Angleterre-Lorraine-Alsace (ALA)

Angleterre-Lorraine-Alsace (ALA) was the French subsidiary company of the Southern Railway. It’s heritage can be traced back to 1927 when it was established as a subsidiary of the French shipping company Société Anonyme de Gérance et d’Armement (SAGA), passing into the ownership of the Southern Railway in 1936.

The Southern Railway was nationalised along with the rest of the railway network in 1948 and incorporated into British Railways. ALA remained a French registered company until 1977 when it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the British Rail Board and it passed to Sealink UK Ltd in 1979.

25th March 2018

The Night Ferry – Shipping Timeline

Introduced on the night of the 14th-15th October 1936, the Night Ferry was an international sleeper train operating between London Victoria and Paris Gare du Nord. In later years Brussels was also served. The service was operated by…

8th October 2019

MV Chartres – Past and Present

MV Al Salmy 4, ex Express Santorini, Chartres - Steel twin screw motor vessel built by Dubigeon-Normandie S.A., Nantes (Yard No. 137), in 1974 for the French National Railways as…

23rd October 2020

MV Saint Eloi – Past and Present

MV Aeolos, ex Moby Love, Moby Love 2, King Orry, Channel Entente, Saint Eloi - Steel twin screw motor vessel built by Cantieri Navali di Pietra Ligure, Genoa. Italy (Yard…

29th May 2020

TS Twickenham Ferry – Past and Present

TS Twickenham Ferry - Steel twin screw turbine steamer, one of three identical stern-loading railway ferry boats ordered by the Southern Railway in 1933 for their intended new Dover-Dunkirk ferry…

27th November 2020

The Dover Train Ferry Dock 1936-1988

In 1933 Southern Railway undertook to order three new train ferries and to construct a train ferry dock at Dover. It was agreed that a site, lying between the South Pier…