The Arrival of the Railway in the Barcelonnette Valley
Once upon a time, there was the epic story of the Southern Alps railway, in the Barcelonnette Valley. A remarkable adventure is told once again in this blog. It is a defining historical episode of our beloved Ubaye Valley.
The Railway in the Ubaye: A Colossal Gamble
Building this project was an immense challenge. Laying a railway line through a rugged Alpine massif, as one can imagine, was no small feat. Maintaining a gradient not exceeding 4% through such mountainous terrain was a true challenge. A massive undertaking.
A Gigantic Challenge Between the Hautes-Alpes (05) and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04)
Colossal means and efforts were required to bore through mountains, span valleys, grade riverbanks, and support slopes and embankments. Countless rocks had to be cut to erect the piers supporting the viaducts. A large workforce had to be provided, fed and supplied, vast quantities of cut stone transported, and thousands of tonnes of material moved and removed.
Why a Railway to Barcelonnette
It all began in 1878 with a parliamentary vote on a plan known as the Freycinet Plan, which required every prefecture and sub-prefecture to be connected by rail to the national network. Barcelonnette, the sub-prefecture of the Basses-Alpes (the former name of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), was necessarily required to comply with this decree, and to support the many military garrisons stationed near the Italian border in the Ubaye, such as those at the Fort de Tournoux above the village of La Condamine-Châtelard.
The connection to the existing national network for Barcelonnette would branch off at Chorges, on the Valence-Veynes-Briançon line, from 1909 onwards. This line from Chorges starts at an altitude of 857 metres and ends at 1,135 metres in Barcelonnette, a difference in elevation of 278 metres. The route plans for a single track over 42 km, with the construction of 27 bridges/viaducts, the boring of 11 tunnels with a combined length of 6,528 metres, and the building of 6 passing stations.
Alongside this railway project, plans were also drawn up to build a dam at Serre-Ponçon, on a smaller scale than the one that exists today. This hydroelectric reservoir project on the Durance prompted a modification of the original route to a higher elevation in 1911.
The Route from Chorges to Barcelonnette
The concession was held by the Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM), a private company. The second route, modified in 1911 to account for the future Serre-Ponçon lake, branches off from the Gap-Briançon line at kilometre 7703. It veers right, crossing the Moulettes torrent via the Chanteloube viaduct (built), then through the 578 m Hyvans tunnel (built), to emerge onto the Prégo-Diou viaduct spanning the Durance on five piers (partially built).
The route continues underground for 2 km through the Sauze tunnel beneath Sauze-du-Lac. It then emerges onto the Ubaye to follow its right bank through a succession of around ten small tunnels and viaducts, up to the 1.6 km Saint-Martin-la-Blâche tunnel. This last tunnel emerges near the village of Le Lauzet. Then, along Lac du Lauzet, a platform is created to launch the route which would partially narrow the lake.
Le Martinet: The Final Stop — All Change!
The construction of the route towards Barcelonnette continued for another 7 km to the village of Le Martinet, following a succession of retaining walls and small tunnels still visible today. The final 15 km to reach Barcelonnette, the intended destination, would never be built. In 1935, the construction site was abandoned, leaving the line unfinished.
The village of Le Martinet, where the construction works on the Chorges-Barcelonnette railway came to an end. This photo, taken from a postcard written in 1933, shows the end of the line's platform with the construction wagons. Today, the Oueds & Rios base is right behind those wagons, just below in the cluster of lilac bushes.
Railway Hiking in the Ubaye Valley
A brief aside for those of you on holiday in the Ubaye Valley. This railway hike will take you back a century, into the incredible story of a railway line built through tunnels and aerial bridges. A unique and different way to go hiking — a wonderful physical and intellectual adventure to share as a family, before or after a great rafting trip down the Ubaye, or going hydrospeed, of course ;)
Here is the link to view the railway route and all the information you need to complete this railway hike:
Railway route map and technical guide for the railway hike
A very special mention for the two most impressive engineering works built along the Chorges-Barcelonnette line.
The Viaducts of the Ubaye
Chanteloube Viaduct
The Chanteloube viaduct crossed the Moulettes ravine, a tributary of the Durance. No other viaduct of the time was as tall — built entirely in masonry, standing 61 metres high, with wide-span arches (6 arches of 27 metres each) and relatively slender piers (3 m 80 thick at the base), minimising costs and load on the foundations. Above it ran an S-shaped deck over a length of 300 m.
Prégo-Dieu Viaduct
The Prégo-Diou viaduct (Prie-Dieu*) is a masterful structure, 825 metres long and 72 metres high. It spans the Durance, resting on 5 large masonry piers (2 of the 5 were never completed). The metal deck planned for it was never laid. Construction was halted in 1935.
The structure remained as it stood until the construction of the Serre-Ponçon dam in 1959, when it was demolished by a local company that recovered the cut stone in exchange.
(*) Paul Séjourné, the structure's engineer, feared possible subsidence of the piers. He is said to have declared: « Let us pray to God that it holds. » Hence the name of this viaduct in the local dialect: « Prego Diou ».
The Impact of a Railway Network in a Valley
A Disruption to the Local Economy
The Southern Alps rail network contributed greatly to the region's economic development. However, due to the competition from rail, travelling peddlers were pushed to seek better-paid employment. Many of them tried their luck in Mexico. As elsewhere in rural France, the agricultural economy gradually became more specialised. Crops that could be obtained elsewhere under better conditions were abandoned — gone were the flax, hemp, and high-altitude vineyards (up to 1,050 m in the Ubaye). Cereal crops gave way to livestock farming in the upper valleys.
In the Diois region, for example, traditional livestock farming gave way to the production of fattened lamb raised in stalls. In the lower valleys of the Buëch, the Durance and the Var, market garden and orchard produce benefited from easier transport and favourable rates offered by the rail network. The construction of hydroelectric dams, industrial zones (Argentière, Saint-Auban), and cement works (Paillon valley, near Nice) was made possible thanks to the presence of the railway.
The Rise of a New Economy: Tourism
Tourism and its development were driven by the presence of the rail network. It was at the root of the tourism success of the Briançonnais region, thanks to the regular rail 'express' services. The Paris-Briançon became a daily year-round line, with greatly increased services in winter. Evidence, by contrast, of the delayed growth brought to tourism in the Ubaye Valley.
Progress of the Railway Construction in the Ubaye Valley
A Turbulent Progress
The works, interrupted by the war, resumed in 1915. In 1917, they were halted again due to a lack of labour and materials, but restarted in 1919. The workforce included Kabyle workers from Algeria — then French territory — as well as Italians, the vast majority of whom would settle in the valley. Progress in the tunnels was painfully slow... the word at the time was one of desperate sluggishness. The construction site was ultimately abandoned in 1935. It was in 1937 that the Conseil Général des Basses-Alpes officially confirmed the halt, having made headlines and caused deep disappointment among the population of the Ubaye Valley.
A Challenging Economic Climate
Slowdown and end of construction at Le Martinet in the Ubaye Valley
The First World War slowed the construction of this immense project. German prisoners of war took part in the works during this period. When peace returned, the works continued and the population regained hope of having a train to Barcelonnette. Although the earthworks and construction of engineering structures had for the most part progressed well, or even been completed, by 1935 the die was cast.
Abandonment of the Ubaye Rail Project
The dismantling and abandonment of ongoing railway route projects in the Southern Alps.
A General Trend
The Southern Alps suffered from belonging to a centralised country with uniform rules, which disregarded the idea of specific policies for mountain regions. It was also a difficult period in terms of military expenditure. In this context, one can imagine that locally, private interests and the pressure of influential groups made it easier to steer the project towards abandonment.
When Did This Dismantling Begin?
Between 1925 and 1951, with the exception of the Veynes junction, the Saint-Auban–Digne-les-Bains branch line and the Nice–Digne line, all other networks were abandoned for passenger transport. A large part of freight traffic was also abandoned (the Châtillon-en-Diois tram in 1927, all those in the Nice region, successively closed between 1928 and 1932, etc.).
The war had a serious impact on the future of rail transport. The double track between Veynes and Argentière was removed. Engineering structures were destroyed no fewer than three times by the various armies on the move. In 1940: 8 tunnels and 11 viaducts were destroyed. The Nice-Meyrargues line was cut in three sections, with service suspended in 1950.
What Were the Reasons Behind This Dismantling?
Apart from the extensive war damage, the abandonment of the Southern Alps network is also explained by the same causes as in the rest of France: road competition, but with some specific details.
The lines that were closed or abandoned were not profitable given the growing depopulation of rural areas. Another reason was that road networks, with their low traffic levels, offered buses a faster and more flexible service.
Between the two World Wars, everything was difficult for the railways, already in a dire economic situation. Rail lost ground to road and air competition. Wealthier travellers turned to private transport, either buying their own car or using the increasingly numerous 'Alpine coach' services along the Route des Alpes. This class of traveller preferred this new way of getting around to the smoke-filled carriages, platform waits and the perceived rigidity of rail inspectors.
The railways' response, through the modernisation of trams and the arrival of railcars, did demonstrate greater comfort and speed — the Nice–Digne journey was cut from 5 hours to 3 hours. But the more influential 'road lobby', backed by business-minded politicians, gradually turned the tide in favour of road transport.
During the construction of the Serre-Ponçon dam, the lines beyond Gap narrowly survived. It was thanks to the Péchiney factory at l'Argentière that the line was preserved, and that tourism in the Briançonnais was saved by a narrow margin.
The Reasons Behind the Abandonment of the Chorges–Barcelonnette Line
The Rise of Road Transport
As mentioned above, one reason was the development of road transport and the pressure created by its advocates. It is worth noting that the PLM company held the concession for the Chorges-Barcelonnette railway project, but also had a foot in the road transport industry. As early as 1910, a public inquiry was conducted into the future means of transport along the road. The Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée railway company (P.L.M.) put itself forward as a candidate to develop a road transport service.
Indeed, this same company operated numerous bus routes and owned hotels linked to them. The Route des Grandes Alpes, a tourism route in successive stages, was developed jointly with the Touring-Club de France and the PLM. Not to mention the involvement of a business-minded politician with 'interests' in the road transport company — a clear conflict of interests.
Military Priorities in Decline
The military argument was also put forward as a reason for abandonment. One of the goals in building this line was to facilitate troop movements, as the Ubaye Valley remained one of the easiest crossing points through the Alps. But the priority had changed between the two World Wars. The Minister of War had made his view known as early as 1934: this route would no longer be 'of any use'.
The Barcelonnettes from Mexico
Another reason sometimes cited is the covert action of certain 'Americans' — the Barcelonnettes, Mexico emigrants who were rather active in preserving their ancestral homeland from the excesses of progress. But some of them were also investors equally active in the road transport trade. The line was officially downgraded on 30 November 1941.
Permanently Submerged by the Waters
The 1955 Serre-Ponçon dam project intended to flood the structures of the Chorges-Barcelonnette line at the confluence of the Durance and the Ubaye. While the structures and platforms of the Briançon line were relocated to a higher elevation, those of the Barcelonnette line would not be moved or replaced. The Chanteloube structure and the Hyvans tunnel were flooded. The magnificent piers of Prégo-Diou were destroyed, and the Sauze tunnel — over 2 km long, the longest in the Hautes-Alpes — disappeared beneath the waters.
This link is of interest — an inventory of the traces of the railway route's structures, submerged by the waters and sediments of Lac de Serre-Ponçon:
www.tunnels-ferroviaires.org
A Breath of Hope in 1976
Following the revival of two lines in the Alpes-Maritimes (Cannes–Grasse and the cross-border Nice–Cuneo line), hopes were raised of a similar revival for the Ubaye Valley. Some believed it possible to unlock rail access to Barcelonnette — either via the originally planned Chorges route, or by boring a tunnel under the Col d'Allos to branch onto the Nice–Digne line at Thorame. This would open a bright future for the resorts of Le Sauze and Pra-Loup, drawing visitors from the Côte d'Azur.
The National Context
The Scale of Rail Dismantling at the National Level
Across France, in 1934, the creation of the 'rail-road coordination' decrees authorised the transfer to road of services previously offered by rail. This was initially a tentative start to line closures — that year, only 230 km were closed to passengers.
But it was in 1938, with the creation of SNCF under the Popular Front government, that the French rail network suffered a real wholesale purge — more so in France than anywhere else in Europe. In 1938, the SNCF spontaneously closed 4,238 km of lines to passengers. In 1939, a further 4,155 km disappeared to the detriment of travellers. All of this opened the door to coach services, which would gradually give way to private car ownership after the Second World War. Freight services suffered the same fate progressively before their post-war liquidation. In 1940, the closures continued with 1,403 km of line, then 1,721 km in 1969 and 1,365 km of track in 1970.
Traces of the Railway Past, from Lac de Serre-Ponçon to the Ubaye Valley
The Current State, from Chorges to Barcelonnette
From the old embankment freed up following the rerouting of the Briançon line, one can access the site of the Chanteloube viaduct, which has become a water sports venue. The structure, submerged beneath the dam's waters, still allows the northern approach ramp to be seen. When the lake level drops, the viaduct's deck and arches emerge. It is accessible to hikers and sometimes allows a complete crossing — warning: the site is unsecured due to the absence of handrails.
Well past Sauze-du-Lac, the former railway land now serves the road axis linking Savines-le-Lac to the village of Lauzet-sur-Ubaye. The first two tunnels serve as one-way passages for each direction of traffic. Another has been converted into a warehouse.
Beyond the former village of Roche Rousse, the line becomes a hiking and mountain bike trail, with two successive tunnels, then the metal footbridge of l'Enduchet (built in the early 2000s), replacing the masonry bridge of the same name, blown up by retreating German forces heading towards Italy during the Second World War.
You then reach the entrance to the Saint-Martin-la-Blâche tunnel, 1.614 km long, which at its far end spans the Ubaye via a viaduct to emerge at Le Lauzet. The tunnel is not lit and requires a head torch to traverse. It was used as a mushroom farm in the late 1980s.
From Le Lauzet to Le Martinet, the platforms and foundations of the old line have been developed as a parallel road axis leading to Barcelonnette. Along the road, one can admire impressive retaining walls built in cut stone.
Just before the village of Le Martinet, the Bouille tunnel (644 m) is divided in two: one half is used to age the tomme cheeses of the Barcelonnette fromagerie, the other houses the whisky 'Le Laverq' from the artisan distillery of Lachanenche-de-la-Fresquière, in the commune of Méolans-Revel.
Visible at the entrance to the village of Le Martinet is the last structure of this pharaonic construction site: two retaining walls supporting the access ramp to the road leading to the magnificent Laverq valley. The Oueds & Rios rafting base on the Ubaye is located just 20 metres below the spot where the final strike of the pickaxe was made during this extraordinary Ubaye railway saga.
Tunnels Auctioned Off in 1986
The Ubaye tunnels were auctioned off in Digne, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Starting price for each structure: 200 francs apiece.
- Combas tunnel (198 m); Roche Rousse tunnel (236 m); Derbezi tunnel (442 m) — purchased by the commune of Le Lauzet for 50,800 francs / €7,744.
- Saint-Martin-de-la-Blâche tunnel (1,614 m) — purchased by the commune of Le Lauzet for 56,500 francs / €8,613.
- Bouille tunnel (614 m), where cheese and whisky are aged today — purchased by the commune of Méolans-Revel for 48,000 francs / €7,317.
A Lost Battle... or the Uniqueness of a Preserved Valley
Let us imagine what our beloved Barcelonnette Valley might have been like with a railway line. The presence of such an installation at the bottom of the valley would inevitably have created a very different atmosphere.
In other Alpine valleys where the train exists, its impact is plain to see. It transforms natural landscapes and disrupts sites. The network separates communities and passages, although structures like tunnels help it blend in better. The economic development that the railway would have generated would have had a significant local impact — activities would have developed or been sustained.
(photo Camille OLIVE / Oueds & Rios)
Conversely, one might consider that other sectors could have succumbed to rail transport, which would have made it easier to bring in manufactured goods more competitive than local crafts and produce. The railway might have brought with it a train of drawbacks: polluting industries or the over-extraction of natural resources (timber, quarrying, intensive farming...). A larger population, broader and denser residential zones. More developed tourist infrastructure encroaching on natural areas. The road network would have developed just as much to meet certain demands, generating a disastrous impact at the bottom of the valley. And certainly a very different vision of the banks of our beautiful Ubaye river.
But let us not forget what the train might have brought to the lives of the Ubaye Valley's population. The railway would have symbolised a certain openness and easier access to the outside world for Ubayens emerging from two World Wars. It might have accelerated a social and cultural opening-up, and for many, a more comfortable quality of life.
A lost battle for many in the Ubaye Valley, and a preserved valley for those who today appreciate the singularity of this most beautiful of Alpine valleys.
« When man has no more room for nature, perhaps nature will have no more room for man. »
— Stefan Edberg
Illustrations — Sources
- Jean-François André DÉLÉNAT : ubaye-en-cartes.e-monsite.com
- Maps and photos taken in 1920 by Casimir Riollan, electrician in Le Lauzet (coll. Laurent Delimard)
- Les Chemins de fer dans les Alpes du Sud : passé, présent, avenir — Jean Guiter, Revue de Géographie Alpine, 1976, Imprimerie Allier, Grenoble.
- Florent COSTE, Wikipedia contributor.
Also read: Who were these raftsmen and river traders?
