Chemins de fer de la Corse

Bastia-Ajaccio
Route length:	158 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Top speed:	100 km / h
Legend 0.000 Bastia Lupino Rivoli Bassanese L'Arinella Montesoro Sole-Méo Erbajolo Polyclinique La Rocade 5.832 Furiani Saltatojo Ceppe Casatorra 9,970 Biguglia Bevinco Purettone Maison d'arrêt 16.229 Borgo Lucciana 21.018 Casamozza Golo to Porto-Vecchio (see below) Golo 29,586 Barchetta Golo 39.132 Ponte-Novu Golo from Calvi (see below) 46.730 Ponte-Leccia 54,593 Francardo Golo Soveria Tavignano 73,802 Corte Poggio-Riventosa 85.118 Venaco Vecchio Viaduct 95.117 Vivario Camping Svaggio 102,809 Tattone 106.648 Vizzavona Vizzavona tunnel Gravona 116.263 Bocognano Tavera 126.781 Ucciani Carbuccia Gravona 144,953 Mezzana Campo dell'Oro Les Salines 157.428 Ajaccio
Calvi-Ponte-Leccia
Route length:	74 km
Legend 119.9 Calvi Calvi Talle (formerly Lido) Calvi E Padule (formerly Balagne-Orizontenovu) Calvi U Pinetu (formerly tennis club) Calvi L'Alzeta Suprana (formerly Club Olympique) Figarella U Ponte Bambinu (GR20) (formerly Dolce Vita GR 20) 115.5 U Fiumeseccu Alzeta (GR20) (Camp-Raffalli) U fiume Seccu 113.9 Sainte-Restitude 113.0 Lumio-Arinella (formerly Ondari-Arinella) 111.2 Giorgio 110.7 Club-Med Cocody 109.5 Sant'Ambroggio 107.4 Algajola 106.1 Aregno 104.3 Marine de Davia 100.7 Bodri 98.1 L'Île-Rousse 95.9 Camping Monticello 88.1 Le Regino Fiume di Regino 82.8 Belgodère 79.8 PK 79 + 800 75.2 Palasca 65.3 Novella 52.7 Pietralba Asco from Bastia 46.7 Ponte-Leccia to Ajaccio
Casamozza-Porto-Vecchio
Route length:	130 km
Legend 21.0 Casamozza Golo to Ponte-Leccia (see above) 24.2 Arena Vescovato 31.9 Folleli-Orezza Alto 40.3 Padullele 46.8 Prunete-Cervione 53.7 Alistro 59.0 Bravone 67.6 Tallone Tavignano 73.2 Aléria 78.9 Puzzichello 85.3 Ghisonaccia 91.7 Prunelli-Pietrapola 102.8 Travu Travu 105.6 Solaro Solenzara 109.9 Solenzara 120.7 Favona-Conca 126.3 Figa 134.4 Sainte-Lucie 135.1 Lecci Ozu 150.9 Porto-Vecchio

The SAEML Chemins de fer de la Corse (CFC) are a railway company that connects the two port cities of Bastia on the east coast and Ajaccio on the west coast on the French island of Corsica . It also opens up the north-west coast of the island with the port city of Calvi . The mixed-economy company has been operating the railway since 2012. The railway itself belongs to the Corsican community (Collectivité de Corse) and is a single-track meter - gauge network with a total length of 231 km.

The railway is popularly known as La Micheline and because of its uneasy run on the extended rails in Corsican it is also called U Trinighellu (The Trembling). Other names are Trenucciu (small train) and TGV (short for Train à Grande Vibration ; French for "high vibration train " - probably based on the similarly named high-speed train ).

Main line Ajaccio – Bastia

Vecchio Viaduct

The main route starts near the port of Bastia. On its way towards Ajaccio, it first runs along the east coast and then in the direction of the interior of the island to the west coast. On its way, it provides the inner-Corsican university town of Corte with a fast railway connection to the sea. The route was built from 1888 to 1894, is 157.4 km long and on its way through the island overcomes a difference in altitude of 930 m with a maximum gradient of 3%.

The main ridge of the Corsican high mountains is crossed below the 1163 m high Col de Vizzavona in the 3916 m long Vizzavona tunnel . This tunnel is laid out dead straight in terms of position and height, so that the light of the other portal can be seen very faintly from one tunnel portal. This type is very unusual because in a tunnel normally sets the highest point exactly to its center to the Gegenortvortrieb to run smoothly the penetrating water. To the north of the tunnel there are several hairpin bends with short tunnels. This ascent crosses the 140 m long and 80 m high Vecchio Viaduct, the design of which goes back to Gustave Eiffel . Another structure is the two kilometer long tunnel under the old town of Bastia.

Branch line to Calvi

The CFC network includes a branch line from the lonely Ponte Leccia station on the main line via the coastal town of L'Île-Rousse to the port city of Calvi on the north coast. The route, opened in 1890, is 73.1 km long, initially also crosses the Corsican high mountains, and then on the second half from L'Île-Rousse as the “Tramway de Balagne” along the coast to Calvi. This path is popularly called "The Fiery Elijah". It has its highest point at Novella train station at 462  m and 30 km further on it is already back to sea level.

Disused routes and failed projects

Steel bridge of the disused Eastern Railway

Until the Second World War , the then railway company operated another 152 km route along the east coast of the island. It branched off the main line in Casamozza and led through the plain to Porto Vecchio , where in 1935 the construction work towards Bonifacio was completed at the southernmost point of the island. The line was completely destroyed when the German Wehrmacht withdrew in 1943 and was not rebuilt afterwards. Today this former railway line with its bridge structures serves partly as a country road, partly as a beaten path through the Corsican maquis . An approximately 50 km long section can be ridden continuously by bike .

Failed projects were the planned connections from Caldaniccia near Ajaccio to Propriano on the west coast and Vico in the high mountains. The planned direct connection from Calvi via Porto to Ajaccio was also not pursued , although the Calvi station was already laid out as a through station in a lateral position according to this extension .

Operational management

history

Since it opened in 1888, the railway has had six different operators in succession:

• Compagnie des chemins de fer départementaux (CFD)
• 1948 Administration of the ponts et chaussées
• 1965 Société Auxiliaire pour les Chemins de Fer Secondaires (SACFS)
• 1972 Société Générale de Chemins de Fer et Transports Automobiles (CFTA)
• 1983 SNCF
• 2012 CFC

Route network

The CFC maintains a total of 32 tunnels, 76 medium-sized and large bridges, and 83 level crossings on its route network . The vehicles are eleven diesel multiple units for passenger transport , 77 freight cars and six diesel locomotives . A total of 221 people are employed at CFC, 201 of them in permanent jobs . Around 300,000 passengers use the CFC each year, most of them are tourists (as of 1998). Major train stations are in Bastia, Casamozza, Ponte Leccia, Corte, Ajaccio and Calvi. The company's main fully-equipped workshop is located near the Casamozza train station.

Traction vehicles

Steam locomotive No. 41 in front of the passenger train in Vizzavona station

Class X-97050 powered rail car and freight train with BB 405 diesel locomotive in Vivario

The railcars used for passenger transport are of very different ages, with the modern vehicles carrying the majority of the traffic on the main line from Bastia to Ajaccio. On the Tramway de Balagne between L'Île-Rousse and Calvi, railcars made by Renault from 1949/50 with sidecars still ran until 2008 . In the meantime, more modern vehicles are also being used here; three of the eight Renault multiple units are still parked. The vehicles offer between 40 and 120 seats for passengers, depending on the series .

The replacement of the steam locomotives began very early on the island. Already in 1937, operated on the mainline rail cars with diesel drive the French company billiards . Accelerated by the destruction of the Second World War, the last steam locomotive ended in 1954. Two BB-400 diesel locomotives from the manufacturer CFD (BB 404 and 405) were procured for freight traffic in the 1960s . Since 1994 and 2009, two similar, but much more powerfully motorized types than BB 406-408 have also been used, which were previously in use for the Speno company in Germany as the DB class 715 . The self-made diesel locomotive 114, which was built by the main workshop in Casamozza on the chassis of a billiard railcar and was nicknamed "Bête de Calvi", was unique.

In 1975/76 five railcars of the series X-1200 (two-class; converted to X-2000 around 1980) and X-2000 (only 2nd class) and in 1982 two railcars of the X-5000 type were added. In 1989/90, the Soulé company delivered five X-97050 series railcars, followed by two more from CFD in 1997. Matching control cars were purchased for six of these vehicles.

In order to fundamentally modernize rail operations, the Corsican regional government ordered fifteen AMG-800 series twin multiple units from CFD, twelve of which had been delivered by 2010. The first vehicle came to the island in 2007 for test drives. The 40 meter long railcars offer low-floor entry and reach a top speed of 100 km / h. Furthermore, the entire rail network is currently being refurbished , but further improvements such as electrification of the network are not planned. It is currently planned to spend 110 million euros on maintaining the track and investing in vehicles.

In spring 2010, all AMG-800s that had been delivered up to then had to be taken out of service for several months due to serious technical defects (including brakes, cardan shafts and air conditioning). The considerably thinned-out schedule was maintained in the repair phase with the old vehicles and buses that were still in existence .

Railcar

Billiard railcar 111 (type A 150 D) in L'Île-Rousse, 1958

AMG-800 in Ajaccio station

• 2 Crochat / Decauville , petrol-electric, company numbers Ae 51 + 52 - sold to CFD-Charentes in 1929
• 6 Billiards A 210 D, built in 1935, road numbers 101–106 - 103 1946 converted to diesel locomotive 403 after fire damage; 106 converted to sidecar, 2009 to the railway line Nice – Digne-les-Bains ; others scrapped (102 destroyed in Bastia in World War II, 1943)
• 3 Billiards A 210 D, built in 1938, bought second-hand in 1971, road numbers 210–212 - later converted to a sidecar
• 6 Billard A 150 D, built in 1938, road numbers 111–116 - 113 converted into a control car in 1987, preserved; 114 chassis used for 114 diesel locomotive; others scrapped (116 destroyed in Casamozza in World War II, 1943)
• 8 Renault ABH-8; Years of construction 1949/50, road numbers 201–208 - 201, 204 and 206 parked, the rest of them scrapped
• 19 Billard A 80 D, years of construction approx. 1937 to 1940, acquired second-hand at the end of the 1960s, road numbers 241–251, 501–504 and 510–513 - no longer in use
• 1 De Dion-Bouton OC-1, built in 1937, bought second-hand in 1973 - sold in 1991
• 3 CFD Montmirail, built 1975/76, road numbers X-1201, X-1202 and X-1205 - converted to X-2000 around 1980 (X-2001, X-2002 and X-2005), in 2016 to Chemins de fer du Vivarais
• 2 CFD Montmirail, built 1975/76, road numbers X-2003 and X-2004 - No. 2003 in 2009 on the Nice – Digne-les-Bains railway line
• 2 CFD Montmirail, built in 1982, road numbers X-5001 and X-5002 - 2016 for Chemins de fer du Vivarais
• 5 Soulé, built 1989/90, 2 × 177 kW - road numbers X-97051 to X-97055, with control car XRx 9701-9706, partly out of service
• 2 CFD Bagnères (formerly Soulé), built in 1997 - company numbers X-97056 and X-97057
• 12 CFD Bagnères AMG-800, years of construction 2007 to 2010, road numbers AMG-801/802 to 823/824, double railcars, 2 × 440 kW

In 2018 only the AMG-801/802 to 823/824 and the "Soulé" X-97051 to 97057 and their control cars were available. The Soulé still run the Calvi - Île Rousse trains, all other trains are run by the AMG, at peak times in double traction.

• 

  Class X-97050 multiple units at the Vizzavona tunnel

• 

  Class X-2000 CFD multiple units in Ponte Leccia station

• 

  X-2002 in old livery, 1994

• 

  Renault railcar on the Tramway de Balagne

Diesel locomotives

Diesel locomotive 114 in Casamozza , 1994

• BB 401, Brissonneau et Lotz 1951, 1963 fire damage - scrapped in 1964
• BB 402, Brissonneau et Lotz 1951 - 1966 scrapped
• CFC-114, small locomotive, self-made using the chassis of railcar 114, parked 1955–1999
• 403, small locomotive for Bastia, self-made from railcars 103 and 115 - scrapped in 1962
• CFC-1, built in 1948, acquired second-hand in 1966, placed in 1980 - preserved as a museum at MTVS
• CFC-2, acquired second-hand in 1966 - scrapped in 1980
• CFC-3, acquired second-hand in 1967 - scrapped in 1980
• BB 403 ^II , Brissonneau et Lotz 1951, acquired second-hand in 1964, z-placed in 1974 - scrapped in 1981
• BB 404, CFD Montmirail, built in 1963, acquired second-hand in 1974 from the Chemins de fer de Provence - since 2011 with the Train de l'Ardèche
• BB 405, CFD Montmirail, built in 1966 - with the Train de l'Ardèche since 2011
• BB 406, CFD Suresnes, built in 1973, originally standard gauge , bought second-hand in 1994 - available

• 

  CFC-1 as CFD-103 at MTVS

• 

  BB 404 in L'Île-Rousse, 1994

• 

  BB 405 in Ajaccio, 2000

• 

  BB 406 in L'Île-Rousse

Timetable

The timetable is relatively thin: two daily connections from Bastia to Calvi, four to five daily connections from Bastia to Ajaccio, which are then operated in multiple traction with up to three railcars as required. In addition, there is heavy traffic on weekdays between Bastia and Casamozza on the Desserte suburbaine de Bastia with 16 connections (four Sundays), as well as trips every two hours on the Tramway de Balagne during the summer season. Furthermore, since 2010 there has been suburban traffic between Ajaccio and Mezzana via Ajaccio airport with 14 connections on weekdays and three on Sundays.

The cost of a ticket is within the normal range of public transport . A seven-day network card is offered to tourists all year round . Due to the operation of a total of more than 30 train stations and stops, the journey on the main route between Bastia and Ajaccio takes around four hours. On the branch line, the two trains from Ponte Leccia to Calvi require a journey time of one hour and 40 minutes.

Economics and business aspects

It is difficult to cover the costs of the business because of tourism as the main source of income on the island, because the actual season on the island is limited to ten summer weeks. The main route is of particular interest to mountain hikers who want to tackle the inner-Corsican long-distance hiking trail GR 20 . The Vizzavona train station is exactly halfway along this alpine hiking trail, which is only accessible from mid-June to the end of October . Nevertheless, there is driving all year round in order to give the local population the opportunity in the winter months to reach the two largest cities on the island without major detours. For this reason, the main route is cleared of snow in winter, which is problematic with the pass roads through the inner Corsican mountains.

In summer, the Tramway de Balagne opens up the lonely beaches in the north of the island, to which there is no road connection. The section between Calvi and L'Île-Rousse is therefore also of considerable importance for tourism.

In contrast to local rail passenger transport, freight transport no longer plays a decisive role, the formerly quite numerous freight wagons are no longer in operation. Since the island does not have any significant mineral resources , the transport of goods is limited to agricultural and forestry products as well as to the railway company's own use. The transport volume for a transit between the ports is also missing, which is already evident from the fact that the tracks of the railway only reached the quay walls in Ajaccio , in Bastia the track connection to the new port was already established in the early 1980s of the new station building, dismantled. There are also special vehicles such as water tankers to fight the forest fires that keep flaring up on the island .

future

Construction train of the company Constructions ferroviaires Giragr (CFG) in Corte, newly motorized locomotive of the type FAUR L45H , 2009

After almost the entire route network had been renovated by 2010, while the tracks and signaling technology had been renewed and the main route had been upgraded to 100 km / h, the mileage of 850,000 kilometers a year was to be doubled. The railcars operating on the main line up to then were to be completely replaced by the new AMG800 and the travel time between Bastia and Ajaccio was to be shortened to 2:45. The old railcars should be used on the branch line to Calvi. However, during maintenance of the AMG800 in 2010, it was found that its brakes had problems with excessive wear, which is why all AMG800 vehicles were withdrawn from service. However, since many of the old vehicles were no longer operational at this point in time, there were not enough vehicles available in 2011 to maintain the previous timetable. In some cases rail replacement services took place with buses, but in some cases journeys were also omitted without replacement. A total of 8 AMG800s have been available again since summer 2012.

There are also considerations to reactivate the former route along the east coast at least partially to Padulella-Moriani and to integrate it into the suburban traffic from Bastia. However, reactivation beyond Padulella-Moriani is unlikely.

Summary

In contrast to the railways of the European mainland, the operation of the CFC is characterized by some special features, which result primarily from the island location of Corsica . The company does not have the option of sharing infrastructure with other railways and is therefore forced to provide it itself. This is primarily expressed in the need for a large workshop of its own for all repair work and also in the fact that some very old vehicles are on the routes, which in a way give the company the look of a museum train .

On the other hand, the speeds traveled on all sections of the route are surprisingly high; on the newly built tracks, for example near Ajaccio, the railcars can reach speeds of up to 80 km / h. There are also tight curves and deep gorges at the edges of the route; Many tourists consider the trip on the CFC to be an adventure.

• 

  Depot in Bastia

• 

  The extensive tracks in Bastia from a bird's eye view

• 

  In Bastia, the route leads into a tunnel immediately behind the train station

• 

  The main line from the driver's point of view

• 

  Ajaccio train station

Web links

Commons : Chemins de fer de la Corse  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Company website: French and English
• Private website via the CFC with timetables
• A German-language site about the CFC
• The former railway of the eastern plain of Corsica in German and French
• Website of the Eisenbahnfreunde Lette with a lot of picture material on the topic

literature

• Gunter Petzoldt: Corsica and its railways . In: Wolfgang Messerschmidt (Ed.): Locomotive magazine . No. 88 . Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, W. Keller & Co. , 1978, ISSN  0458-1822 , p. 31-39 .
• Moune Poli (Ed.): La corse en train. Guide you train malin. Editions MédiaTerra, Bastia 1998, 2000, ISBN 2-9509210-5-1 .
• Pascal Bejui (Ed.): Les Chemins de Fer de la Corse. Ed. La Régordane, Chanac 2001, ISBN 2-906984-39-6 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Chemins de Fer de la Corse. Retrieved on February 27, 2020 (French, homepage).  SAEML stands for "Société anonyme d'économie mixte locale"
2. ↑ Presentation de l'Entreprise. Chemins de Fer de la Corse, accessed on February 27, 2020 (French). 
3. ↑ ^{a b c} LokMagazin 7/2016, p. 106
4. ↑ LokMagazin 7/2016, p. 108
5. ↑ LokMagazin 7/2016, p. 109
6. ↑ CFC with modern rolling stock in: Lok Magazin 10/2018, p. 38.
7. ↑ Locomotive Diesel Brissonneau et Lotz BB 401 ( Memento of the original from September 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. with photo, accessed July 17, 2016 
8. ↑ Locomotive Diesel BB 402 ( Memento of the original from July 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. with photo 
9. ↑ LokMagazin 7/2016, p. 107
10. ↑ Locotracteur "le Corse" , accessed on July 17, 2016
11. ↑ Les Horaires ( Memento of February 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
12. ↑ http://www.corsicabus.org/Train_services.html
13. ↑ http://www.bahn-journalisten.ch/PDF/Berichte/2009/09-01-22-ERI.pdf  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
14. ↑ http://www.corsematin.com/article/corse/ajaccio-pas-damg-en-circulation-cet-ete
15. ^ Autorails AMG 800, retour vers le futur November 27, 2011

Coordinates: 42 ° 11 ′ 39 ″  N , 9 ° 10 ′ 0 ″  E