Perpignan – Villefranche-de-Conflent railway line
| Perpignan-Villefranche-de-Conflent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Ille-sur-Têt station, 1989
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| Route number (SNCF) : | 679,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 45.614 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power system : |
since 1983 1.5 kV = |
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| Power system : |
to 1971 12 kV, 16 2 / 3 Hz ~ |
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| Maximum slope : | 21.5 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Perpignan – Villefranche-de-Conflent railway is a standard-gauge French railway from Perpignan to Villefranche-de-Conflent in the Occitania region . The 47 km long, single-track route follows the lower course of the Têt River . It is continued in the narrow-gauge Ligne de Cerdagne .
It is the only line in France that has been operated for a long time with single-phase alternating current with a frequency of 16 2 ⁄ 3 Hz .
history
Until 1910: construction and steam operation
On April 20, 1863, the National Assembly approved the amount of 2 million francs for the construction of a railway line from Perpignan to Prades . The 23 km long first section to Ille-sur-Tet was on 10 December 1868 by the railway company opened Compagnie du chemin de fer de Perpignan à Prades, the km the route on 15 March 1870 by 4 to Bouleternère extended. The route was completed on January 3, 1877 under compulsory administration, under which the company had been placed on February 6, 1873 at its own request. On November 6, 1878, she filed for bankruptcy and was bought by the state on January 13, 1881.
The extension of the line to Olette was to be built by the Compagnie des chemins de fer du Midi et du Canal latéral à la Garonne . On June 2, 1895, traffic on the section to Villefranche-de-Conflent was added. The continuation to Olette and beyond was not realized until 1910 with the meter-gauge Ligne de Cerdagne.
1913 to 1970: electrification
In 1913 the line was electrified with single-phase alternating current of 12 kV and 16 2 ⁄ 3 Hz, and the railway company was able to fall back on experience with this power system in Germany and Switzerland. It was used to test several types of electric locomotives , with the prototypes usually remaining: E 3001, E 3201 (1912; as 1C1 3900 in service with the SNCF until 1957), E 3401 and E 3501 Company from 1913 a total of 30 electric multiple units (E 1 to E 30) of the later SNCF type Z 4900, which was also used on their similarly electrified routes to Tarbes , Pau and Montréjeau . After the conversion of the last-mentioned routes to direct voltage in accordance with a government decision in the early 1920s, 16 of these railcars remained on the last remaining alternating current route Perpignan – Villefranche-de-Conflent. After the 1C1 3900 electric locomotive was retired, they also hauled freight trains.
The electricity required for operation was generated in the Soulom hydropower station near Pierrefitte by six generators with an output of 2600 kW each and transmitted via 60 kV overhead lines to the substations in Lourdes and Tarbes, where the voltage was stepped down to 12 kV.
Since 1971: diesel operation and renewed electrification
In 1971 the power supply with AC voltage ended, from then on the line was served by diesel vehicles - mainly railcars of the X 4300 series. In May 1984, the line was electrified again with the 1500 V DC voltage customary in the south of France. First, electric multiple units of the type Z2 , later locomotive-hauled RIB push - pull trains were used.
Millas accident in 2017
On the afternoon of December 14, 2017 , a TER regional train running between Villefranche and Perpignan collided with a school bus at a barrier level crossing in Millas . Six of the 23 young passengers on the bus were killed or died in the following days. Seventeen other people were injured, five of whom were in mortal danger three days after the accident. The railway line has been out of service for an indefinite period of time since the accident for the purpose of gathering evidence. Association of rail users expressed the suspicion that the investigations were only a pretext for the preparation of a final closure of the line by the SNCF.
literature
- Jean Cuynet: La traction électrique en France 1900-2005 . La Vie du Rail 2006, ISBN 2-915034-38-9
- Jean Castex : La ligne de chemin de fer de Perpignan à Villefranche . Editions TALAIA 2017, ISBN 978-2-917-85972-8
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Manuel de l'ingénieur des ponts et chaussées, p. 744 at Google Books, accessed on December 15, 2017
- ↑ Histoire de l'électrification des chemins de fer français at jfpicard.free.fr, accessed on December 15, 2017
- ↑ a b La liaison ferroviaire Villefranche de Conflent - Perpignan at leportailferroviaire.free.fr, accessed on December 15, 2017
- ↑ Electrification with 12 kV and 16 ⅔ Hz in France . electrical-bahnen.de. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
- ^ Collision entre un car scolaire et un TER à Millas: le bilan monte à six morts. In: lemonde.fr . December 18, 2017, accessed on July 12, 2018 (French).
- ↑ Millas: Nouvelle mobilization pour la réouverture de la ligne. In: viaoccitanie.tv. September 29, 2018, accessed September 30, 2018 (French).
- ↑ Laura Meunier: Vers une régression de la line Perpignan - Villefranche? In: lindependant.fr . December 1, 2018, accessed December 23, 2018 (French).