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Railways through Europe |
maps and interoperabilty |
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Latour de Carol - Enveigt (France - Spain)
In the heart of the Catalan Pyrenees, between the 'bourgs' of Enveigt and
Latour de Carol, an exceptional station is located.
Lines from
Toulouse, Barcelona and Perpignan meet in the French station next
to the Spanish border. The cumulation of three different gauges combined with
three different electrification systems makes this station unique.
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All trains have to terminate in Latour de Carol. In spring 2003 about 5 services
to/from Toulouse-Matabiau (by SNCF) and Barcelona-Sants (by RENFE) are provided daily.
Additionally night-trains to/from Quimper and Paris-Austerlitz reach
Latour de Carol.
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Views of the station of Latour de Carol in the 20's.
© Collection Jean-Pierre Vergez-Larrouy |
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Also destinations like Tourcoing/Lille and Belgium
(Brussels, Ostend, Schaerbeek) were included in the timetable during the last years.
The quantity of services by 'le train jaune' (also operated by SNCF) to Villefranche
(with connection to Perpignan) varies through the year.
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As the french and spanish tracks are constructed with different gauges
(1435mm and 1676mm) no trains run the whole way from Toulouse to Barcelona.
Passengers have to change trains, which are scheduled to offer a direct connection.
Occasional freight-trains pass the border and are worked to Puigcerda,
where goods are reloaded. The double-track line to Puigcerda consists of
two seperate tracks with different gauges and electrified at different currents.
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three gauges next to each other |
With regard to its closed pendant Canfranc, Latour de Carol
offers the third possibility to travel between France and Spain
by train beside Irùn and Port Bou. Operation between Ax-les-Thermes and
Latour de Carol was completely replaced by autocars in the early 80ies,
but has been continued due to public interest.
In summer 2003 the infrastructure operator started to adapt the Spanish line
Borgonya - Ripoll for standard-gauge operation.
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Between 1903 and 1927 the line from Villefranche-Vernet les Bains to Latour de
Carol was built and established a link with the Transpyrénéen Toulouse -
Barcelona. With regard to the landscape 19 tunnels and 2 enormous bridges
had to be constructed on the 63 km long metric-gauge line electrified
at 850 V by third rail.
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Various impressions of Latour de Carol and 'le train jaune' taken in september 2002
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Today SNCF operates between two and five trains per day on the highest
French railway-line, which are mainly used by tourists.
At Villefranche a connecting service to Perpignan is offered.
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page last updated: 27. April 2007 |
©1998-2016 Thorsten Büker |
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