wollastonblue Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 We are off down to Brittany for the main family holiday in September. I am hoping to have a day out to Paimpol, and visit La Vapeur du Trieux. However their website doesn't seem to be working at the moment, and I can't find any other information. Does anyone know if it is still running? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matabiau Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Reading the local press it seems that the line has not been maintained to a sufficient standard (if at all) to support the weight of the steam locomotives. As such the service has been suspended for the 2015 season. The RFF (equivalent to Network Rail in the UK) has spent so much of its budget on high speed lines that it has none left for the maintenance of traditional routes. Following a number of high profile accidents on non-high speed main lines recently they have had to divert all remaining cash to essential maintenance work on these lines meaning the less used branch lines are being left to rot. To those in the UK this will all seem very familiar having already experienced the chaos surrounding Railtrack in the 1990s. More locally to me all rail traffic on the branch line to Bagnères de Luchon in the Pyrénées has been suspended as RFF can not afford to maintain it especially when it has few passengers. In the case of the line to Paimpol in Brittany if I understand correctly there will still be the regular if infrequent SNCF service using lighter diesel railcars, it is just the heavy steam locomotives that can no longer use the line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted June 19, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 19, 2015 Just been looking at the timetable. 4 trains per day (+4 buses) but they take more than an hour to do the trip which does seem to indicate track in poor condition and a very slow running speed. The line also takes people in the wrong direction. Except for football matches (Guingamp remarkably has a pro team that is often in D1 and has won the Cup twice recently), not much reason for people in Paimpol to want to go to Guingamp, a small town of less than 10,000. Most would want to go to St Brieuc, Rennes or Paris and so would be better getting the bus to St Brieuc, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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