Panoramique des Dômes

Panoramique des Dômes

The train at the bottom of Puy de Dôme
Overview
Status in operation
Locale Puy de Dôme, France
Operation
Opened 26 May 2012
Owner Département du Puy-de-Dôme
Operator(s) SNC-Lavalin
Technical
Line length 5.2 km (3.2 mi)
No. of tracks single
Track gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Electrification 1500 V, DC
Rack system Strub

The Panoramique des Dômes is a 5.2 km long rack railway that allows access to the top of the Puy de Dôme, in France, since mid-2012.

The railway is owned by the Conseil général du Puy-de-Dôme.

The train has a capacity of 1,200 persons an hour.

History

There was a railway with a non-rack central rail on the Puy de Dôme (using the Hanscotte system) from 1907 to 1925.[1][2] Construction of the railway started in 1906. It connected Lamartine in Clermont-Ferrand (elevation 390 metres) to an artificial platform near the mountain top at 1,414 metres. The railway was 14.7 km long and operated between 1907 and 1926 at a loss.

The Conseil général du Puy-de-Dôme voted for construction of the new railway in 2008. Construction work was started by SNC-Lavalin in March 2010.[3] SNC-Lavalin operated the railway under a 35-year agreement with the public service.

Traffic was stopped in October 2012 after an accident involving an empty railcar. The operator was replaced by SFTA, a subsidiary of Transdev specialising in mountain railways, and the line was reopened on 2 May 2013.[4]

Rolling Stock

The Swiss firm Stadler has received an order for 4 articulated motor cars in November 2009 of the type GTW 2/6.

Weight  : 45 tonnes (44 long tons; 50 short tons).
Length  : 36.5 metres (119.8 ft)
Capacity: 200 (112 seating and 88 standing)

References

  1. ↑ http://www.puydedome.com/Panoramique_des_Domes/Le_train-43739_85728.html?1=1
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Rendez-vous au sommet dans deux ans - La Montagne - Julien Dodon - 10 MARS 2010
  4. ↑ Press release, 15 April 2013 (in French)

External links

Coordinates: 45°46′00″N 2°58′07″E / 45.7667°N 2.9686°E / 45.7667; 2.9686

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 17, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.