The Portet-Saint-Simon - Puigcerdà railway is a secondary railway line in southwestern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It connects

Portet-sur-Garonne Portet-sur-Garonne (, literally ''Portet on Garonne''; Languedocien dialect, Languedocien: ''Portèth de Garona'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Haute-Garonne Departments of France, department in southwestern France. Portet-Saint-Simon ...

, 11 km south of Toulouse on the

Toulouse–Bayonne railway The railway from Toulouse to Bayonne is an important French 319-kilometre long railway line, that connects the southern city Toulouse to the southwestern town Bayonne, running along the foothills of the Pyrenees. The railway was opened in severa ...

, to

Latour-de-Carol Latour-de-Carol (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Localization Latour-de-Carol is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades. Transport Th ...

and

Puigcerdà Puigcerdà (; , ) is the capital city, capital of the Catalan ''comarques of Catalonia, comarca'' of Cerdanya (comarca), Cerdanya, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, northern Spain, near the Segre River and on the border with France (it abuts ...

, towns located on each side of the French/Spanish border in

Cerdanya Cerdanya (; , ; , ) or often La Cerdanya is a natural region, natural comarca and historical region of the eastern Pyrenees divided between France and Spain. Historically it was one of the Catalan counties, counties of Catalonia. Cerdanya has a ...

. The railway was opened in several stages between 1861 and 1929. Since the closure of the railway from Pau to

Huesca Huesca (; ) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon between 1096 and 1118. It is also the capital of the Spanish Huesca (province), ...

via

Canfranc Canfranc () is a municipality in the Aragón Valley of north-eastern Spain consisting of two villages, the original village and ''Canfranc Estación'', which developed with the establishment of Canfranc International railway station to serve rai ...

in 1970, it is the only railway crossing the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

main chain. It is used daily by Corail Lunéa trains from Paris to Latour-de-Carol and

Transport express régional Transport express régional (, usually shortened to TER) is the brand name used by the SNCF, the French national railway company, to denote rail service run by the regional councils of France, specifically their organised transport authorities. ...

, (TER) trains from Toulouse to Pamiers, Foix,

Ax-les-Thermes Ax-les-Thermes (; or ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Ariège (department), Ariège Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of southwestern France. The commune ha ...

and Latour-de-Carol. Most freight and long-distance passenger trains use either the Bordeaux–Irun railway around the western end of the Pyrenees, or the Narbonne–Portbou railway around the eastern end. Today, SNCF service terminates at the French side of the border at

. The service between Latour-de-Carol and Puigcerdà and onwards to Barcelona is provided by the Spanish Railway (

RENFE Renfe (, ), officially Renfe-Operadora, is Spain's national state-owned railway company. It was created in 2005 upon the split of the former Spanish National Railway Network (RENFE) into the Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias ( ...

) for which the gauge is . The RENFE train from Latour-de-Carol connects directly with Barcelona but in July 2014 there are only five trains a day to Barcelona (and four from the city). It is line RFN 672 000 of the French National Rail Network. At most train stations along the route the altitude is engraved in a block of stone (sometimes specified: ''altitude du rail''). These elevations are inaccurate now because the altitude system is now different ( IGN-69). One curiosity of this route is the

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects. Two-dimensional A two-dimension ...

tunnel at Saillens. Note that this line is a section of a railway between Toulouse and Barcelona requiring a change of train at Latour-de-Carol and a journey of 7:00hrs between the two cities, but it avoids, having to use the much more expensive trains such as the

AVE is a Latin word, used by the Roman Empire, Romans as a salutation (greeting), salutation and greeting, meaning 'wikt:hail, hail'. It is the singular imperative mood, imperative form of the verb , which meant 'Well-being, to be well'; thus on ...

(via Perpignan, a route not requiring any changes). A full price ticket costs €30 full price via Latour de Carol compared to between €65 and €90 by TGV or Talgo (May 2011 prices) via Narbonne and / or Figueras.

History

The railway was built by the Compagnie des Chemins de fer du Midi. The first section that was opened in 1861 led from

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

Pamiers Pamiers (; ) is a commune and largest city in the Ariège department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the most populous commune in the Ariège department, although it is not t ...

. The line was extended to

Foix Foix ( , ; ; ) is a commune, the former capital of the County of Foix. It is the capital of the department of Ariège as it is the seat of the prefecture of that department. Foix is located in the Occitanie region of southwestern France ...

in 1862. The line was extended from Foix to Tarascon-sur-Ariège in 1877, and further to

in 1888. Finally in 1929 the section from Ax-les-Thermes to

was opened.

Rolling Stock

TER connections are currently provided by

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

trains model SNCF Z 27500 ( Autorail à grande capacité) which in the 2000s replaced the

SNCF Class Z 7300 The SNCF Class Z 7300 electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction ...

. The direct connection Latour-de-Carol to Paris is provided by the

Intercités de nuit Intercités (IC), known before September 2009 as ''Corail Intercités'', is a brand name used by France's national railway company, the SNCF, to denote non High-speed rail in France, high-speed services on the classic rail network in France. The ...

night train.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portet-Saint-Simon-Puigcerda railway Railway lines in Occitania (administrative region) Cross-border railway lines in France Cross-border railway lines in Spain Railway lines opened in 1929 1861 establishments in France

History

Rolling Stock

See also

References