Chemins de fer de l'État

The company was established by state order of the Third Republic on 25 May 1878 to take over ten small failing railway companies operating in the area between the rivers Loire and Garonne:[1] Additional acquisitions included: On 18 November 1908, the État absorbed the Chemins de fer de l'Ouest and in 1934 took over the Paris-Orléans (PO) company's lines in southern Brittany.

At its greatest extent its operating area comprised all the territory west of a line extending from Dieppe by way of Paris to Bordeaux.

Thanks to purchases and exchanges made in 1878 with the PO, by 1884, the État operated: Courtalain-Bessé-sur-Braye was opened in 1885 as well as Château-sur-Loir-Saumur-Cavignac.

At La Grave d'Ambarès a junction with the PO was built, and État trains linked Paris and Bordeaux on 11 July 1886.

Dautry began many modernisation projects, including infrastructure, stations and the opening of new lines (mainly Paris-Chartres by Gallardon).