Ligne de Cerdagne

The Ligne de Cerdagne, usually referred to as Le Petit Train Jaune (English: Little Yellow Train, Catalan: Tren Groc), is a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+38 in) gauge railway that runs from Villefranche-de-Conflent to Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg in the French Pyrenees.

Ligne de Cerdagne
The unusual rail suspension bridge at Pont Gisclard between Sauto and Planès
Overview
Other name(s)Yellow Train
Statusoperational
LocaleFrance
Stations22
History
Opened1910
Technical
Line length63 km (39 mi)
Track gauge1,000 mm (3 ft 3+38 in) metre gauge
Electrification850 V DC third rail
Operating speed55 km/h (34 mph)
Highest elevation1,593 m (5,226 ft)
Route map

Villefranche-Vernet-les-Bains
TER Occitanie to Perpignan
Villefranche-Vernet-les-Bains
Access to Fort Libéria
N116
Canal de Villefranche
la Têt
Correc de Vall-Llobera
Serdinya
D27E
Ribera de Vallmarsana
Rue du Moulin
Joncet
D27
la Têt
Olette Canaveilles-les-Bains
Rivière de Cabrils
la Têt
D57
Nyer
Rivière de Mantet
Thuès-les-Bains
Torrent de Faget
Rue d'Entre Valls
Thuès-Carança
la Carança
la Têt
Pont Séjourné
N116
Torrent de Canals
Fontpédrouse
C1
Sauto
Souterrain del Pallat
N116
Souterrain Terra Blanca
Pont Gisclard
la Têt
Planès
Planes
Rec de Molí
el Jardó
D10
Mont-Louis/La Cabanasse
N116
D10
Bolquère-Eyne (1593 m)
Rec de Bolquera
Ruisseau de Ricaut
Font-Romeu/Odeillo/Via
D29
Galerie de Vià
l'Angust
Coll Rigat (1493 m)
Galerie de St.Vincent
Estavar
Chemin d'Estavar
el Segre
D33
Saillagouse
N116
Cami de Llivia
Err
D33B
D33E
D89
Sainte-Léocadie
D33E
D30A
Rec de Rigat
Osséja
D30
Cami d'Aja
Bourg-Madame
N116
el Segre
N116
N152
Ur/Les Escaldes
Riu d'Angostrina
Riu de Brangoli
Rue d'Ansaneres
Avenue de la Campory
Rue de la Halte
Béna/Fanès
R3 to Barcelona
Rue du Train Jaune
Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg
TER to Toulouse

History of the Line

The section of line between Villefranche-de-Conflent and Bourg-Madame was declared a public utility by law on 4 March 1903.  This same law approved the granting of a concession for the line, signed on 5 December 1902, between the Minister of Public Works and the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Midi et du Canal Latéral à la Garonne. The law also superseded an earlier proposed standard gauge railway which had been authorised between Villefranche-de-Conflent and Olette, but never built.[1]

A second law was approved on 23 March 1914 to extend the railway from Bourg-Madame to the 'French frontier station' of the transpyrenean line from Ax les Thermes to Ripoll, although the present station name at the terminus of Latour de Carol Enveitg was not mentioned.[2] The declaration of public utility for this section of the line was confirmed on 4 September 1922.[3]

Construction started in 1903 and the section to Mont-Louis was completed in 1910, followed by the extension to Latour-de-Carol in 1927.[4][5]

Description of the Line

The line is 63 kilometres (39 mi) long and climbs to 1,593 metres (5,226 ft) at Bolquère-Eyne, the highest railway station in France. The line serves 22 stations, fourteen of which are "request stops" (i.e., the train only stops when specifically requested by passengers). There are 19 tunnels, the longest of which is the Tunnel du Pla de Llaurar with a length of 380 meters, located at kilometre point 59.639.[6]

Amongst the various structures along the line, two viaducts over the River Têt are classified as Historic Monuments because of their architectural and technical importance:

  1. At kilometer point 18.002 the Pont Séjourné, in the town of Fontpédrouse, is a masonry viaduct 236.70 meters long;[7]
  2. At kilometre point 24.422, the Pont Cassagne (also known as Pont Gisclard) is 253 meters long and unusually for a railway bridge, is a suspension bridge, the only one in France located on an operating railway.[8] In 2023, a major project was carried out to replace 12 of the suspension cables.[9]

The line is single-track with passing loops at, for example, Mont-Louis and Fontpédrouse-Saint-Thomas-les-Bains.

The trains are powered by electricity at 850 volts DC, supplied by third rail. The power is supplied by hydro-electric generators on the River Têt. The maximum speed of the train is 55 km/h (34 mph). Two types of train are used; ones using modern, entirely closed two-car multiple units and others using old style trailer carriages and powered carriages - most are enclosed but when the weather allows, open carriages are also used. The open carriages allow dramatic views as the train traverses the twisting route and are popular with tourists. Line maintenance vehicles are stored at Villefranche-de-Conflent.

It is named after its yellow and red colours, derived from the Catalan flag. The line was constructed to provide an all-weather route from the high Cerdagne valley to the coast, but the adjacent N116 road has been progressively improved, there has been population loss in the Cerdagne and the rail link is now chiefly a tourist attraction. Whilst in 2017, its long-term future was in doubt,[10] a total of 80 million euros was invested in the line between 2010 and 2023, by the agency 'Plan Rail'.[9]

List of stations

Crossing a viaduct
km Station Altitude (m)[5] Local attractions[5]
0Villefranche-Vernet-les-Bains
(interchange with services to Perpignan)
427walled town, Fort Liberia, Grottes Les Canalettes
4.990Serdinya526
6.229Joncet550
9.720Olette-Canaveilles-les-Bains608
11.613Nyer (halt)664Nature reserve, exhibition of bats at the Maison de la réserve
13.860Thuès-les-Bains747
16.273Thuès-Carança789access to the Gorges de la Carança
19.704Fontpédrouse-Saint-Thomas-les-Bains1051Baths at St-Thomas-les-Bains
22.727Sauto1224
25.222Planès137311th-century church
27.871Mont-Louis-La Cabanasse1511Citadelle de Mont-Louis; Mont-Louis Solar Furnace
30.214Bolquère-Eyne1593summit of the line
34.925Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via1534
42.463Estavar1328
44.670Saillagouse1302
46.613Err133510th-century church of Our Lady of Err
48.389Sainte-Léocadie1281Musée de Cerdagne
52.835Osséja1241
55.689Bourg-Madame1144Espace d'Art Contemporain; border town
58.711Ur-Les Escaldes1188romanesque church
61.384Béna Fanès
62.561Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg
(interchange with services to Toulouse and Barcelona)
1247Enveitg castle and baroque chapel

Electrical discharges

In 1911, railway workers reported a fireball on the third rail between kilometres 28 and 40. A similar phenomenon occurred again when a train was hit by one of these fireballs during a thunderstorm. Lightning rods were installed where these events had occurred and the phenomenon has not been reported since installation.

See also

References

  1. "N°42960 - Loi ayant pour objet de déclarer d'utilité publique, à titre d'intérêt général, le chemin de fer à voie d'un mètre de Villefranche-de-Conflent à Bourg-Madame et d'approuver la convention passée avec la Compagnie du chemin de fer du Midi pour la concession définitive de ce chemin de fer, au lieu et place de la section comprise entre Villefranche-de-Conflent et Olette de la ligne à voie normale de Prades à Olette: 4 mars 1903". Bulletin des lois de la République Française (in French). Paris: Imprimerie Nationale. 66 (2440): 861–865. 1903.
  2. "Loi approuvant une convention provisoire passée avec la Compagnie du chemin de fer du Midi pour la concession éventuelle de diverses lignes de chemin de fer d'intérêt général: 23 mars 1914". Journal officiel de la République Française. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale (84): 2747–2749. 26 March 1914.
  3. "Décret du Ministre des travaux publics: 4 septembre 1922". Journal officiel de la République Française (in French). Paris: Imprimerie Nationale (244): 9238. 9 September 1922.
  4. Pourageaux G (2008), Les cent ans du Train Jaune, Editions La vie du rail. (in French)
  5. "The yellow train". Pyrenees - Cerdagne. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  6. "INVENTAIRE des TUNNELS FERROVIAIRES de FRANCE: Fiche Tunnel 66066.1, Tunnel de Llaurar" (PDF). tunnels-ferroviaires.org. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  7. "Notice no. PA00132870, base Mérimée". Mérimée : une base de données du patrimoine monumental français de la Préhistoire à nos jours. Ministère français de la Culture. 1996-04-16. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  8. "Notice no PA00135696, base Mérimée". Mérimée : une base de données du patrimoine monumental français de la Préhistoire à nos jours. Ministère français de la Culture. 1996-12-18. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  9. Needham, John (June–July 2023). "2023 Work on 'The Yellow Train'". Locomotives International. Upper Seagry: Mainline & Maritime Ltd (143): 28–31.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  10. "Pyrénées-Orientales : les cinq menaces qui planent sur le Train Jaune". France 3. 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  • , Train Jaune (Yellow Train) official SNCF page
  • about-france.com, The Little Yellow Train of the Pyrenees, route, sightseeing, practical information and photos
  • countrycousins.co.uk, History of the Yellow Train

42°30′14″N 2°07′40″E

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