Le Petit Train de La Mure rides again

After an 11-year wait, Katja Gaskell catches a ride on France’s most memorable railway journey

For more than 100 years Le Petit Train de La Mure navigated the steep, narrow railway line that ran between the small mountain mining community of La Mure and the town of Saint-Georges-de-Commiers. What started as a coal train later became a dedicated tourist railway and the route through the Drac Valley and across the Matheysine Plateau was dubbed “the most beautiful train line in the Alps”.

Then, early one morning in October 2010, Le Petit Train was stopped in its tracks – literally – when 3,000 cubic metres of mountain came crashing down onto the railway lines. The landslide marked the end of the train’s journeys and for the last 11 years the postbox-red locomotives have been consigned to the rail depot.

In the years since the landslide derailed Le Petit Train, local and regional governments have been pushing to bring the train back to life and, in doing so, entice more visitors to this corner of southeastern France. And this July, after three years of work and €34.7 million, Le Petit Train rode the rails once more using three of the original locomotives that have been restored and modernised. I was lucky enough to catch a ride.

There are currently three departures a day for the three-hour round trip. Plans are in place to increase the schedule to eight trips daily. I had tickets for the last train which was due to depart at 4.10pm. As the stationmaster came into view, the waiting crowd moved politely – but with some degree of urgency – towards the ticket barrier. It was 30C outside and everyone had their eye on the baladeuse, the openair train carriage that once carried freight and materials and now ferries passengers.

There are three other train carriages to choose from, all painted the same pillarbox red as the locomotive. These are not the original passenger carriages, however, the earlier railcars having been unsalvageable. Instead, these carriages were brought over from Switzerland, one of the few countries with a network of narrow-gauge railway tracks. Most train tracks in the world have a standard gauge of 1.45m but Le Petit Train tracks have a 1m gauge, all the better for winding around the mountains.

I managed to nab a bench next to the window in the coveted baladeuse wagon. At 4.10pm on the nose, the driver gave a sharp blast of the train’s horn and we pulled out of the station.

A handful of people clapped and several others raised a cheer. It was clear as we started rolling along that everyone was genuinely excited to have the train back. Two little girls waved furiously from behind a chain-link fence as we rumbled by and at level crossings drivers beeped their horns.

Everyone, it seemed, was happy to see Le Petit Train again. Well, not everyone. I was sharing a booth with a quartet of young teenagers who appeared to have been dragged along somewhat reluctantly by their mothers. One of them, a girl, sighed deeply and rolled her eyes when she discovered that it was a return trip. The boy next to me kept his headphones firmly plugged in.

Almost immediately after leaving the station at La Mure we were in the countryside. Vibrant green hedges taller than the train carriages themselves flanked the railway line before giving way to views over the equally verdant Matheysine plateau. We passed small clusters of concrete houses with wooden shutters in shades of blues and browns, the odd former stationmaster’s house and through a handful of dark stone tunnels. The longest, the Tunnel de La Festinière, is two thirds of a mile long and the stone walls are so close that everyone sitting at a window seat in the baladeuse quickly brought stray arms and elbows back inside the cabin.

After emerging from this particular tunnel, we arrived at La Motted’Aveillans, another former mining town. These days it is home to the Musée La Mine, the Mine Museum, which explores how mining shaped the area. If you catch one of the earlier departing trains you can stop here on your return trip and then hop on a later train for the final part of the journey back to La Mure.

Not long afterwards, we trundled over an ancient towering viaduct. Altogether, the train passes through five tunnels and across three viaducts. The viaducts are unfathomably narrow and vertigo-inducingly tall, linking the rail track over ravines that drop more than 300ft below. The crowd in the baladeuse peered somewhat nervously over the sides at the sheer drop below us. Even the teenagers seemed to be impressed.

We continued to clickety-clack along the tracks at a gentle 18 miles per hour, spotting small villages cocooned within the green countryside and the ruins of an ancient chateau that was slowly being swallowed up by the forest. In the distance rose Mont Aiguille, part of the Vercors Massif. An ascent in 1492 is thought to have marked the beginning of mountaineering as a sport.

After 40 minutes we pulled into the station at Grand Balcon where we all disembarked. A short distance up the track is where the landslide occurred in 2010. The train line was so badly damaged that it was beyond repair; today Le Petit Train runs only half of its original route.

The Grand Balcon is home to Monteynard Lake and one of the largest dams in France, Le Géant du Drac, the Giant of the Drac Valley. A path leads from the train station, past a restaurant and down to a viewing platform. Here, you can look out over the vast artificial lake of Monteynard that was created in 1962 to power the dam. It was a stunning sight, the peacock-blue waters sparkling in the sunlight.

We were given 50 minutes at the Grand Balcon to explore but some passengers decide to forgo the walk down to the dam. Instead, a queue quickly formed of travellers determined to get one of the sought-after baladeuse spots for the return journey. It is no surprise when I am relegated to one of the covered passenger cabins: comfortable, but lacking a cool breeze. No matter, we were soon on our way again, ambling back along the tracks just as Le Petit Train de La Mure has done for more than 100 years.

Two little girls waved furiously from behind a chain-link fence as we rumbled by

The route taken by Le Petit Train was dubbed ‘the most beautiful train line in the Alps’ Katja Gaskell secured a window seat for her trip – not to be missed...