Portet-Saint-Simon–Puigcerdà railway

Portet-Saint-Simon–Puigcerdà railway
Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg station
Overview
System	SNCF
Status	Operational
Locale	France (Midi-Pyrénées,  Languedoc-Roussillon) Spain (Catalonia)
Termini	Gare de Portet-Saint-Simon Puigcerdà railway station
Operation
Opened	1861-1929
Owner	RFF
Operator(s)	SNCF
Technical
Line length	155 km (96 mi)
Number of tracks	single track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	1.5 kV DC
Route map Line from Toulouse 11.7 Portet-Saint-Simon Line to Tarbes and Bayonne 13.6 River Garonne 17.4 Pins-Justaret 23.0 Venerque-le-Vernet 33.4 Auterive 39.8 Cintegabelle 48.4 Saverdun 56.0 Le Vernet-d'Ariège 64.2 Pamiers 73.5 Varilhes 77.3 Saint-Jean-de-Verges 82.2 Foix 88.8 Saint-Paul-Saint-Antoine 98.0 Tarascon-sur-Ariège 108.5 Les Cabannes 115.0 Luzenac-Garanou 123.3 Ax-les-Thermes 133.1 Mérens-les-Vals 144.0 L'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre 150.3 Porté-Puymorens 163.0 Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg Line to Villefranche-Vernet 164.7 50.8 France Spain 48.7 Puigcerdà to Barcelona

The Portet-Saint-Simon - Puigcerdà railway is a secondary railway line in southwestern France. It connects Portet-sur-Garonne, 11 km south of Toulouse on the Toulouse–Bayonne railway, to Latour-de-Carol and Puigcerdà, towns located on each side of the French/Spanish border in Cerdanya. The railway was opened in several stages between 1861 and 1929.

Since the closure of the railway from Pau to Huesca via Canfranc in 1970, it is the only railway crossing the Pyrenees main chain. It is used daily by Corail Lunéa trains from Paris to Latour-de-Carol and Transport express régional, (TER) trains from Toulouse to Pamiers, Foix, Ax-les-Thermes and Latour-de-Carol. Most freight and long-distance passenger trains use either the Bordeaux–Irun railway around the western end of the Pyrenees, or the Narbonne–Portbou railway around the eastern end.

Today, SNCF service terminates at the French side of the border at Latour-de-Carol. The service between Latour-de-Carol and Puigcerdà and onwards to Barcelona is provided by the Spanish Railway (RENFE) for which the gauge is 1,668 mm (5 ft 5 ²¹⁄₃₂ in). The RENFE train from Latour-de-Carol connects directly with Barcelona but in July 2014 there are only five trains a day to Barcelona (and four from the city).

It is line RFN 672 000 of the French National Rail Network.

At most train stations along the route the altitude is engraved in a block of stone (sometimes specified: altitude du rail). These elevations are inaccurate now because the altitude system is now different (IGN-69).

One curiosity of this route is the Spiral tunnel at Saillens.