Chemin de Fer du Montenvers

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The Montenvers Railway or Chemin de fer du Montenvers is a rack railway line in the Haute-Savoie region of France. The line runs from a connection with the SNCF, in Chamonix, to the Hotel de Montenvers station, at the Mer de Glace, at an altitude of 1,913 m. The line is 5.1 km long and has a rail gauge of 1,000 mm. It is a rack and adhesion railway, using the Strub design to overcome a height difference of 871 m. Except for the terminal stations, which are operated in adhesion mode, the line has a gradient varying from 11% to 22% and is equipped with rack rail. The line is electrified using an overhead line at 11000 V and 50 Hz ac, and service is provided by 6 electric railcars and 3 diesel locomotives. Trains run at 14 to 20 km/h and take 20 minutes for the journey.