A French railway closed for 10 years will be put back into service in 2025 with hydrogen trains.
This is the rail link between the spa resort of Luchon and the town of Montréjeau in the Haute-Garonne department, officials from the Occitanie region, the manager of this infrastructure, have announced.
From May 2025, the Montréjeau-Luchon railway, which has been closed since 2014, will be put back into service. At a public meeting in Loures-Barousse (Hautes-Pyrénées department), the President of the Region, Carole Delga, presented the progress of the project. Several phases of work are needed to make the 36 km of single track passable again. The first phase, which began in December 2023 and was completed this month, involved dismantling the old tracks, removing vegetation and demolishing platforms.
The second phase of work on site starts in summer
The second phase of the site, which will run from mid-July 2024 to March 2025, will involve laying new rails and rebuilding platforms at the halts to be rehabilitated. The terminus station of the route, currently closed, will also benefit from major renovation works financed by the Occitanie Region.
Trains will initially be diesel-powered, then hydrogen-powered, and will stop at stations along the route: Montréjeau-Gourdan-Polignan, Loures-Barousse, Marignac-Saint-Béat, Saléchan-Siradan and Bagnères-de-Luchon. Six pairs of trains per day are planned and the journey time will be 35 minutes. Some trains will go as far as Toulouse.
To please mountain lovers too, the Region’s officials have announced the return of the Skirail train to Peyragudes and Superbagnères stations. The first hydrogen-powered trains produced by Alstom are expected to arrive at the end of 2025, for commercial operation from 2026.
In total, the work to restart rail traffic on this line will be worth EUR 67 million.
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