Hello everyone, I would like to suggest the Tende line, or as it is known in France "Train Des Merveilles" (Wonder Train in english). It bears this name of Train Des Merveilles not necessarily because it's merveilleux (even if it is) but because it passes through la Vallée des Merveilles, a valley of Mercantour massif in the Alps where more than 40,500 protohistoric rock engravings have been discovered, a dream for archaeologists thanks wikipedia Anyway, we're not here to talk about archaeology, but about trains. The line is 71km long/44 mi, it is a single-track, non-electrified route (even though the line between Nice Ville and L'Ariane la Trinité is electrified). Map : The route includes the following stations: Nice Ville Nice Pont Michel L'Ariane La Trinité La Trinité Victor Drap Cantaron Fontanil Peillon Sainte Thècle Peille L'Escarène Touët de L'Escarène Sospel Breil sur Roya Fontan Saorge Saint Dalmas de Tende La Brigue Tende In terms of rolling stocks : X 76500 TER PACA/Zou! - Train des Merveilles livery Minuetto (first italian train in TSW) Driveable Service : X 76500 TER PACA/Zou! (Nice - Breil sur Roya or Tende, stop at all stations) Minuetto (Ventimiglia - Cuneo, stops at all stations between Breil-sur-Roya and Tende) AI : TGV at Nice Ville Time travel : Nice - Breil sur Roya : 1h10 Nice - Tende : 2 hours Breil sur Roya - Tende : 50 min (logical if you know a little bit about math) So if you're looking for a route with a medium or longer travel time, this line has all that. Why did I choose this route? Honestly, I was looking for awesome french routes, I found some, but some were already suggested (Miramas - Marseille, even though I would have suggested the line via Rognac in addition of la Cote Bleue) or just too long to travel (hello Train Jaune). And when I found this route and watching a video in the cabin... Just wow You will be traveling on a single track with many... really mean many viaducts, bridges and tunnels, it will be a special experience. Look at my screen and see how many times it says viaduct , pont (bridges in english) and tunnels : And all this through wooded mountains; in terms of speed, you'll almost always be at 70km/h (there are some sections at 80 km/h) between Nice and Breil-sur-Roya, after that you will be 40 km/h to Tende. If you are a fan of routes with magnificent scenery And if you're not necessarily looking for high speed and busy routes, this route is for you. Video from inside the cabin to show what the line looks like: My other suggestions : Saint Lazare - La Verrière/Versailles Rive Droite Lyon Metropolitan 2020 Ligne Des Hirondelles (Andelot - Saint Claude)
According to Matt, they already have it + FRET licence, but is it the TER license in general or for a specific region? Good question.
As someone who traveled this route several times Irl, both the Italian and French sides, Oui . Have many childhood memories from the 90s here . Not one of the busiest route, that's true (1Tph), but the feat of carving a path through raw nature (tunnels, switchbacks and viaducts) represents a real engineering masterpice! Superbe . Oh, almost forgot... Thanks for mentioning my old suggestion, the Côte Bleue, one of the most fascinating places in the world Imo . ElBriseto There are virtually no limits to French licensing, even about TER. Matt simply said that they haven't claim any right yet! PS. I’d love to see both the XGC and Minuetto MD in their current, flashy liveries! I’m not sure what time period you’ve set this in, though . X 76500 AGC (XGC), TER ZOU! "Train des Merveilles" (top French regio livery Imo) . ALn 501-502 Minuetto MD, TI DPR Piedmont "Rebel Revolution" (new Look for the Italian units). Once again, excellent suggestion .
I didn't choose a specific period, even though I live in France I have limited knowledge, I don't live in Nice and I make do with what I have, so for liveries/era any time is fine with me as long as the two trains mentioned are running. Even though I personally prefer the Minuetto livery that I posted I find the other one much too colorful, for the AGC I like both.
