Latour de Carol

[158801]

I intend to catch the 0747 from Toulouse to Latour de Carol (arr 1028).

There's a return service at 1033.

Will this be the same unit ? I know the French sometimes have very long layovers

A link is here https://www.ter.sncf.com/occitanie/se-deplacer/fiches-horaires

I don't want to go and miss the 1033 back as the next one is 3 hours later

 

[Gloster]

Probably, but not definitely. What isn’t shown is the overnight from Paris, which arrives earlier, but misses Toulouse.

If in doubt, ask a member of staff. If it doesn’t look workable, get off at Ax-les-Thermes, but you miss a journey well worth making.

 

[30907]

I intend to catch the 0747 from Toulouse to Latour de Carol (arr 1028).

There's a return service at 1033.

Will this be the same unit ? I know the French sometimes have very long layovers

A link is here https://www.ter.sncf.com/occitanie/se-deplacer/fiches-horaires

I don't want to go and miss the 1033 back as the next one is 3 hours later

Having done the trip relatively recently, it will be the same unit. The timetable is clearly built around tight turnrounds (most days), and any layovers are at Ax.
The night train sits at LaTour all day.
Double-check for RRBs though, even if the printed timetable says you're OK!

 

[P Binnersley]

The train numbers seem to be one different which suggests a return working. When I visited in 2017 the train from Toulouse did an in and out.

The line is single track so you can safely go as far as Gare de Porte-Puymorens unless you are over 30 minutes late (there is a passing loop between there and La Tour de Carol at the old Puymorens station).

Local trains used Quai 2, Voie 4/6. There is level (cross track) access from Quai 1 where the Corail train is parked. It is a very sleepy station and nothing will happen that quickly.

​

 

[30907]

It is a very sleepy station and nothing will happen that quickly.

Not entirely.
My wife and I, and one other, ran from the late-running SNCF arrival to the RENFE departure for a connection that already been cut from 10min to 1min by engineering works. It waited
BTW it was the equivalent to the train under discussion, which is why I am confident about the diagramming.

 

[Jack Hay]

I loved Latour de Carol station when I visited it more than ten years ago. It was and I hope still is the terminus of three different lines which all have different gauges. I had never seen anywhere like it, and of course it is high up in the Pyrenees as well. What's not to like!

 

[158801]

I've checked with SNCF. It is a different train. They are shown on different platforms at Latour

Now, the only question is, do I risk it ??

 

[AndrewE]

I loved Latour de Carol station when I visited it more than ten years ago. It was and I hope still is the terminus of three different lines which all have different gauges. I had never seen anywhere like it, and of course it is high up in the Pyrenees as well. What's not to like!

It's also interesting because (when we were there) the French and Spanish lines both ran past the platform as an outer road, then crossed an unequal diamond crossing to reach the platform. I took it that it was so that the French train could make cross-platform connections with le petit train jaune - at the southern / "Spanish" end of the station.

We also had a spring walking holiday planned near there, went off the night train up into the mountains to find snow too deep to walk through. One night camping on the snow was enough, so next day we managed to get to La T de C, probably picking up a bus in the valley, and stayed the night in the hotel under the station roof with a view out over the railway. Pity the only train to be seen was ours back out! I think we actually took the narrow-gauge DC line en route to Perpignan for a couchette back to Paris.

 

[peterblue]

Probably, but not definitely. What isn’t shown is the overnight from Paris, which arrives earlier, but misses Toulouse.

If in doubt, ask a member of staff. If it doesn’t look workable, get off at Ax-les-Thermes, but you miss a journey well worth making.

The overnight one from Paris Austerlitz lays over all day, and then forms the overnight Latour-Paris.

It did stop at Toulouse when I went on it, but only a few carriages opened. If I recall, only a few carriages carried onto Latour, the rest split apart at Toulouse.

It is a scenic line - you'll enjoy it. Continuing down to Barcelona is also nice.

 

[dazzler]

It's also interesting because (when we were there) the French and Spanish lines both ran past the platform as an outer road, then crossed an unequal diamond crossing to reach the platform. I took it that it was so that the French train could make cross-platform connections with le petit train jaune - at the southern / "Spanish" end of the station.

Part of the reason for the lines crossing over was to get the Spanish train to stop on a segregated part of the platform outside the station building, which contained the passport and immigration facilities.

 

[30907]

I've checked with SNCF. It is a different train. They are shown on different platforms at Latour

Now, the only question is, do I risk it ??

Thanks. That seems to be a new development.
I think your best bet is to ask the conducteur before you get to Porte-Puymorens.
If you then need to spend half an hour admiring the view down the valley, it's not the worst thing in the world.

 

[AdamWW]

Part of the reason for the lines crossing over was to get the Spanish train to stop on a segregated part of the platform outside the station building, which contained the passport and immigration facilities.

If I'm correctly visualising what is being described here, then it's not like that any more and the platform where the Spanish trains used to stop is now laid with standard gauge and is where the sleeper arrives, stables, and departs from.

It did stop at Toulouse when I went on it, but only a few carriages opened. If I recall, only a few carriages carried onto Latour, the rest split apart at Toulouse.

When I used it last year it did indeed stop at Toulouse for the section from Cerbere (I presume) to be added, and the doors were released so people could get out and smoke or just stretch their legs.

It wasn't a (passenger) timetabled stop - there was a separate sleeper for that.

It is all rather like the Caledonian Sleeper in Edinburgh where there the Highlander stops at Edinburgh to join/separate but isn't available for London<>Edinburgh journeys.

 

[AndrewE]

If I'm correctly visualising what is being described here, then it's not like that any more and the platform where the Spanish trains used to stop is now laid with standard gauge and is where the sleeper arrives, stables, and departs from.

I think a picture on https://barrysborderpoints.com/country-visits/france/latour-de-carol-enveitg-station/ shows how it has changed.
Beyond the buffer-stop the track went over a diamond crossing to the platform (which has since been raised and relaid with French standard gauge.)

 

[dazzler]

If I'm correctly visualising what is being described here, then it's not like that any more and the platform where the Spanish trains used to stop is now laid with standard gauge and is where the sleeper arrives, stables, and departs from.

That's correct, the layout has changed somewhat since I was last there (roughly 1996ish!) The overnight service will presumably stop immediately in front of the station building (where the run-round loop is) and the Spanish trains now stop at what was a blank platform face back then, just a Spanish gauge track passing behind it. When there was a full border between Spain and France, (pre-Schengen) the section of platform to the north of the station building was fenced off with fencing up to canopy height at both ends and along the back of the platform to ensure all passengers passed through the passport and customs area in the north end of the main station building when accessing the Spanish trains.

 

[AdamWW]

That's correct, the layout has changed somewhat since I was last there (roughly 1996ish!) The overnight service will presumably stop immediately in front of the station building (where the run-round loop is) and the Spanish trains now stop at what was a blank platform face back then, just a Spanish gauge track passing behind it. When there was a full border between Spain and France, (pre-Schengen) the section of platform to the north of the station building was fenced off with fencing up to canopy height at both ends and along the back of the platform to ensure all passengers passed through the passport and customs area in the north end of the main station building when accessing the Spanish trains.

Most interesting.

Not quite the same but they do seem to make some attempt to control access to that platform now to limit it to people actually travelling on the overnight train.
But only when the train is ready to be boarded.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

When I used it last year it did indeed stop at Toulouse for the section from Cerbere (I presume) to be added, and the doors were released so people could get out and smoke or just stretch their legs.

I used it a few years ago and it stopped at Toulouse for a good while, as you say allowing a smoke break and stretch of legs. It also stopped at Bordeaux for about an hour which apparently was not the usual routing. The speed at which the Cerbere portion was attached at Toulouse was quite alarming, and I had a great view of it over a shunter's shoulder!

 

[AdamWW]

I used it a few years ago and it stopped at Toulouse for a good while, as you say allowing a smoke break and stretch of legs. It also stopped at Bordeaux for about an hour which apparently was not the usual routing. The speed at which the Cerbere portion was attached at Toulouse was quite alarming, and I had a great view of it over a shunter's shoulder!

I would have liked to see that but I didn't want to disturb the other people in the cabin so I had to content myself with peeling back a corner of the window blind and watching us leave the station and then get propelled back in again.