Mountain Railway, Tourist and Funicular Lines
The FGC operates three mountain railway lines:
- The Montserrat Rack Railway, which runs from Monistrol, on FGC's suburban line to Manresa (R5), to the mountain-top monastery of Montserrat. This line re-opened in 2003, having opened in 1892 and closed in 1957. It is of metre gauge using the Abt rack railway system.
- The Vall de Núria Rack Railway, in the Pyrenees mountains of northern Catalonia. This is also of metre gauge using the Abt rack railway system, and the two lines, although many kilometres apart, occasionally swap stock.
- The Ferrocarril Turístic de l'Alt Llobregat, which runs from La Pobla de Lillet to Clot del Moro, also in northern Catalonia. This line is of 600mm gauge, and operates using adhesion only.
The FGC also operates four funicular railways:
- The Funicular de Sant Joan, from the upper station of the Montserrat Rack Railway to the summit of the mountain of Montserrat.
- The Funicular de Santa Cova, also from the upper station of the Montserrat Rack Railway to a nearby shrine.
- The Funicular de Gelida, connecting the town of Gelida with its railway station.
- The Funicular de Vallvidrera, connecting a station on the Metro del Vallès suburban line to the top of the Tibidabo hill.
Read more about this topic: Ferrocarrils De La Generalitat De Catalunya
Famous quotes containing the words mountain, tourist and/or lines:
“There is a mountain in the distant West
That, sun-defying, in its deep ravines
Displays a cross of snow upon its side.
Such is the cross I wear upon my breast
These eighteen years, through all the changing scenes
And seasons, changeless since the day she died.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1809–1882)
“There is a mystery that floats between
The tourist and the town. Imagination
Estranges it from her. She need not suffer
Or die here. It is none of her affair,
Its calm heroic vistas make no claim.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“There they lived on, those New England people, farmer lives, father and grandfather and great-grandfather, on and on without noise, keeping up tradition, and expecting, beside fair weather and abundant harvests, we did not learn what. They were contented to live, since it was so contrived for them, and where their lines had fallen.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)