Montserrat Rack Railway
Encyclopedia
Mountain railway
A mountain railway is a railway that ascends and descends a mountain slope that has a steep grade. Such railways can use a number of different technologies to overcome the steepness of the grade...
line north of Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. The line runs from Monistrol de Montserrat
Monistrol de Montserrat
Monistrol de Montserrat is a municipality in the comarca of the Bages inCatalonia, Spain. The municipality includes the southern two-thirds of the massif of Montserratand the famous Benedictine monastery of the same name...
to the mountain-top monastery
Santa Maria de Montserrat
Santa Maria de Montserrat is a Benedictine abbey located on the mountain of Montserrat, in Monistrol de Montserrat, in Catalonia, Spain.It hosts the Virgin of Montserrat, and the Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat, a publishing house, one of the oldest presses in the world still running, with...
of Montserrat
Montserrat (mountain)
Montserrat is a multi-peaked mountain located near the city of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range. The main peaks are Sant Jeroni , Montgrós and Miranda de les Agulles...
.
The line is 5 km (3.1 mi) long and has a rail gauge
Rail gauge
Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...
of . The first 1 km (0.621372736649807 mi) of the line, between Monistrol and the only intermediate station at Monistrol Vila, is operated by conventional adhesion
Rail adhesion
The term adhesion railway or adhesion traction describes the most common type of railway, where power is applied by driving some or all of the wheels of the locomotive. Thus, it relies on the friction between a steel wheel and a steel rail. Note that steam locomotives of old were driven only by...
. The remainder of the line is operated as a rack railway
Rack railway
A rack-and-pinion railway is a railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with this rack rail...
using the Abt system, overcoming a height difference of 550 m (1,804.5 ft) with a maximum gradient of 15.6%. The line is electrified with an overhead supply
Overhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
at 1500 V
Volt
The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the...
DC
Direct current
Direct current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
.
The line is operated by the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya
Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya
Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya , or FGC, is a railway company which operates several unconnected lines in Catalonia, Spain....
(FGC).
History
A line on this route was originally opened in 1892. Competition arrived in 1930, in the form of the Aeri de MontserratAeri de Montserrat
The Aeri de Montserrat is an aerial cable car which provides one of the means of access to the Montserrat mountain and abbey. It can be found near the city of Barcelona, Catalonia....
, an aerial cable car
Aerial tramway
An aerial tramway , cable car , ropeway or aerial tram is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion...
that also carries passengers to the monastery. A narrow road also reaches the monastery. After poor financial results and an accident in 1953, the rack railway line was closed on May 12, 1957.
However over time the Aeri and road became unable to handle the increasing number of visitors to the monastery. After many years of planning, a program began to rebuild the rack railway in 2001, and the line re-opened in its modern form on June 6, 2003. In its first 12 months of operation, the Montserrat Rack Railway carried 462,964 passengers.
The heaviest traffic was in August 2003 with 63,692 passengers, and the lightest in February 2004 with 22,996 passengers.
Equipment
The line's most significant engineering work is the Pont del Centenari bridge, which is 480 m (1,574.8 ft) long and 5 metre wide, crossing the River Llobregat. Its nine sections are between 35 m (114.8 ft) and 55 m (180.4 ft) long and it was designed as a lattice of steel tubes to give it a light appearance and minimise its visual impact. It is supported by eight pillars with maximum height of 37 m (121.4 ft).The line is operated by five low-floor electric motor coaches of type Stadler GTW
Stadler GTW
The Stadler GTW, sold by Stadler Rail of Switzerland, is an articulated railcar for local transport. GTW stands for Gelenktriebwagen .-Description:...
, built by Stadler Rail
Stadler Rail
Stadler Rail AG , based in Bussnang, Switzerland, is a Swiss manufacturer of rail passenger cars.In 1942 Ernst Stadler founded the Stadler Engineering Office which later became Stadler Rail.- Factories :...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. The cars are numbered AM1-AM5 and named after local peaks. These cars are equipped for adhesion and rack propulsion and can each carry up to 200 passengers. They are air-conditioned and have panorama windows offering a good view over the environment. Trains run at up to 30 km/h (18.6 mph) on the rack section and 45 km/h (28 mph) on the adhesion section. The line also has a 1930 built electric locomotive
Electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...
, E4, transferred from the Vall de Núria Rack Railway
Vall de Núria Rack Railway
The Vall de Núria Rack Railway is a mountain railway line in the Pyrenees mountains in the north of the Catalonia region of Spain. The line connects Ribes de Freser with Queralbs and Vall de Núria...
for use on works trains.
Operation
Both the rack railway and the Aeri connect with the FGC's Línia Llobregat-AnoiaLínia Llobregat-Anoia
Línia Llobregat-Anoia or Metro del Baix Llobregat is the collective name under which several rail lines operated by the Catalan rail company Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya are known...
railway from Barcelona Plaça d'Espanya station
Espanya (Barcelona Metro)
Espanya or Plaça Espanya is one of the most important stations of the Barcelona Metro network, located under one of the city's largest squares, Plaça Espanya, in the Sants-Montjuïc district...
to Manresa
Manresa
Manresa is the capital of the Comarca of Bages, located in the geographic centre of Catalonia, Spain, and crossed by the river Cardener. It is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are arranged around the basilica of Santa María de la Seo....
. The rack railway connects at Monistrol de Montserrat, also known as Monistrol Central. A track connection is provided at Monistrol to allow rack railway cars to run to and from their depot, which is in nearby Martorell
Martorell
Martorell is a town near Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain, primarily known for its medieval Devil's bridge.It has three railway stations - one on the RENFE line from Manresa to Sant Vicenç de Calders called "Martorell", and three on the FGC line from Barcelona to Manresa called "Martorell-Vila",...
.
An hourly service is operated between Monistrol-Enllaç and the summit, connecting with FGC trains to and from Barcelona and Manresa. Additional trains operate between Monistrol Vila, where the line has a car park with 1000 spaces, and the summit.
The FGC also operates two funicular railways
Funicular
A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.-Operation:The basic principle of funicular...
from near the summit station of the rack railway. The Funicular de Sant Joan
Funicular de Sant Joan
The Funicular de Sant Joan is a funicular railway at Montserrat, near Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. The line connects the monastery, and the upper terminus of the Montserrat Rack Railway, with sacred sites, walking trails and viewpoints higher up the mountain...
ascends to the mountain top, whilst the Funicular de Santa Cova
Funicular de Santa Cova
The Funicular de Santa Cova, or Santa Cova funicular railway, is a funicular railway at Montserrat, near Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. The line descends from the monastery, and the upper terminus of the Montserrat Rack Railway, on a continuous curve to a lower station that gives access, via a...
descends to a shrine lower down the mountain.