Saint-Gervais – Vallorcine railway line
| Saint-Gervais – Vallorcine | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Z800 multiple unit in Le Buet
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| Route number (SNCF) : | 896 000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Course book route (SNCF) : | 514 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 36.62 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1000 mm ( meter gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power system : | 850 V = | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 90 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The meter -gauge railway Saint-Gervais – Vallorcine in France connects the district of Le Fayet of the municipality of Saint-Gervais via Chamonix and Vallorcine with the border station Le Châtelard-Frontière, which is already in Switzerland . From there, the also meter-gauge Chemin de fer Martigny – Châtelard (MC) continues to Martigny in the Rhone Valley . Opened at the beginning of the 19th century by the Compagnie Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée (PLM), it is now part of the SNCF Réseau route network .
history
The line from the direction of Paris was opened to Annemasse on August 30, 1880 by the Compagnie des Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) . The branch from there to Le Fayet went into operation on July 10, 1883 to La Roche-sur-Foron, on June 1, 1890 to Cluses and on June 5, 1898 to the terminus at Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Le Fayet.
Initially, the construction of a 13.5 km long tunnel through Mont Blanc was planned to compete with the Mont Cenis and Simplon tunnels . For cost reasons, however, this project was not implemented and it was decided in favor of a standard-gauge line to (Saint-Gervais-) Le Fayet and a meter-gauge continuation to Chamonix. With this route, PLM wanted to test the newly developed technology of electrical traction in the mountains. It was finally decided to build a meter-gauge route with electricity fed in from hydroelectric power stations along the route. Operation should be limited to the summer months. Due to concerns about the reliability of an overhead contact line in mountain regions at risk of avalanches, a busbar on the side should serve as the power supply . So that a high cruising speed could be achieved, the maximum gradient was 90 ‰, so there was no need for a rack . Since there was no magnetic rail brake at that time, a third, slightly higher rail was installed on sections with a high incline in the middle of the rail, to which the trains could clamp with a kind of pliers in case of danger.
On July 3, 1893, the PLM decided to build the first section from Saint-Gervais-Le-Fayet to Chamonix in meter gauge. Construction work finally began in June 1899. In order to ensure the power supply, the hydropower plants of Servoz and Les Chavants were built first. Since the route could be supplied with electricity immediately, the building materials could already be transported with the first vehicles that arrived. After successful test drives in the spring of 1901, the 19.03 km first section from Saint-Gervais-Le-Fayet to Chamonix was opened on July 12, 1901. In the first year, promising 420 passengers traveled the new route every day. In the first timetable period of 1901, there were three pairs of trains a day that only ran between July and mid-December. The initial success continued, so between March 15 and December 31, 1905, the railway carried 168,180 passengers. As early as the winter of 1905/06, PLM procured two snow plows and extended the timetable to include the winter months as the safety concerns initially expressed were not confirmed.
In order to be able to meet the strong tourist demand in the summer months, PLM procured numerous vehicles that were only needed for a short time each year. By 1932 a total of 164 railcars and 17 sidecars had been purchased.
Freight traffic was also dominated by tourism in the Chamonix region. Food, firewood and other sales items were transported to Chamonix, while ice was transported from Chamonix to Saint-Gervais-Le-Fayet in return.
As early as 1894 it was decided to continue the route to the Swiss border. PLM began continuing this project in 1904. Instead of building more power plants in the mountain landscape, it was decided to use an overhead power line along the route. The 8.27 km long second section between Chamonix and Argentière was opened on July 25, 1906. A month later, the Swiss railway line between Martigny and Le Châtelard was opened. Due to the heavy snowfall in this mountainous region, operations between Chamonix and Argentière were limited to the summer months until 1935.
The third section between Argentière and Le Châtelard was the greatest challenge for the engineers, as the 1,461 m high Montets Pass had to be tunnelled at a depth of 75 meters. As with many projects of this type in the Alps, major problems arose during the construction of this tunnel . The planned construction time could not be adhered to, and construction costs skyrocketed. The originally planned lines also had to be changed in order to be able to penetrate the geologically difficult rock. Construction work began on August 13, 1905, from both sides of the rock massif, in Le Buet and in Montroc. Since the tunnel was endangered by the ingress of spring water and meltwater , 7900 t of concrete had to be brought to the tunnel wall for sealing. On July 1, 1908, the 9.61 km long final construction section from Argentière to Le Châtelard was finally opened, making the continuous rail link from Martigny in Switzerland to Chamonix and Saint-Gervais in France finally a reality.
The First World War brought heavy losses in tourist traffic, but freight traffic increased as chemicals for the French army were transported from the chemical factory in Chedde to Le Fayet on roller stands .
Between the wars, tourism in the Chamonix valley expanded and the number of passengers rose steadily. The year-round operation was expanded to Les Praz-de-Chamonix and Les Tines in order to benefit from the skiing sport that emerged from the 1924 Olympics . To protect the route from avalanches, afforestation of the mountain slopes and the construction of protective galleries began. In the winter of 1930, the line could finally be operated continuously for the first time in the winter months from Saint-Gervais-Le-Fayet to Montroc-Le-Planet. The section to Le Châtelard was not upgraded for the winter months due to insufficient passenger expectations. This section was then served by the MC in the winter months, which offered winter sports trains between Le Châtelard and Montroc-Le-Planet in the winter of 1935/36 and 1936/37. In order for the Swiss vehicles to run in France, some changes were necessary to them and the French route.
On January 1, 1938, the PLM was nationalized to the Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF). The SNCF also took over the winter operations between Montroc-le-Planet and Le Châtelard from the MC, so the French section was operated by the SNCF throughout the year.
The Second World War also brought major losses in tourism traffic. Due to the occupation of the border at Le Châtelard, not only the MC but also the SNCF were able to record important military traffic.
After the war, the number of passengers and goods rose sharply again. The route was made even more attractive for tourism by setting up additional demand stops .
In the 1950s, the SNCF and the MC purchased new railcars. In order to optimize the route for the new vehicles and to be able to increase the maximum speed, the SNCF subjected its route to a comprehensive modernization. Among other things, the operating voltage, which was initially 550/650 volts, was increased to 800/850 volts, as was the case with the Swiss MC. After the twelve new railcars were fully operational, SNCF was able to part with many of the old PLM sets and modernize others comprehensively.
With the opening of the Mont-Blanc tunnel in 1965, the number of journeys on the route collapsed, and it was threatened with closure. Fortunately, this could be prevented, as the rail connection is the only reliable way to reach Chamonix, Argentière and Vallorcine in the winter months.
In 1971 the freight traffic was finally stopped. In 1983 the last train taken over by PLM ran. In order to be able to transport particularly high numbers of passengers, buses were used as reinforcement from this point on.
In the following years the SNCF tried harder to cooperate with the Swiss MC. In 1985 test drives with the Swiss BDeh 4/4 to Saint-Gervais-Le-Fayet took place. Despite the successful test results, the use of the Swiss vehicles failed due to protests by the French unions , as the staff feared that the Swiss MC would take over.
Since sales were falling steadily, attempts were made to work together with the Swiss MC again in 1987 and 1992, for example joint advertising campaigns were carried out. With the connection of some trains in the summer from Martigny to Chamonix, it was hoped that the number of passengers would increase.
In the years that followed, the two railway companies agreed that successful traffic with high numbers of passengers in summer could only be achieved with trains passing through from Martigny to Chamonix and Saint-Gervais. For this reason, they jointly ordered the Z800 and BDeh 4/8 trains in 1994, which are still marketed today as the “Mont-Blanc Express”.
business
The route has around 400,000 passengers per year, the load fluctuates very strongly, from 500 people per day in the off-season to 10,000 in the holiday season. It serves both local and school transport as well as long-distance travelers who arrive to Saint-Gervais by night train or TGV.
The through trains run under the name "Mont-Blanc Express".
Since hotel guests with a guest card have been able to use the trains between Servoz and Vallorcine free of charge, the capacity utilization of the trains is very good, especially in winter. Most of the ski areas in the Chamonix valley are within walking distance of a train station within ski boots.
Connection to other railway lines
- The station of Saint-Gervais-Le Fayet is the terminus of the standard-gauge railway line La Roche-sur-Foron – Saint-Gervais and the valley station of the Tramway du Mont-Blanc (TMB).
- The valley station of the Chemin de fer du Montenvers cog railway is in Chamonix .
- On the Swiss side, there is a connection in Martigny to the Simplon line of the SBB and to the Chemins de fer Martigny – Orsières (MO), the second railway line of the Transports de Martigny et Régions .
Rolling stock
- Six three-part Z850 multiple units with an output of 1300 kW and a top speed of 80 km / h. The vehicles are similar in appearance to the Z800, but have no gear drive and can therefore only be used on the French section. The first trains were delivered by Stadler Rail in 2005 . There was an option for three more vehicles, which was redeemed in 2008.
The vehicle has 94 seats in 2nd class and 9 folding seats in the multi-purpose area. The vehicles are equipped with air conditioning and a modern passenger information system. They have multi-purpose areas suitable for the numerous ski tourists.
- Five two-part Z800 multiple units with 105 seats, delivered in 1997 by Adtranz and Vevey Technologies , ordered together with Chemin de fer Martigny-Châtelard . Three vehicles belong to the SNCF, two to the MC / TMR. Power 1000 kW, both units powered, top speed 70 km / h; equipped with a gear drive, pantograph for overhead contact line and conductor rail. The vehicles can run as far as Martigny in Switzerland.
- Eight Z600 railcars and four sidecars (partly out of service). These are used for reinforcement during the peak of winter.
- Snow plows / snow blowers
- Z691 (electric)
- Beilhack CN4 (Diesel)
route
Technical specifications
- Profile: From Saint-Gervais-Le Fayet (altitude: 580 m) via Chamonix (altitude 1000 m) uphill to the tunnel under the Col des Montets (altitude 1365 m), then a gentle slope to the Swiss border (altitude 1100 m). Between Servoz and Les Houches, a gradient of 9% is achieved over a length of 2 km, a record for adhesion railways (only a few tram lines are a little steeper). Originally, a brake rail for caliper brakes was installed in the middle position on gradients from 4% , this was removed in 1980.
- Electrified with 850 V direct current (originally 580 V), power rail.
- Larger structures:
- 3 viaducts, including the 130 m long and 52 m high viaduc Sainte-Marie aux Houches
- several avalanche galleries
- Tunnel under the Col des Montets , 1883 m long.
See also
Web links
- Train du Mont-Blanc (French)