Submitted by ChamonixNews on
Update Friday 16th of August 2019:
On August 14th, the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc has announced that the Montenvers rack & pinion railway will resume normal service as of Thursday, the 15th of August.
The train will follow its normal schedule.
The CMB thanked the state control services (STRMTG) for their wholehearted collaboration, having authorized the return to normal service after the control measures undertaken in such circumstances.
The CMB confirm that no technical failure was detected and that the derailment happened due to human error solely.
Update Wednesday 14th of August 2019:
The Compagnie du Mont-BLanc has released another statement yesterday, the 13th of August 2019.
According to this new press release, the Montenvers rack & pinion will be closed all day today, the 14th of August.
After meeting this morning with the competent national control authorities, the CMB is presently exchanging with them to elaborate the necessary corrective measures.
These corrective measures will allow normal service to be resumed in total safety once the track has been repaired.
"We must underline that no technical failure has been brought to light, permitting us to confirm that the reason for the accident is solely down to human error", ends the CMB statement.
We will inform you of the updates as soon as they are available.
Initial news item, published on the 13th of August 2019:
On Sunday, the 11th of August 2019, in the early afternoon, one of the six rack & pinion trains in service suffered a derailment at the Planards point (about three-quarters of the distance down the return trip) during the return trip from Montenvers to Chamonix.
The derailment of the train which takes tourist daily to the Mer de Glace has caused a big fright to the customers, but fortunately, no one was injured.
Yesterday, the 12th of August, a specially commissioned crane has put the locomotive back on the rails, after which the locomotive has been brought down to the depot in Chamonix for a closer inspection.
The track has suffered minor damage in the zone where the derailment occurred. The track teams are at the present moment repairing the damaged sections.
Consequently, the access to the Montenvers - Mer de Glace will be closed today, the 13th of August 2019, to permit these repairs to be completed.
The Compagnie du Mont-Blanc apologizes to the 150 customers who were seated in the derailed locomotive, but also to all the clients at Montenvers last Sunday.
The CMB will hold a new press release as soon as possible, to provide information regarding the track repair & the planned resuming of normal service.
Check the normal schedule of the Montenvers Train / Mer de Glace & the prices for a trip, return or one-way.
For more details, go on www.montblancnaturalresort.com.
