Thursday 11 January - Train Riding the Grande Ceinture

The forecast was for a grey day with possibly a little rain. I decided to take another look at the section of the Grande Ceinture line at Saint Germain en Laye - we rode over part of this on Tuesday.  It is a former freight line (originally freight and passenger), a short section of which was rebuilt for passenger train operation in the early 1990s.  It will eventually be part of the Tangential tram line with the northern end connected to San Germain en Laye RER line A station and the southern end somehow connected to Versailles (the Grande Ceinture unused line runs to St. Cye, some way to the west of Versailles).

The styation at Saint Germainen Laye Grande Ceinture.  This is where we should have walked to on Tuesday

The end of the line at Saine Germain en Laye with the rails still in place.

Two trains are used on this line running a half hour service. They are painted for the Transilien

Different seating arrangement

The taggers have been at work making it difficult to see out in places.

The line runs through partly new development with much forest as well.

The other, south, end of the line is at Roissy le Roi

Looking south with the unused line stretching away towards Versailles.

Saint Nom la Breteche looking north towards Saint Germain en Laye

The line is double track throughout with 25KV overhead wires while the signalling is SNCF with "crocodile" ramps. These trains are due to be replaced with SNCF tram trains.

Saint Nom la Breteche is the terminus of line L from Saint Lazare. Trains run every 15 minutes.  These will be replaced by the Z50000 trains which already cover most of the services on the branch to Versailles RD. Note the crocodile in the right foreground.

I went back to La Defense and took a ride out to Cergy le Haut on Line A.  Uninteresting urban development most of the way. The Seine is high and overflowing in places following the rains we have had in the last ten days or so. SNCF have a large locomotive works at Achere with a number of decommissioned locomotives stored in the dead line including some of the BB 17xxx electrics that formerly worked into Saint Lazare and Gare du Nord.