"Ville de Brignoles"
This type of railcars was designed in the early 1980-ies, intended for regional lines. Because of its angular shape it has been nicknamned "shoebox".
The driver cabins are located in a corner, a peculiarity of this type of railcar. This means that standing passengers can view the line in front of or behind the railcar.
X-2204 has for many years provided service on the Nice to Breil-sur-Roya line at the Italian border (the railroad continues to Cuneo in Italy). It was first put into service end of January 1985 and taken out of service in October 2011. It's one of the few railcars of this type that still carries its red and white color palette.
The railcar seats 54 passengers and is therefore well adapted to low-season traffic situations. The seating arrangement when it was used by the state railways was: 8 in first class, 24 in second class smoking, 22 in second class non-smoking. There are also arrangements in each end of the railcar for two bicycles (hooks in the ceiling, beside the driver's cabin).
At a ceremony in Brignoles on April 13 2013, the railcar was baptized "Ville de Brignoles" by the mayor of Brignoles, see separate post.
Trailer XR-6024
With the X-2204, ATTCV also got its trailing carriage (trailer). The trailer arrived from Nice to ATTCV together with the X-2204. It had been used for the "Train des Merveilles", i.e on the railway line between Nice and Tende in France (the line continues via a tunnel to Cuneo in Italy).
The passenger compartment in the trailer has a nice set of seats.
The X-2204 is in regular use in tourist traffic between Carnoules-les-Platanes and Brignoles, whilst the XR-6024 is for technical reasons used only as a service vehicle in the Besse depot.
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