The Ardres–Pont-d'Ardres steam tram (French: Tramway à vapeur d'Ardres à Pont-d'Ardres, pronounced [tʁamwɛ a vapœʁ daʁdʁ a pɔ̃ daʁdʁ], TvAPA) was a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge tramway that ran between Ardres and Pont-d'Ardres, Pas-de-Calais, France.
In 1899, Messrs Say's desired that their sucrerie (sugar refinery) at Pont-d'Ardres was connected by rail to the Chemin de fer d'Anvin à Calais (CF AC) at Ardres.
[1] In 1903, Messrs Say were granted permission to operate their metre gauge steam locomotive on the TvAPA within the confines of Pont-d'Ardres.
[6] In 1919, the TvAPA was acquired by the Compagnie générale de voies ferrées d'intérêt local [fr] (VFIL),[7] along with the CF AC, CF du ARB, and Chemin de fer des Flandres [fr] in the Nord department.
[9] World War II broke out on 3 September, with Calais falling into German hands on 25 May 1940.
The Pas-de-Calais department became a zone of special control, administered by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht in Brussels, Belgium.
[10] In 1940, civilian passenger services were reduced to twice daily, although other trains would have been run for the military of conscripted personnel.
[12] In 1943, the MVA required the TvAPA to transport 240 tonnes of material a day in support of the construction of launch sites for V-1 flying bombs at Journy.
At Pont-d'Ardres, the railway shared the CF du Nord station on the standard gauge main line between Lille and Calais.