Saint-Gervais–Vallorcine railway

Ligne de Saint Gervais - Vallorcine

A Z 800 trainset runs over the
Sainte-Marie viaduct in summer 2001.
Overview
Locale Haute-Savoie
Termini Gare de Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Le Fayet
Vallorcine
Technical
Track gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 38 in)
Electrification 850 V, DC
side contact third rail
Highest elevation 1,365 m (4,478 ft)
Maximum incline 9%
Rack system None

The Saint-Gervais-Vallorcine Line is a single-track 36.5 km (22.7 mi) long metre gauge railway in France connecting SNCF's Saint-Gervais-Le Fayet station with Vallorcine and the border with Switzerland (Le Châtelard[1]) through Chamonix. Opened in 1901 by the Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée, it is part of the main SNCF network as far as Vallorcine. To Le Châtelard (3 km or 1.86 mi) is run by the Swiss company TMR, which also operates the Martigny–Châtelard railway).

Connections

Technical information

Rolling stock

Activity

A train near Le Buet.

This line carries about 500,000 passengers per year, with wide variation: from 500 people per day in the least busy periods up to 10,000 per day in summer and 2500 per day in winter for the ski season. The customer base is quite diverse, from international travellers connecting with the TGVs, to local transportation, most notably for schoolchildren. It is a tourist line and a public service at the same time.

Through trains between Saint-Gervais and Martigny run under the “Mont-Blanc Express” moniker.

Since 2005 travel has been free between Servoz and Vallorcine for those with a Chamonix residency card and for valley inhabitants.

History

Stations

A Z 800 trainset at Le Buet.

References

  1. Le Châtelard

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