After the induced panic of yesterday morning today was expected to be a relative oasis of calm – and in hindsight in most respects it was. However I had forgotten that SNCF have a devilish trick up their sleeves. They might call it a through train with a single reporting number and no connections but (and we have experienced this before in Corsica) it means nothing of the sort.
However before we get into that I have a continental breakfast and then have about three hours to kill so I go and sit on Voie H of Clermont-Ferrand station. I swear that at a station which has 9 platforms not a single train moved for at least 45 minutes at one stage during my wait – proving that there is huge capacity which simply does not exist on our railways. I cannot think of a 9 platform station in the UK which would see no movement for nearly an hour. I eat some lunch before my train is announced.
I know the line over the Central Massif (la ligne de l’Aubrac) is electrified so I am a little bemused when a diesel is the nominated train this morning at Clermont-Ferrand. It is heavily loaded (more or less full – partly due to it being the holiday season I suppose) and we proceed to Neussargues. Where we are all dumped out of the train onto the platform to await a train. Our train changes its destination from Beziers to Aurillac (another line which deserves a visit). Then a diesel pootles in from Aurillac, presumably heading for Clermont-Ferrand.
Finally just in time our electric train trundles up the platform and there is a mad rush to the few doors. We scramble onboard, after just about everyone else gets off (because they do not want to make a return journey). Our nice electric surges off up-hill and I assume that the two diesel trains then head off to their destinations. Oddly the guard we had from Clermont-Ferrand remains with us for a large part of the journey. After checking my ticket earlier she and another passenger ensured I understood the need to change train at Neussargues – although of course it is theoretically a “through” train.
This line is known as either La Ligne d’Aubrac or La Ligne des Causses and the point of this trip is the scenic outlook. From Clermont-Ferrand to Neussargues it is mainly heavily wooded with river crossings passed far too rapidly to capture. Climbing to Neussargues my ears might have popped once but leaving the latter I think they then popped twice in rapid succession. The only seat I could find is facing backwards on the right side of the train and certainly for the hour after the change of train the wonderful landscapes are on the other side of the train. So I might have to go this way again. There are a couple of branch lines which deserve a visit in my view.
There are a number of highlights on the trip. Viaduc de Garabit was designed by Eiffel – but is not really visible from the train and not from the seat I had. A little later we pass close to Roquefort but bringing cheese back from France is not allowed at present. Finally we pass under the Millau viaduct which is an architectural wonder. Millau is also notable as a point where many of my fellow travellers leave the train – including the guard. Thereafter the train is largely empty. I suspect that the subsequent stations can be reached more speedily by the less direct routes. I am not sure anyone manages the entire trip with me.
By road it is 165 miles and I assume similar by rail. However it is 6 and a half hours – which is about 24 miles per hour. So it is a long slog. Of course there are numerous stops – but speeds are limited by curvature and gradients. However given that at least 2/3 of it from Clermont-Ferrand to Millau was largely full I am surprised that it is felt one train a day is adequate.
Some years ago we stayed in Carcassone and drove over the Viaduc de Millau as well as going across countryside to look at it. Today I managed to travel underneath it – the railway was here first. The service then passes through Roquefort although with only a single train a day it is not possible to leave the train and buy some.
Beziers is the end of the line for me and I had already decided that as the hotel is not immediately adjacent to the station that a taxi would be a good idea. As it turns out the town has something of a very large hill. No comments on the hotel as that was clearly a mistake.
I did however get some lovely shots of the sunset after dinner.