Cremallera de Montserrat

1892–1957: Monistrol-Nord – Montserrat since 2003: Monistrol de Montserrat – Montserrat
Railcar 1 El Cavall Bernat in Montserrat station
Route length:	5.238 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system :	1500  =
Maximum slope :	156  ‰
Rack system :	System dept
Top speed:	Cogwheel distance: 30 km / h Adhesion distance: 45 km / h
Operating points and routes
Legend from Sant Vicenç-Castellgalí Monistrol-Nord / Castellbell i El Vilar to Terrassa Monistrol-Partida Pont riera de Marà Baixador de la Bauma from Barcelona Monistrol de Montserrat from Manresa Monistrol-Enllaç Llobregat Monistrol-Vila Start of the rack line Pont des de la Carretera Alternative point Tunnel dels Apòstols a Montserrat Montserrat Monastery (Monestir)

The Cremallera de Montserrat ( Catalan cremallera = zip or rack railway) is a meter-gauge , electric rack railway in Catalonia . It leads from the town of Monistrol de Montserrat up to the Montserrat Monastery and overcomes 550 meters in altitude with a maximum gradient of 15.6 percent.

history

Share of the Sociedad de Ferrocarriles de Montaña a Grandes Pendientes dated December 31, 1891

The Sociedad de Ferrocarriles de Montaña a Grandes Pendientes company, founded in 1881, built the railway line from Monitrol to the monastery on Montserrat. The line was opened in 1892 and ran the route with a total of eight steam locomotives until 1923. From the 1940s onwards, the company was noticeably worse off financially, and a serious accident in 1953 caused the already weak transport figures to drop noticeably. Due to this accident, the line was closed on May 12, 1957. After years of planning and construction began in 2001, it reopened on June 6, 2003. For this purpose, five low-floor electric multiple units of the Stadler GTW type were purchased in Switzerland . They are equipped for adhesion and gear operation. In addition, the air-conditioned vehicles offer a maximum of 200 passengers a good view of the surroundings through the large panoramic windows.

The train runs with a power system of 1,500 V direct current . The railcars have a maximum speed of 30 km / h on the rack sections and 45 km / h in adhesion mode.

Steam locomotive of the old rack railway

In the first year of operation, the new Cremallera de Montserrat counted 462,964 passengers. The most successful month in the first year was August 2003 with 63,692 travelers, the weakest in February 2004 with only 22,996 travelers. The vehicles are busy when they have a direct connection to the trips to Barcelona . In the times in between there are sometimes only 10-20 people on the road.

In Monistrol, a track connection to Monistrol train station was set up in order to get a direct connection and to bring the vehicles of the Montserratbahn to the main workshop in Martorell . A museum has been set up in the former Monistrol-Vila valley station.

Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya

The operating company is Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC), which also operates the railway line from Manresa to Barcelona.

Web links

Commons : Cremallera de Montserrat  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Montserrat Rack Railway. In: cremallerademontserrat.cat. Retrieved April 23, 2015 (Catalan). 
• Antic Cremallera de Montserrat. 1892-1957. In: trenscat.com. Retrieved April 23, 2015 (Catalan). 
• Montserrat Rack Railway. (PDF) Route. In: cremallerademontserrat.cat. Retrieved April 23, 2015 . 

References

1. ^ Antic Cremallera de Montserrat. 1892-1957. Retrieved April 25, 2015 (Catalan). 
2. ↑ Data sheet from STADLER (PDF). Archived from the original on May 8, 2010 ; Retrieved April 10, 2015 .