Les Tramways de l’Aude operated a departmental network in the department of Aude between 1901 and 1934.  A series of metre-gauge lines existed around Narbonne and Carcassonne. The lines were predominantly alongside roads with the exception of short sections where alignments required a deviation from the side of the carriageway.  Gradients could be steep, almost as steep as 1in 20 and the horizontal alignment often had to accommodate tight curves.  The extent of this metre-gauge network is shown above. The sketch map is taken from the back cover of the definitive French text about ‘Les Tramways de l’Aude’ by Michel Vieux. 
Essentially, trains were steam-hauled throughout the life of the line. Apparently some use was made of Autorails from 1924 onwards but resulting improvements were only mediocre.  Wikipedia  suggests that lines were closed by 1933. I have seen one article which talks of final closure on 7th August 1934. 
La compagnie des tramways à vapeur de l’Aude (TVA), was formed on 7th November 1898 . Its headquarters were in Carcassonne. The new company replaced Mr. Hugues Bardol, contractor and concession holder for a tramway network in the department of Aude. This company adopted a ‘TVA’ logo, although on rolling stock only the letters TA were used.  Stations were well equipped and laid out but income and traffic were essentially seasonal and labour costs were relatively high because of the bulk of the transported goods and large numbers of barrels.  L’Aude’s economy in the late 19th century was heavily dependent on vineyards and problems with transport were increasingly occurring. La Piege, to the east of the department, fed it with seeds and fodder. An example of the problems being experienced is quoted on the Baraigne village website:
“Transport by carts are currently so expensive, so long and difficult, that in the canton of Belpech, instead of sending the goods on Castelnaudary, we prefer to transport them directly to Mazères and Saverdun, in the department of Ariège , to ship them to Narbonne.” 
So, to avoid poor quality roads, goods were transported over a route that was 140 kilometres long! It became imperative to find a suitable solution which mm in I mixed transport costs. As we will see in a later post, the solution in this case was a meandering tramway between Belpech, Salles sur l’Hers and Castelnaudary. 
La Société générale des transports départementaux (SGTD) operated several networks (Railways of the Suburbs of Reims , Tramways of Eure-et-Loir , Tramways of the Côte d’Or). In 1928, it began negotiations to take over the network in l’Aude using a mixed rail-road operation. After redemption of the company’s assets trams steam Aude, their service commenced on 1st August 1930.
The network had a total length of 342 kilometres and served much department. The lines can be divided into four groupings: 
- Isolated lines: Castelnaudary – Belpech (40.5km); Bram – Fanjeaux (11.2km); Bram – Saint-Denis (28.3km).
- The Corbières lines: Fabrezan – St.Pierre (14.2km); Les Palais – Mouthoumet (29,9km); Ripaud – Tuchan , (24.9km); Lezignan – La Nouvelle (51.8km); Narbonne – Thézan , (27km).
Connections to other networks (junction stations), particularly with the network of the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer included:Castelnaudary, line Bordeaux-Saint-Jean – Sète-Ville; Bram, line Bordeaux-Saint-Jean – Sète-Ville; Carcassonne, line Bordeaux-Saint-Jean – Sète-Ville, line Carcassonne – Rivesaltes; Caunes, line Moux – Caunes-Minervois; Lezignan, line Bordeaux-Saint-Jean – Sète-Ville; Narbonne, line Bordeaux-Saint-Jean – Sète-Ville, line Narbonne – Port-Bou; La Nouvelle , line Narbonne – Port-Bou. 
Three opened at a later date: Bram – Fanjeaux: November 20, 1906; Felines – Olonzac: October 1, 1908; and Caunes – Felines: June 15, 1910. The last two openings were sections of the Carcassone-Lézignan line and required major construction work. 
Rolling stock and Locomotives
Locomotives: there were 45 locomotives in all. They were all 0-6-0 locomotives built by Corpet-Louvet and delivered between 1899 and 1914.  They were as follows:
No. 1 to 3 Corpet-Louvet n ° 776-778 in 1899;
No. 4 to 5 Corpet-Louvet n ° 785-786 in 1899;
No. 6 to 26 Corpet-Louvet n ° 789-807 in 1900 and 1901;
No. 27 Corpet-Louvet No. 932 in 1902;
No. 28 to 35 Corpet-Louvet n ° 809-816 in 1903;
No. 36 to 37 Corpet-Louvet n ° 1164-65 in 1908;
No. 38 Corpet-Louvet n ° 1229 in 1908;
No. 39 to 41 Corpet-Louvet n ° 1370-72 in 1912;
No. 42 to 43 Corpet-Louvet n ° 1495-1496 in 1914;
No. 55 to 56 Corpet-Louvet n ° 1054-55 in 1905.
No. 55-56 came from the Mining Company of Villerouge and Albas, in Félines-Terménès. 
Autorails: There is evidence of the use of small railcars from around 1924 onwards. 
Passenger Cars: 72 2-axle cars 
Baggage vans: 27 vans with postal compartment 
Freight wagons: 86 covered wagons, 81 open wagons, 186 flat wagons and 10 flat wagons with pivoting sleepers. 
- https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tramways_de_l%27Aude, accessed on 24th August 2018.
- Taken from a list of Corpet-Louvet locomotives established by Sébastien Jarne, http://demophile1.free.fr/Corpet&Louvet.doc, accessed on 25th August 2018.
- http://sgdelestaing.pagesperso-orange.fr/Francais/Tramway.htm, accessed on 24th August 2018.
- http://ruedupetittrain.free.fr/lignes/sudest/tramway-aude.htm, accessed on 27th August 2018.
- Michel Vieux (ed: Roger Latour); Tramways à vapeur de l’Aude – Le petit train des vignes.