Can there and will there be a (heritage) passenger train on the Carnoules - Saint Maximin part of the Carnoules - Gardanne railway line soon?
This question is raised following the successful parade of trains at the Train Photo Festival held in May this year (and reported in a separate post), including the diesel engine BB-63812 hauling three passenger cars shown on this photo.
The tourist train activity of ATTCV has developed and increased over time (after a first period 2001 - 2007 with only limited capacity (i.e the Picasso railcar) and no redundancy in case of technical problems). The association is obviously technically competent to run the train, as a complement to the current traffic with Caravelle railcars.
The association now has three passenger carriages with a capacity of 240 seated passengers (with possibility to add one or two more carriages) and a powerful diesel engine to pull them. This gives that the technical conditions are fulfilled. Remains the moral and administrative blessing of local and other authorities.
In the meantime we can enjoy the railcar service on Wednesdays and Sundarys. Watch this subject.