In Bourg-Saint-Maurice, a funicular allows you to quickly go from the TGV to the ski resort without polluting

In the distance, the TGV makes its way between meadows and snow-covered mountains. In Bourg-Saint-Maurice (Savoie), the station agents, whistle between their lips, are busy on the icy tarmac… As soon as the train doors are ajar, the first holidaymakers disperse onto the platform, skis in hand. Sylvie, wrapped up in her anorak, drags her grumpy husband, not really delighted to have abandoned her beloved Paris the day after the holidays. “Help me with the suitcase, we’ll go faster.” » First victory of the holidays for Sylvie: the couple is among the first to reach the footbridge leading to the funicular.

This imposing metal structure, almost three kilometers long with an 800 meter drop, stretches like a bobsleigh track between the mountains. A work of remarkable technical prowess, the funicular has actually existed since 1989, but it has not always been the center of attention from public authorities and travelers. “I always used to take it, it’s been six years since I last came, and it’s much fuller today,” notes Sylvie, one eye on her suitcase threatening to roll on her foot from the neighbor. Next to her, Emmanuel, 17, left his parents on a whim to come celebrate New Year’s Eve with friends. The young man dreams of taking over the family farm in Picardy, and suspects that he will no longer have many opportunities to spend the New Year with boots at the foot. “It’s fast, practical and secure,” he says, convinced by the TGV-funicular formula.

Electric and free

Inside the glass cabin, the travelers are unanimous: “Plus, we can do something for the planet…” If the environmental argument was important for some, it was above all the free nature of this 100% electric transport. which won the majority. Arriving at the head of town hall in 2020, Guillaume Desrues made the principle of “access for all” a cornerstone of his mandate. Previously, you had to pay 14 euros to reach the station. From now on, all you need to do is show your train ticket at the ticket counter to pass through the security gates. A way of favoring the TGV over the car, a welcome gesture when we know that 57% of carbon emissions from the winter sports sector are due to the transport of vacationers. For Sylvie, a regular at the resort, the savings are obvious: she had paid “around forty euros” when she came with her two daughters…

The price of public parking and that of tickets for holidaymakers who have not opted for the train have also fallen: 3.80 euros per day of parking; 5 euros for a round trip by funicular. A costly decision for the municipality but assumed by its councilor: “If we want people to change their habits, they must find an advantage in it. » Fast, comfortable, the funicular has also seen, since the arrival of the new municipal team, its opening hours extend: 7:30 a.m. – 9 p.m., and late night until 11 p.m. on Thursdays. Notable effect: in the early morning, ski instructors or seasonal workers park their bikes at the foot of the futuristic-looking cabin.

Growing success

In five years, attendance on the link has jumped by almost 40%, from 640,000 passages in 2019 to just over 900,000 in 2024. Above all, previously, only 19% of tourists used the train, compared to 25%. today, a rate two to three times higher than other French stations. In this context, Bourg-Saint-Maurice stopped financing international advertising campaigns, redirecting its budget to promote its 1989 funicular… The strategy appealed to Karim and Karima: “We had no idea that we could ride so easily, without taking a taxi or a bus,” admits Karim, impressed by the smoothness of the journey.

When the funicular arrives, public shuttles take travelers to their hotel: Karima, over the moon, is surprised by the driver who offers to carry her suitcase to the holds. Nearly 700 cars will not take the road that day, according to town hall calculations, thus reducing traffic jams and the risk of accidents. “With the price saved, it makes you want to go and treat yourself to a beer on the terrace,” slips Karima’s neighbor in the shuttle line. At the heart of this resort where hoteliers and restaurateurs achieve up to 80% of their turnover in four months of the season, everyone toasts the health of the funicular.