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Old line in November 1999: On french territory, near Cap d'Ail. Monte Carlo begins behind the short tunnel.   Nov.28, 1999 (C) Kristian Hasenjager

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Old line: 218.6 km east of Marseille. Notice the hexagonal shape of the stones forming the harmonic wall. Once a widespread construction technique of french railways.   Nov.28, 1999 (C) Kristian Hasenjager

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Old line: View towards the now obsolete 1956 railway station, one day after the new alignment went into operation. Some wires of the catenary were already teared down. A couple of weeks later, this area was transformed into a large bus parking lot.   Nov.28, 1999 (C) Kristian Hasenjager

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Old line: 1956 Station sign. The round stone wall is part or Rainer's Royal Palace. Open to public is the white building, the oceanographic museum, as well as the wonderful Saint-Martin Park with its pine trees hanging over the edge of the cliff.   Nov.28, 1999 (C) Kristian Hasenjager

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Old line: Platform seats of 1956 station, 25kV overhead line insulators.   Nov.28, 1999 (C) Kristian Hasenjager

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Old line: Monegasque (correct?) people inspect their new western station entrance. Despite its entrance with triumphant columns and its false balustrade, the ensemble fits pretty well into the old wall. Switchover to the new 2.8km long tunnel took place during the previous night.   Nov.28, 1999 (C) Kristian Hasenjager

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Old line: Behind the automatic sliding doors, a 300 meter long tunnels leads to the main station hall. The tunnels is outfitted with expensive polished stone, it looks more like Galeries Lafayette than a SNCF tunnel. Monaco people use the conveyor belts to silently reach the platforms, supervised by at least half a dozen CCTV cameras. The tunnel will be clinically clean in 20 years as well. All tunnel works have been financed by Monaco, but executed by SNCF groups.   Nov.28, 1999 (C) Kristian Hasenjager

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Old line: Continuing my way on the old line towards east. The overhead line has no tension. Behind the buildings, somewhere in the mountain, the new station. New buildings will cover the old line soon, that's the only(!) reason why they built the 250 million Euro new tunnel.   Nov.28, 1999 (C) Kristian Hasenjager

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Old line: Obsolete 1956 tunnel on Monte Carlo territory. Rail is fastened directly on concrete ground. As no white Monte Carlo Policeman pops up and no CCTV caught me, I make my way through this short tunnel to the Devoté Valley.   Nov.28, 1999 (C) Kristian Hasenjager

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Old line: The tunnel of the previous picture leads to this bridge over the Devoté Vallon. I quit the 1956 line here. Inside the mountain, the tunnel continuing on the left joins the new 1999 tunnel after some hundreds dark meters. In the sunny background, a slim road bridge spans the same valley. This road follows the very old (1867) alignment the railway had prior to 1956. invisible in the overexposured harbor, the usual multimillion Monte Carlo yachts.   Nov.28, 1999 (C) Kristian Hasenjager

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New line: A snapshot half a year earlier from inside a first class SBB panoramic coach, just in the moment it crosses the 1956 bridge shown in the previous image. This previous image is taken from the roof of the station complex, in the upmost part of the image. The wide lower arch, embracing its glass front is the main east entrance of the new station tunnel. Above lies a small park, and behind all deep in the rocks emerges a 13 storey car park. Station access is from roads above the picture as well, using a system of escalators and fast lifts. Notice the high window of the fine swiss (zebra) coach on his way from Nice to Milan and Zürich in july 1999.   July, 1999 (C) Kristian Hasenjager

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New line: Main councourse hall, the wide arch squeezed inside the narrow valley. Wide spacious surfaces. Outside the 1956 tunnel mouth.   Nov.28, 1999 (C) Kristian Hasenjager

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New line: Curbed alignment of the 465 meter long station. Invisible at its end, the 300 meter western access tunnel. The 24 meter wide naked concrete hall spans 3 tracks with two platforms. The lower part of the tunnel walls are fitted out with arrays of simple unpainted slats to avoid the typical metrostation echo. Together with halogene type lighting, a pretty warm atmospheres embraces the passengers waiting for the TER to from italian Ventimiglia towards Nice.   Nov.28, 1999 (C) Kristian Hasenjager

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New line: Escalators to mezzanine wooden level, leading to ticket offices, car park and upper exit. The mezzanine floor is made like a deck of a ship, reminding the proximity of the mediterranean sea. The rectangular concrete pylon intercepts the weight of another high pylon outside above of it.   No freight trains are allowed inside the 2.8km tunnel at the same time with passenger trains. Both ends of the station can be shielded by curtains of water in case of toxic gas or fire accidents. The whole tunnel system, not only the station itself, is equipped with powerful sprinkler extinguishers. An additional emergency tunnel enables road vehicle access to the station.   Nov.28, 1999 (C) Kristian Hasenjager

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New line: Behind the mezzanine deck, the yellow departure and the white arrival screens. New station furniture is very well designed by SNCF nowadays. The main tunnel bites into the mountain on the right, while the wide arch escapes towards the sea.   Nov.28, 1999 (C) Kristian Hasenjager