Tramway du Cap Ferret
Even in the summer holidays it is difficult to forget trams and railways .. as for example in summer 2021 on Cap Ferret peninsula in the south of France, where a narrow-gauge railway runs between Bassin d´Arcachon and the Atlantic in the summer months. I was immediately intrigued by this tramway and did some research.
By Christian Schmidt
When Arcachon was connected to the railway line to Bordeaux in1857, the town’s luxury seaside resort on Arcachon Bay became even more popular. Cap Ferret peninsula, on the other side of the bay, was and still is a popular tourist destination offering sunbathing on the bay and on the Atlantic coast. A horse-drawn tramway opened in 1879 to transport guests comfortably on the two-kilometre journey across the peninsula from the ferry landing at Jetée de Bélisaire to the beaches on the Atlantic coast.
After operations officially stopped in 1936, railroad enthusiast Jacques Millet took them up again in 1953. Millet purchased the old railway tracks and built a 600-mm gauge railway. The trams were hauled by diesel locomotives, and passengers were carried in open summer cars. After Millet‘s death, the commune of Lège-Cap-Ferret took over the service which had become vital for tourism.
Today, the two-kilometre journey takes twelve minutes with a top speed of 18 km / h. Trams still carry passengers backwards and forwards from the shores of Arcachon Bay to the Atlantic between June and September. Today, diesel locomotives haul open-sided summer cars built by Diepholzer Maschinenfabrik in the 1950s.
The line connects Jetée de Bélisaire on the bay side and the Plage de l’Horizon where remains of the Atlantic Wall fortifications can still be seen. In 2021, the price of a round trip for adults was six euros, and the experience was worth every cent. We used the tram more than once to get from our hotel to the Atlantic. This year, too, we look forward to taking Tramway du Cap Ferret. À bientôt au Cap Ferret!