Ligne de Grenoble - Montmélian

The Ligne de Grenoble - Montmélian is a 52 km long railway in south west France. It was built by the PLM and opened on 15 September 1864 (as a double track) to provide a link between Grenoble and Montmélian. In September 1991 it was electrified between Grenoble and Gières and electrification of the whole line is planned [cite web |url=http://www.sillonalpinsud.fr/sillonalpinsud/electrification/gieres_montmelian.html |title=Sillon Alpin Sud - Gières - Montmélian, modernisation et électrification |publisher=Sillon Alpin Sud |accessdate=2008-05-29] .

History

In the past the line took a route more north, closer to the centre of Grenoble. However, as part of the city's preparations for the 1968 Winter Olympics, the route was moved south, next to the Rocade Sud. This added about 3km to the total length of the track, so to not have the laborious task of changing all the milestones along the route, this new section was given distances as if it were part of the Ligne de Lyon - Grenoble, all the while staying part of this line. A part of the old line is still existent at coord|45|10|46.10|N|5|43|12.16|E|scale:10_region:FR-38.

In an effort to make the line more profitable, the stations St Hélène du Lac, Le-Cheylas-la-Bussière, Tencin-Theys, Lancey and Domène were all closed to passenger traffic during the 1990s. However Domène still sells tickets, there is a bus service between Goncelin and Le-Cheylas-la-Bussière and Lancey was reopened in 2005 after being completely refurbished. The station Eybens (Jeux Olympiques) was only opened during the 1968 Winter Olympics and was never expected to stay open in the long term.

Images

Notes and references

See also

#TER Rhône-Alpes
#List of SNCF stations in Rhône-Alpes
#SNCF
#RFF

External links

#fr icon [http://perso.orange.fr/dodo.al/html/lignes/lig_524.htm External Link] — basic, open stations
#fr icon [http://perso.orange.fr/florent.brisou/Grenoble-Montmelian Rail 21] — map, all stations, facts
#fr icon [http://www.railsavoie.org/cartes/mmlgrenoble.html railsavoie.org] — only Pontcharra → Montmélian