Harman Patil (Editor)

Train des pignes

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Le train des pignes 2015


The term Train des Pignes primarily signifies the four railways with metre gauge that once existed in the departments of Alpes-Maritimes (06), Var (83), Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04) and Bouches-du-Rhône (13) in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur (PACA) région in southern France:

Contents

Train des pignes Le train des Pignes et le paysage Picture of Train des Pignes

  • Nice (06) - Meyrargues (13)
  • Nice (06) - Digne-les-Bains (04)
  • St.Raphaël (83) - Toulon (83)
  • Cogolin (83) - St.Tropez (83)

    • Only the one between Nice and Digne is still in operation. Therefore, today most people when they use the term, unaware of the history, refer to the Nice-Dignes line only.

    Train des pignes TRAIN DES PIGNES A VAPEUR Tourist trains Railway transportation Nice

    Pignes is the southern French dialect word for pine cones.

    The St. Raphaël - Toulon and Cogolin - St. Tropez lines were also sometimes called Le Macaron.

    Train des pignes pine cones 1 3 entrevaux digne chemins de fer de provence


    History

    Work to build these lines started in 1887 and the lines were opened in sections

    Train des pignes Train des pignes Railway Office du tourisme dAnnot

  • Nice — Meyrargues (210 kilometres (130 mi))
  • Draguignan - Meyrargues (22 March 1889)
  • Grasse - Draguignan (25 October 1890)
  • Colomars - Grasse (7 June 1892)
  • Nice — Colomars (2 June 1892)
  • Nice — Digne (150 kilometres (93 mi))
  • Nice — Colomars (2 June 1892)
  • Colomars - Puget-Théniers (8 August 1892)
  • Puget-Théniers - St. André-les-Alpes (3 July 1911) (from 1892 to 1911 passengers were transferred by stagecoach, a trip that took 6.5 hours)
  • St.André-les-Alpes — Digne-les-Bains (15 May 1892)
  • St.Raphaël — Toulon (103 kilometres (64 mi))
  • St.Raphaël — La Foux (19 September 1889)
  • La Foux - Hyères (4 August 1890)
  • Hyères — Toulon (21 August 1905)
  • Cogolin — St.Tropez (9 kilometres (5.6 mi))
  • Cogolin — St.Tropez (1 July 1894)

    • Train des pignes Train des pignes Railway Office du tourisme dAnnot

    The Nice-Digne line is today operated daily by Chemins de Fer de Provence with railcars, four trains per day.

    Former rolling stock

    Railcars by Brissonneau & Lotz and Renault were used.

    Current rolling stock

    The current rolling stock in use is:-

    Train des pignes Train des pignes

  • X301 - X306 Railcars build by CFD. X301 - X304 entered into service in 1972, and X305 -X306 entered into service in 1977.
  • X351 Railcar built by Soulé, with trailer XR351. Entered into service in 1984.
  • XR1736 Railcar, renovated at the workshops at Lingostière in 2006.

    • New rolling stock is due to be introduced in 2008 which will have better facilities for disabled passengers.

    Steam train

    Train des pignes Train des Pignes Provence travel information and tips by Provence

    A group of voluntary rail enthusiasts in an association called Groupe d'Etude pour les Chemins de fer de Provence (GECP) operate a steam train (sometimes also called Train des Pignes) between Puget-Théniers and Annot on the Nice — Digne line every weekend from May to October, occasionally with an extended overnight trip to Digne-les-Bains.

    Train des pignes Provence Heritage Railways Train des Pignes

    Train des pignes FileTrain des Pignes PlanduVarjpg Wikimedia Commons

    References

    Train des pignes Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA