Heritage route
Velay Express
Raucoules → Saint-Agrève · France
View on the map →Wikipedia (FR) ↗
France’s highest steam railway: a 1906 Mallet hauls metre-gauge trains across the 1,000 m Velay plateau between Raucoules and Saint-Agrève.
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 8827501 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 5 m from it
- The operator publishes this line's timetable: Voies Ferrées du Velay — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Questions and answers
How long is the Velay Express?
The Velay Express runs 27 km from Raucoules to Saint-Agrève.
How long does the Velay Express take?
The fastest scheduled journey is ~1 h 45 min for the 27 km. That is an average of 15 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 40 km/h.
Who runs the Velay Express?
Voies Ferrées du Velay, with steam 020+020 T Mallet, 040 T.
How old is the Velay Express?
The line has been in service since 1902. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
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