Saint-Gervais-Vallorcine Line

The Saint-Gervais-Vallorcine Line is a single track 36.5 km (22.7 mi) long metre gauge railway line in France connecting SNCF's Saint-Gervais-Le Fayet station with Vallorcine and the border with Switzerland (Le Châtelard) through Chamonix. Opened to the public in the beginning of the 20th century by the Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée company, this line, despite being a metre gauge one, is part of the main network and is run by the SNCF (except the section located between Vallorcine and Le Châtelard (3 km), run by the Swiss Martigny-Châtelard company).

Contact with the other networks

• At the Saint-Gervais-Le Fayet station, the line joins the standard gauge SNCF network (end station of the line coming from Aix-les-Bains, through Annecy and la Roche-sur-Foron), and the Mont Blanc Tramway (TMB), which is a rack railway. This station receives TGVs coming from Paris in the winter.
• At Chamonix, it allows access to the Montenvers Railway, another rack railway.
• Beyond the border, it continues into Swiss territory, with a rack section, until Martigny (Martigny-Châtelard Railway) where it connects with the CFF Simplon line.

Technical information

• Track gauge: 1 m (3 ft 3³⁄₈ in).
• Longitudinal profile: uphill from the Saint-Gervais-Le Fayet (altitude: 580.95 m) until the col des Montets tunnel (alt. 1365 m) then downhill up to the border (alt. 1100 m). The maximal incline, between Servoz and les Houches reaches 90 ‰ over 2000 m, which is a record for an adhesion, rackless railway. However, in the most inclined areas (40 ‰ and more), the track was previously fitted with a central rail used for braking (and keeping still trains in case of electric black-outs), through the gripping action of jaws on the rail; it was removed around 1980.
• Electrification through lateral third rail in direct current at 850 V (580 V in the beginning).
• Main structures:
  • 3 overpasses, amongst which the Sainte-Marie overpass in the Houches over the Arve
  • Several anti-avalanche galleries
  • The tunnel of the col des Montets, 1883 m long.
• Control: A command post, named PC Éclair (ECLAIR, or “lightning” stands for Exploitation Centralisée des Lignes Assistée par Informatique et Radio, which translates to Centralised Control of the Lines Assisted by Computers and Radio), installed in 1991 in Saint-Gervais station, allows a centralised control of the line, with the help of radio and computers.

Rolling stock

• Three Z 850 electric multiple units made by Stadler. Three additional trainsets of this model are slated to arrive before 2008.
• Five Z 800 105-seater electric multiple units, delivered in 1997 by ADTranz and Vevey Technologies, in the context of a joint purchase with the Martigny-Châtelard. This 1000-kW stock, composed of two motorcars, can run at 70 km/h; it is equipped with a rack and pinion system and pantographs (in addition to the 3rd rail equipment), so that it can perform direct runs to Martigny without the need to change trains.
• Eight Z 600 electric multiple units (and 4 additional trailers). These trainsets (of which some are out of order) keep being used in busy periods.
• Snowplough:
  • Z 691 (electric)
  • Beilhack CN4 (diesel)
• The original Z 200 motorcars have been retired.
• Service wagons: Flats (U 20201 through U 20203) and ballast-carrying (U 20204 and U 20205 (?)).

Activity

This line carries about 400,000 passengers per year, with wide variations: 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.

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

Since 2005, access to the train is free between Servoz and Vallorcine for tourists possessing a Chamonix residency card, and for the valley inhabitants.

History

• 1886: Attribution of the concession for the Cluses-Chamonix line to the PLM (first concession of a general interest electric line in France)
• July 3, 1893: Convention authorising the PLM to build the Saint-Gervais-Chamonix section in metre gauge
• June 1899: Adjudication of the first section (up to Chamonix) works
• July 12, 1901: Inauguration of the first section Saint-Gervais-Chamonix, 19 km (opening to the public on July 25)
• July 25, 1906: Prolongation to Argentière
• November 1st, 1907: Boring of the col des Montets tunnel
• July 1st, 1908: Junction with the Martigny-Châtelard
• 1958: Introduction in revenue service of the Z 600 EMUs
• 1997: Introduction in revenue service of the Z 800 EMUs
• 2006: Introduction in revenue service of the Z 850 EMUs; noticeable reinforcement of the frequencies between Argentière and Vallorcine

Station roster

A Z 800 trainset at the Buet stop.

• Saint-Gervais-les-Bains - Le Fayet
• Chedde
• Servoz
• Vaudagne (disused)
• Viaduc Sainte Marie (stop)
• Les Houches
• Taconnaz (stop)
• Les Bossons
• Les Pélerins
• Les Moussoux (stop)
• Chamonix-Mont-Blanc
• Les Tines
• La Joux (stop)
• Argentière
• Montroc-le Planet
• Le Buet
• Vallorcine
• Le Châtelard-Frontière

External links

• Train du Mont-Blanc, website dedicated to this line (in french)
• Photos-trains (in french) has pictures of the line's rolling stock