Panoramique des Dômes

Panoramique des Dômes
The train at the bottom of Puy de Dôme
Overview
Status	in operation
Owner	Département du Puy-de-Dôme
Locale	Puy de Dôme, France
Service
Operator(s)	SNC-Lavalin
History
Opened	26 May 2012
Technical
Line length	5.2 km (3.2 mi)
Number of tracks	single
Rack system	Strub
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Electrification	1500 V, DC overhead line

The Panoramique des Dômes is a 5.2-kilometre (3.2 mi)-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 [1,280 ft]) to an artificial platform near the mountain top at 1,414 metres (4,639 ft). The railway was 14.7 km (9.1 mi) 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

Early publicity poster from Chemins de fer Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée

The Swiss firm Stadler 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).

Train length  : 36.5 metres (119 ft 9 in)

Capacity: 200 (112 seating and 88 standing)

In April 2023, it was announced that Stadler, along with local company ACC M, are to undertake the mid-life refurbishment of the four motor cars. One trainset will be refurbished at a time, with the first to be taken out of services after the summer of 2023 and completed before the summer of 2024.[5]

See also

• List of highest railways in Europe

References

Share certificate of the Clermont-Ferrand au Sommet du Puy-de-Dome railway company, issued 12. December 1907

1. "Conseil général du Puy-de-Dôme (CG63) : Panoramique des Dômes, le train". Archived from the original on 2010-08-23. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
2. http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/peclegg/sncf/articles/article.html ^[dead link‍]
3. Rendez-vous au sommet dans deux ans Archived 2010-03-14 at the Wayback Machine - La Montagne - Julien Dodon - 10 MARS 2010
4. Press release, 15 April 2013 (in French)
5. "Panoramique des Dômes mountain railway trains to be refurbished". Railway Gazette International. 16 April 2023. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.

External links

• Conseil Général du Puy de Dôme, Panoramique des Dômes
• Journey to the top with the Panoramic of the Domes

45.7667°N 2.9686°E / 45.7667; 2.9686