Train des pignes

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:

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.

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.

History

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

  • Nice — Meyrargues (210 kilometres (130 mi))
  • 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)

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

Rolling stock

Former rolling stock

Railcars by Brissonneau & Lotz and Renault were used.[1]

Current rolling stock

The current rolling stock in use is:-[1]

  • 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.[2]

Steam train

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.[3]

gollark: This seems weird. It isn't as if all acts are either perfectly fine or proscribed.
gollark: If you look sufficiently confident and/or attractive, you can do anything ever and nobody can hope to stop you.
gollark: You should be less confident. You're very wrong.
gollark: Who is going to benefit from this exactly?
gollark: People will not be convinced by one sentence which is basically just "this isn't true because authority says so".

References
  1. "History of the rolling stock". Chemins de Fer de Provence. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  2. "Practical information". Chemins de Fer de Provence. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  3. "Le Train Vapeur" (in French). Chemins de Fer de Provence. Retrieved 2008-04-10.

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