page_title: Bellegarde station
section_title: After 1938 – the creation of the SNCF
hierarchical_section_title: Bellegarde station / History of Bellegarde railway station / After 1938 – the creation of the SNCF
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: une carte postale ancienne de la facade de la gare de bellegarde
context_page_description: Bellegarde station is a railway station served by TGV, TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Léman Express located in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, in the département of Ain, France.
  The first station building opened in 1858 to allow a stop on the line between Seyssel and Geneva. The wooden building was destroyed by fire and requiring the construction of a new building in 1907. Over the years, other lines reached to the station, causing passenger numbers to grow. The first TGV service was in 1981 between Paris Gare de Lyon and Geneva. From a simple railway station, the site underwent a major restructuring in 2010 to become an interchange.
  This was triggered by the decision to renovate the Ligne du Haut-Bugey.
context_section_description: Upon its creation in 1938, the SNCF took over the operation of the Culoz-Bellegarde line from the PLM, and over time created new links to western Switzerland.  Bellegarde station became connected to the whole of France.
  As technology evolved with time, different types of railcar passed through Bellegarde,  An X2700 class RGP2 passed through on its inaugural trip from Lyon-Perrache to Geneva on 30  June 1954. The following year, on 16 December 1955, the Culoz - Bellegarde section was electrified with 1.5 kV DC. From 10 June 1959, the Alpazur connection (Genève - Bellegarde - Grenoble - Veynes-Dévoluy - Digne) returning via the ligne des Alpes was operated with X4200 class panoramic railcars. Then on 31 May 1964, a first-class express train, Le Rhodanien, was put on the line linking Geneva to Marseille. 1969 saw the arrival Catalan-Talgo trains on the creation of  a Trans-Europ-Express link between Geneva  and Barcelona via Bellegarde, Chambéry et Grenoble on 1 June.  In 1972, passenger trains were making up to 12 return journeys per day between Geneva  and Grenoble. On 1 October 1972, X4500 class railcars went into service on the Valence - Geneva route via Grenoble, Chambéry et Bellegarde, then on 28 September 1975, first generation turbotrains (so-called 'ETGs') took over. They were so successful that they soon needed to be coupled in pairs to meet the demand.
caption: The façade on a mid 20th century postcard
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