Editing Cambrai (section)

==Transport==
===Road===
[[File:French A26 motorway.jpg|thumb|right|The A26 autoroute at its intersection with the A2, near Cambrai]]

Cambrai is located at the crossroads of two French autoroutes, the [[A2 autoroute (France)|A2]] from [[Combles]] (junction with the [[A1 autoroute (France)|A1]] coming from Paris) to the Franco-Belgian border, opened in 1973, and the [[A26 autoroute|A26]] from [[Calais]] to [[Troyes]], opened in 1992. These autoroutes partly merge with the [[International E-road network|European roads]] of the [[European route E19|E19]] from [[Amsterdam]] to [[Paris]] via [[Brussels]], for the A2, and the [[European route E17|E17]] from [[Antwerp]] to [[Beaune]] via [[Lille]] and [[Reims]], for the A26.

Cambrai and its region are served by four autoroute interchanges: The A2, exit 14 (Cambrai) from [[Paris]] and exit 15 ([[Bouchain]]) from [[Brussels]], and on the A26 the exits 8 ([[Marquion]]) from [[Calais]] and 9 ([[Masnières]]) from [[Reims]].

Cambrai is also at the crossroads of the [[Route nationale 30]] of [[Bapaume]] to [[Quiévrain]] (Franco-Belgian border), [[Route nationale 43]] of [[Sainte-Ruffine]] ([[Metz]]) to [[Calais]], {{Interlanguage link multi|Route nationale 44|fr|3=Route nationale 44 (France)}} of Cambrai to [[Vitry-le-François|Vitry]] (these last three have since 2006 been downgraded to {{Interlanguage link multi|French departmental road network|fr|3=Réseau routier départemental français|lt=departmental roads}} and therefore consequently renamed to D6xx), and D939 (former {{Interlanguage link multi|Route nationale 39|fr|3=Route nationale 39 (France)}}) of Cambrai to [[Arras]].

To facilitate access to the east of the [[Cambrésis]] from the A2 and A26 autoroutes, to alleviate traffic in the crossing of the city and to serve the future Niergnies business zone, a southern bypass was the subject of a [[Déclaration d'utilité publique|declaration of public utility]] (DPU) on 22 April 1999. Its route has been repeatedly modified and challenged, because it crosses the urban ecological park of the {{Interlanguage link multi|Regional Natural Reserve of the River Escaut|fr|3=Réserve naturelle régionale de l'Escaut-rivière|lt=Chenu Wood}} in [[Proville]],<ref>
{{cite web| url = http://www.proville-en-cambresis.com/html/fr/presentation/popup-environnement/bois-chenu2.htm| title = Le Bois chenu, un parc écologique urbain reconnu| work = la ville de Proville-en-Cambrésis| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090424065232/http://www.proville-en-cambresis.com/html/fr/presentation/popup-environnement/bois-chenu2.htm| archive-date = 2009-04-24}}</ref> the only public natural green space of the Cambrésis. The bypass is in service since 17 September 2010.<ref name="VdNContSud">{{cite web| url = http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/Locales/Cambrai/actualite/Cambrai/2010./09/18/article_d-est-en-ouest-le-contournement-sud-de-c.shtml| title = D'est en ouest, le contournement sud de Cambrai est enfin ouvert| date = 18 September 2010| work = [[La Voix du Nord (daily)|La Voix du Nord]]}}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

A bypass to the north is also part of the program of major departmental projects, which was required to have been initiated by 2011.<ref name="VdNContSud"/>

===Railway===
[[File:Gare de Cambrai.JPG|thumb|right|The SNCF railway station in Cambrai]]

[[Gare de Cambrai|Cambrai railway station]] is connected by direct trains ([[TER Hauts-de-France|TER]]) to [[Lille]], [[Douai]], [[Valenciennes]], [[Saint-Quentin, Aisne|Saint-Quentin]], and [[Reims]].

The link to Douai and Lille has improved after the electrification of the single-track {{Interlanguage link multi|Saint-Just-en-Chaussée to Douai railway line|fr|3=Ligne de Saint-Just-en-Chaussée à Douai|lt=Douai to Cambrai line}} in 1993, for the commissioning of joining [[Paris]] to Cambrai by [[TGV]] via Douai, which was subsequently cancelled. Direct connections on weekdays are fifteen trains per day, with a journey time of about 30 minutes between Douai and Cambrai; eight trains, with a journey time often less than an hour, to [[Gare de Lille Flandres|Lille-Flandres station]]; ten trains, with a time of little more than 40 minutes on average to Valenciennes and a dozen trains, with a journey time of around 50 minutes, to Saint-Quentin.<ref name=sncf>{{cite web|url=https://m.ter.sncf.com/hauts-de-france/se-deplacer/prochains-departs/cambrai-87345520|title=Prochains départs Gare Cambrai|work=TER Hauts-de-France}}</ref>

Links to Paris from Cambrai ([[Gare du Nord]]) are mediocre if compared to those of the neighbouring cities. Valenciennes, Douai and Arras are connected to Paris by TGV several times per day. Saint-Quentin is connected by TER or [[Intercités]] trains with less than two hours travel time. Cambrai was connected to Paris in 2010 by a single direct Intercités service of two hours, with a little-suited schedule for professional use. The times of other trains via Douai or Saint-Quentin vary between two and four and a half hours.<ref>
{{cite web|url=http://www.voyages-sncf.com/billet-train/horaires/resultats?hid=GWT/FicheHoraire.aspx?gare=Cambrai|title= Consultation d'horaires : CAMBRAI (59) – PARIS (75)|work=le site de Voyages-sncf.com}}</ref>

====Railway history====
[[File:Gare de Cambrai 1913.jpg|thumb|right|The {{Interlanguage link multi|Gare de Cambrai-Annexe|fr}} in 1913]]
[[File:Gare cambrésis cambrai.jpg|thumb|right|The Gare du Cambrésis, former head of the line of the [[Chemin de fer du Cambrésis]]]]
[[File:Port de plaisance Cantimpré Cambrai.JPG|thumb|right|The marina of Cantimpré]]

As early as 1833, the municipal council sought passage of a railway line through Cambrai. However, a route through Arras and Douai, to Lille, with a branch to Valenciennes, was preferred in 1845. It remained, therefore, to connect Cambrai to this line, which was done in 1878 by a single, winding line between Cambrai and Douai. Meanwhile, Cambrai had been linked, in 1858, to the Paris-Brussels line by a branch line from [[Busigny]] and joining [[Somain, Nord|Somain]], near Douai.<ref group="b" name="p.150">p.150</ref>

Other railway lines of [[Voie ferrée d'intérêt local|local interest]] saw development in the 19th century, particularly in 1880 the [[Chemin de fer du Cambrésis|Société des Chemin de fer du Cambrésis]] which operated three routes in the Cambrésis between Cambrai, Caudry, Saint-Quentin, Le Cateau and Denain. An agricultural use of Cambrai to Marquion, now off line, was also open in 1898.<ref group="a" name="p.37"/>

Cambrai railway station was also the terminus of a standard gauge secondary route of {{Interlanguage link multi|Compagnie générale de voies ferrées d'intérêt local|fr|3=Compagnie générale de voies ferrées d'intérêt local|lt=CGL/VFIL}} linking [[Marquion]] and [[Boisleux-au-Mont]].
====Railway projects====
The regional transport scheme evokes three axes or projects concerning Cambrai: Improving the Douai-Cambrai connections, the construction of a new railway line between Cambrai and [[Marquion]]-[[Arras]], in conjunction with the large gauge [[Seine–Nord Europe Canal|Seine-North Europe canal]] project and the establishment of a business zone of Marquion, as well as "searching for a link from [[Orchies]] towards Cambrai".<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.nordpasdecalais.fr/srt/telechargement/srt.pdf| title = Schéma régional des transports| work = le site de la région Nord pas-de-Calais| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120523093241/http://www.nordpasdecalais.fr/srt/telechargement/srt.pdf| archive-date = 2012-05-23}}</ref>

===Waterways===
Cambrai is one of the seven territorial subdivisions of the regional management of Nord-Pas-de-Calais of [[Voies navigables de France|navigable waterways in France]]. The city is located at the junction of the [[Canal de Saint-Quentin|Saint-Quentin canal]] to the Oise and Paris and the [[Canal de l'Escaut]], which leads to the [[Canal Dunkerque-Escaut|Dunkerque-Escaut canal]]. 
A [[marina]] is located at the junction of the two canals, at Cambrai-Cantimpré.

====Waterways history====
The [[Canal de l'Escaut]] ([[Scheldt]] canal), between Cambrai and [[Valenciennes]], was opened to navigation in 1780.

Moreover, a river link between Paris and the Nord department had been projected as early as the time of [[Cardinal Mazarin|Mazarin]] and [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert|Colbert]]. The construction of the [[Canal de Saint-Quentin|Saint-Quentin canal]], between [[Chauny]] on the [[Oise (river)|Oise]] and Cambrai, was taken up in 1802 on the order of [[Napoleon|Napoleon I]] and completed in 1810, after the drilling of the [[Riqueval Tunnel]]. The canal and tunnel were opened with great pomp on 28 April 1810 by the Emperor and Empress [[Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma|Marie-Louise]].{{cn|date=December 2023}} The Saint-Quentin canal has experienced heavy traffic, but since 1966, the date of the opening of the [[Canal du Nord]], it has lost much of its importance.{{cn|date=December 2023}}

====Waterways projects====
{{update|section|date=January 2025}}
A wide-gauge river link project, called [[Seine–Nord Europe Canal|Seine-Escaut Link]] project is part of the 30 priority projects of the future [[Trans-European Transport Networks|trans-European transport network]]. The route of this project is through [[Marquion]], {{convert|12|km}} west of Cambrai. A platform of activities is planned therein. The commissioning of the canal could take place around 2015.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.lavoixeco.com/actualite/Dossiers/Canal_Seine_Nord/2009/08/17/article_-1993-2015-les-etapes-cles-du-projet.shtml| title = Canal Seine-Nord : les étapes clés du projet| date = 17 August 2009| work = La Voix du Nord| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150520005707/http://www.lavoixeco.com/actualite/Dossiers/Canal_Seine_Nord/2009/08/17/article_-1993-2015-les-etapes-cles-du-projet.shtml| archive-date = 20 May 2015}}</ref>

===Airports===
Cambrai is in close proximity to two airfields: ''Cambrai-Epinoy'', to the north-west, whose use was booked at the {{Interlanguage link multi|Airbase 103 Cambrai-Épinoy|fr|3=Base aérienne 103 Cambrai-Épinoy|lt=Airbase 103}} until its closure in 2012, and ''[[Cambrai-Niergnies Airport|Cambrai Niergnies]]'', {{convert|5|km}} to the southeast, opened to recreational aviation.

Within an approximate radius of 1 hr 30 mins by road are five major airports: [[Lille Airport|Lille-Lesquin]] at {{convert|60|km}}, [[Brussels South Charleroi Airport|Brussels South Charleroi]] at {{convert|114|km}}, [[Brussels Airport|Brussels National]] at {{convert|148|km}}, [[Beauvais–Tillé Airport|Paris Beauvais-Tillé]] at {{convert|151|km}} and [[Charles de Gaulle Airport|Paris Charles-de-Gaulle]] at {{convert|152|km}}.

===Urban transport===
[[File:LL 67 - CAMBRAI - La Grand'Place - Station des Tramways.JPG|thumb|right|The tramway in 1905, in the main square]]

By 1897, that is, upon completion of the demolition of the fortifications, the city had considered the construction of electric [[tram]] lines. It was a very modern solution for the time, since electric traction only appeared in 1881 and the development of this mode of transport didn't truly occur until 1895 in Paris and the Paris region. In 1903, the network of the {{Interlanguage link multi|Tramway of Cambrai|fr|3=Tramway de Cambrai|lt=Compagnie des tramways de Cambrai}} was opened, {{convert|16|km}}<ref group=b>p.243</ref> and with five lines.<ref>
{{cite web| url = http://www.trains-fr.org/facs/lig59.htm| title = Les Chemins de Fer Secondaires de France| date = 19 November 2009| work = Fédération des amis des chemins de fer secondaires| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140311234308/http://www.trains-fr.org/facs/lig59.htm| archive-date = 11 March 2014}}</ref> After World War I, the uneconomic network was not recommissioned.<ref group=a>p.59</ref>

Since 1933 the agglomeration of Cambrai has been served by a {{Interlanguage link multi|Public transport of Cambrai|fr|3=Transports en commun de Cambrai|lt=network of buses}}, five urban routes were operating in 2010, run by CFC (Railways of Cambrésis):

*A: Luxembourg – Cambrai stations – [[Escaudœuvres]]
*B: [[Neuville-Saint-Rémy]] – Cambrai stations – ZAC Cambrai-South
*C: Les Martigues-Pyrénées – Cambrai stations – [[Raillencourt-Sainte-Olle]]
*D: Cambrai stations – Raillencourt-Sainte-Olle
*E: ZAC Cambrai-South – Cambrai stations

Since 7 January 2013, the agglomeration community of Cambrai has implemented a free shuttle which serves seventeen stops around the city.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/region/cambrai-mise-en-place-de-navettes-gratuites-ia13b0n943597| title = Cambrai : mise en place de navettes gratuites| date = 7 January 2013| work = La Voix du Nord| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140523021242/http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/region/cambrai-mise-en-place-de-navettes-gratuites-ia13b0n943597| archive-date = 23 May 2014}}</ref>

In 2008, the "Urban Transport Perimeter" (PTU) of Cambrai which, with 59,326 inhabitants, is the smallest of the twelve PTU of the [[Nord-Pas-de-Calais]] region had completed about {{convert|400,000|km|mi}} per year, corresponding to 740,000 journeys.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.agglo-cambrai.fr/fr/vie-communautaire/transports/transports-collectifs.html| title = Transports collectifs| date = 2008| work = Communauté d'Agglomération de Cambrai| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100630172145/http://www.agglo-cambrai.fr/fr/vie-communautaire/transports/transports-collectifs.html| archive-date = 2010-06-30}}</ref>

The agglomeration community of Cambrai is the organising authority of urban transport. However, while it has twenty-three communes, only six were served by urban transport in 2006. For other towns and cities, the urban community has delegated jurisdiction to the department.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://mappemonde.mgm.fr/num23/articles/art09305.html| title = Transports publics et recompositions territoriales dans le Nord-Pas-de-Calais| date = March 2008| work =M@ppemonde}}</ref>

In a relatively sparsely populated agglomeration with little extensive public transport, it cannot easily compete with the automobile. Nevertheless, the agglomeration community of Cambrai reflects on the future of urban transport from a perspective of [[sustainable development]], with aims to strengthen the supply of public transport in order to capture a portion of travel by private car, and reducing car traffic and CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. The realisation of the new [[multimodal transport]] hub in the quarter of the railway station of Cambrai is part of this policy.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.agglo-cambrai.fr/fr/vie-communautaire/transports/perspectives-devolution-du-reseau-de-transport-urbain.html| title = Les perspectives d'évolution du réseau de transport urbain| year = 2008| publisher = Communauté d'Agglomération de Cambrai| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://archive.today/20100529181447/http://www.agglo-cambrai.fr/fr/vie-communautaire/transports/perspectives-devolution-du-reseau-de-transport-urbain.html| archive-date = 2010-05-29}}</ref>