The
Chemins de Fer de Provence is a small rail company
providing a daily train service between Nice
and Digne-les-Bains
in Provence. Their
one route, which dates from the 1890s, is known locally as the
Train des Pignes.
The
railway's terminus in Nice was until 1991 at Gare du Sud
and since then Gare de Nice CP
. The station is the terminus of a (metre gauge) railway from Digne-les-Bains
.
Construction of line began in 1890 followed by a partial opening in
1892. Construction ended on
3 July 1911 and conceded to Sud-France.
Lines from Nice
stretched to Grasse
, Puget-Théniers
(opened in 1892), Digne
(opened in
1911) and Annot
.
After
World War II, the line to Meyrargues
closed and almost took the entire network with
it. The Chemins de Fer de Provence closed the
Gare du Sud in December 1991 and moved its terminating services to
Nice
CP
.
On
5 November 1994 an
important flooding of the river Var
cut the line in several places and forced upon the
line a total closure. A new bridge at Gueydan was built and
the reopening of the line occurred ion
12
April 1996.
The remaining line is long. It comprises 27 tunnels, including the
long Tunnel de la Colle Saint-Michel. The exit of the tunnel,
Dignes-side, is at high.
Current operations
The railway line is not part of the
Réseau Ferré de France. It
is the Syndicat Mixte Méditerranée Alpes, SYMA, who received its
concession for ninety-nine years in 1972 who owns it.
The SYMA is a grouping
of several authorities (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
, Alpes-Maritimes
, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
, Nice
and Digne-les-Bains
). It is presided by
Gérard Piel, vice-président of the
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur région and delegate of transport of
Antibes. Service of the railway is assured by the CFTA a subsidiary
of
Veolia Transport.
135 persons compose the workforce.
Services
Passenger
service is provided between Nice
and Digne-les-Bains
as well as a more frequent urban service
between Nice
and Plan-du-Var. Steam trains are
operated during the summer season between Puget-Théniers
and Annot
. A
postal service is also operated.
External links