Cercle Ferroviaire de Rixensart: The Ariège line

RIXENSART RAILWAY CIRCLE "THE ARIEGE LINE" Par Michel LIEGEOIS Friday, JUNE 12, 2026 at 8:00 PM Ferme de Froidmont Entry fee: 5 euros - no reservation La France and Spain are separated by a major natural obstacle, the Pyrenees mountain range. To cross this mountain chain with the nascent railway in the 19th century, there was only one solution: follow the gentler terrain offered by the coastlines. This is how the connections via Biarritz-Hendaye, on the Atlantic side, and Perpignan-Port Bou, on the Mediterranean side, were born. Over time, however, more daring projects gave rise to two new trans-Pyrenean routes; the first, departing from Pau, connected to Canfranc via a daring helical tunnel. The second route, the one we will explore, departing from Toulouse, conveniently followed a natural terrain, the Ariège valley, to bring us to La Tour de Carol, a border station also served by Spanish broad-gauge rolling stock. This new Franco-Hispanic connecting axis sparked the idea of a link between La Tour de Carol and Perpignan to open up an isolated region, Cerdanya. This route, completely embedded in the mountain range, could only be conceived as a meter-gauge line, and that is how the "Train Jaune" was born.