Marguerite starts work on the Mont Blanc mountain railway

In December, the last of four EMUs delivered by Stadler for the refurbishment of the Tramway du Mont-Blanc mountain railway entered service. “Marguerite” joins three other electric trains named “Jeanne”, “Anne” and “Marie”, daughters of the founder of the first operating company. Railway Supply writes about this with reference to the Railway Gazette.

Two-car electric trains with a length of 32 m and a width of 2,700 mm can accommodate 120 seated and 80 standing passengers. Their maximum speed is 20 km/h, instead of 15 km/h as in the previous fleet, which will reduce travel time. They are also equipped with regenerative braking, so their energy consumption will be significantly lower than older trains.

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Funding for the €30m procurement has been provided by the Haute-Savoie council which owns the railway. In June 2020 the council signed a new 15-year contract with operator Compagnie du Mont-Blanc, which provides for an investment of €70m in the line. As well as the four trainsets, the package includes funding for track and signal modernisation and €15m for operations support.

The 12.5 km line runs from the Fayet station in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains at 580 m above sea level to the Nid d’Aigle station at 2,372 m. It is equipped with the Strub rack system and electrified at 11 kV 50 Hz.

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