Fenway1912
Member
France currently has four mountain-climbing rack railways in use. Two in the Alps near Mont Blanc, one in the Basque Country on the Franco-Spanish border and one in the Massif Central. The latter is the modern Panoramique des Domes, which only opened in 2012 with modern EMus from the Swiss builder Stadler.
With a length of 5.3 km it reaches the summit of the dormant volcano Puy de Dome and takes 15 mins in either direction. This means that for the railway's normal timetable and headway of a train every 40 mins, one set is enough to do it all. In absolutely peak periods a second set can be deployed, as there is a mid-way passing point on the otherwise single track line.
Here are some impressions from this attractive line, which does not suffer from overtourism or mass crowding, unlike the rack railway in the French Alps at Chamonix.
The Puy de Dome base station is about 30 mins by car or bus from Clermont-Ferrand, though most people arrive there without public transport.
Here the footage:
Puy de Dome French Rack Railway with Grand Views
With a length of 5.3 km it reaches the summit of the dormant volcano Puy de Dome and takes 15 mins in either direction. This means that for the railway's normal timetable and headway of a train every 40 mins, one set is enough to do it all. In absolutely peak periods a second set can be deployed, as there is a mid-way passing point on the otherwise single track line.
Here are some impressions from this attractive line, which does not suffer from overtourism or mass crowding, unlike the rack railway in the French Alps at Chamonix.
The Puy de Dome base station is about 30 mins by car or bus from Clermont-Ferrand, though most people arrive there without public transport.
Here the footage:
Puy de Dome French Rack Railway with Grand Views