The Vall de Núria Rack Railway (, ) is a
mountain railway
A mountain railway is a railway that operates in a mountainous region. It may operate through the mountains by following mountain valleys and tunneling beneath mountain passes, or it may climb a mountain to provide transport to and from the su ...
in 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. ...
mountains in the north of the
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
region of
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. The line connects
Ribes de Freser
Ribes de Freser () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Ripollès in Girona, Catalonia. It is situated at the confluence of the Freser, Rigard and
Segadell rivers, north of Ripoll. It is known for its mineral water,
paper manufactu ...
with
Queralbs
Queralbs () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Ripollès in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the Pyrenees to the north of Ribes de Freser, near the peaks of Puigmal (2909 m), Infern (2896 m) and No ...
and
Vall de Núria
Vall de Núria (, "The Valley of Núria") is a south-opening valley coming down from the crest of the Pyrenees within the municipality of Queralbs, province of Girona, community of Catalonia, Spain.
The floor of the valley lies about above se ...
in
Ripollès
Ripollès (; ) is a Comarques of Catalonia, comarca (county) in the Comarques Gironines, Girona region, Catalonia, Spain. It is located in the Vall de Ribes, Ribes and Camprodon river valleys. In 2001, its population was 25,744, about 40% of whom ...
,
Girona
Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...
. As Queralbs is the highest point in the valley reachable by road, the rack railway is – along with the old
footpath
A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as Motor vehicle, motorized vehicles, bicycles and horseback, horses. They ...
/
mule track – the only way to reach the
shrine
A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...
and ski resort at Núria.
The line opened on March 22, 1931, and has been electrically operated from the start. It became part of the
Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya
(, "Catalan Government Railways"; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Ferrocarriles de la Generalidad de Cataluña''), or FGC, is a railway company which operates several unconnected lines in Catalonia, Spain.
The lines operated include metro and commu ...
(FGC) on January 2, 1984 and remains in their ownership. The line connects to the
main R3 line at Ribes de Freser, but the stations have separate access.
The line is long and has a
rail gauge
In rail transport, track gauge is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many different track gauges exist worldwide, gauge dif ...
of . The first of the line is operated by conventional
rail adhesion
An adhesion railway relies on adhesion traction to move the train, and is the most widespread and common type of railway in the world. Adhesion traction is the friction between the drive wheels and the steel rail. Since the vast majority of railw ...
. The remainder of the line is operated as a
rack railway
A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with ...
, using the
Abt system and with a maximum gradient of 15%. In total the line overcomes a height difference of . The line is electrified with an overhead supply at 1500
V DC.
Rolling stock
Three generations of
rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...
exist on the line. The original stock consisted of passenger cars hauled by four six-wheeled electric locomotives, numbered E1-E4, built by
SLM and
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
in 1930–31. They were supplemented by four two-car electric trains numbered A5-A8, built by SLM and BBC in 1985.
The final generation is represented by two low-floor electric motor coaches of type
Stadler GTW
The Stadler GTW (, ) is an articulated railcar for local transport made by Stadler Rail of Switzerland.
History
The Biel–Täuffelen–Ins-Bahn near Bern, Switzerland was looking for a lighter train model to replace its aging fleet, so tha ...
and numbered A10-A11, built by
Stadler Rail
Stadler Rail AG is a Swiss manufacturer of railway rolling stock, with an original emphasis on regional train multiple units and trams, but moving also into Rapid transit, mass rapid transit, High-speed rail, high speed, Inter-city rail, interci ...
in Switzerland in 2003. The line also owns a diesel rack locomotive, D9, used on
works trains and to push the
snow plough.
Cars A10 and A11 are identical to the rolling stock of the
Montserrat Rack Railway. The Montserrat line is also owned by the FGC and some stock is shared between the lines. Locomotive E4 is transferred for use on work trains.
Rolling stock of the
Montserrat Rack Railway are listed, if they are or were also used in Vall Núria
**) Original roster, built by Vereinigte Westdeutsche Waggonfabrik A.G., is said to have been formed of Affw 2, ABffw 11–15, Bffw 21–28 and Aaffw 51. However, box car 01 was rebuilt from Affw 1 and there was a Bffw 29; at the same time ABffw 13–15 and Bffw 26 were off the roster.
See also
*
List of highest railways in Europe
This is a list of highest passenger railways in operation in Europe. It includes only non-cable railways whose culminating point is over 1,200 metres above sea level. Most of them are located in the Alps, where two railways, the Jungfrau and Gorn ...
References
External links
Vall de Núria Rack Railway websiteVall de Núria Rack Railwayat Finding the Universe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vall De Nuria Rack Railway
Mountain railways
Metre-gauge railways in Spain
Rack railways in Catalonia
Transport in Ripollès
Pyrenees
Buildings and structures in the Province of Girona