Le Petit Train Jaune

 

For a breathtaking yet enjoyable ride, take ‘Le Petit Train Jaune’ (the little yellow train), also affectionately called ‘Canari’, which has been traversing this territory for 90 years.

 

Departing from Villefranche-de-Conflent (427m), it climbs to the highest train station in Europe, Bolquère (1,593m), before reaching Latour-de-Carol (1,231m). The 64km route is open all year and serves as a lifeline to remote villages during the winter. During the summer it provides a refreshingly cool diversion for those not afraid of heights. The train is run by SNCF (the French state operator) and thrills are free when you pass through some of the 19 tunnels and over 2 major bridges as the narrow gauge train meanders its way through the mountains. The scenery is breathtaking at every turn (unless you have your eyes closed going over a bridge). Departures are twice a day.

 

A must for tourists, it's useful for skiers, walkers and mushroom pickers too!

Latour-de-Carol is a village near the border with Spain and Andorra. With a population of less than 400, its train station is served by both RENFE (the Spanish state operator) and SNCF, as well as the local metre-gauge Yellow Train, and trains on the various lines run to Barcelona, Foix, Toulouse, and Villefranche-de-Conflent. It is therefore unusual in being a junction for lines of three different gauges: metre-gauge, the standard gauge of SNCF and the broad gauge of RENFE. The station is the closest railway station to Andorra. 

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