1845, in Paris, France. It was owned by among others de Rothschild Frères of France, N M Rothschild & Sons of London, England, Hottinger, Laffitte and Blount. Baron James de Rothschild served as the company's first president from its inception until his death in 1868.
context_section_description: A royal ordnance dated 10 September 1845 granted exploitation of the railway from Paris to Lille and Valenciennes, branch lines to Dunkirk and Calais and two new lines Creil - Saint-Quentin and Fampoux - Hazebrouck to the CF du Nord. From the Gare du Nord station the company built in Paris, the Paris–Lille railway line led north towards Belgium, first connecting in 1846 to Amiens, Douai and Lille, 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.
  In the following years, the network was rapidly expanded:
caption: The Nord network in 1853
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