Profile: uphill from the Saint-Gervais-Le Fayet (altitude: 580.95 m or 1,906 ft 1⁄16 in) to the col des Montets tunnel (altitude 1,365 m or 4,478 ft 4+3⁄16 in) then downhill to the border (altitude 1,100 m or 3,608 ft 11+1⁄16 in). The steepest grade, between Servoz and les Houches is 9% over 2,000 m (6,561 ft 8+3⁄16 in), a record for an adhesion railway. On the steepest sections (4% and more), it had a central rail for braking (and keeping trains immobile in case of electric black-outs), through jaws gripping the rail; it was removed around 1980.
Control: A command post, named PC Éclair (ECLAIR, or “lightning”, standing for Exploitation Centralisée des Lignes Assistée par Informatique et Radio, which translates to Centralised Control of the Lines Assisted by Computers and Radio), installed in 1991 at Saint-Gervais station, allows centralised control with the help of radio and computers.
Five Z 800 105-seat EMUs, delivered in 1997 by ADTranz and Vevey Technologies in a joint purchase with the Martigny-Châtelard. This 1000 kW stock, composed of two motor cars, can run at 70 km/h (43.5 mph); it is rack and pinion equipped, and has pantographs in addition to 3rd rail equipment, so that it run to Martigny.
Eight Z 600 EMUs and four additional trailers (some out of service), used in busy periods.
This line carries about 500,000 passengers per year, with wide variation: from 500 people per day in the least busy periods up to 10,000 per day in summer and 2500 per day in winter for the ski season. The customer base is quite diverse, from international travellers connecting with the TGVs, to local transportation, most notably for schoolchildren. It is a tourist line and a public service at the same time.
Through trains between Saint-Gervais and Martigny run under the “Mont-Blanc Express” brand.
Since 2005 travel has been free between Servoz and Vallorcine for those with a Chamonix residency card and for valley inhabitants.
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