About this journey

The journey begins at Nice-Ville station, opened in 1864 and completed in 1867 to a Louis XIII design by architect Louis-Jules Bouchot for the Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée. It is the western terminus for travellers approaching from the Italian border, and the starting point for the Ligne de Marseille-Saint-Charles à Vintimille running west toward Toulon.

The PLM built this coastal railway in stages between 1858 and 1872, a project demanding tunnels, viaducts, and bridges to cross the rugged terrain where the Maritime Alps meet the Mediterranean shore — including a massive steel viaduct over the Var river. The line reached Toulon as early as 1859 and was electrified in the 1960s alongside new signalling and communications systems. Because high-speed track ends at Marseille-Saint-Charles, all services along this corridor run at conventional speed, giving the journey an unhurried character suited to its coastal setting.

Toulon station marks the western conclusion of this particular run, roughly midway along a line that in its full extent stretches 259 kilometres between Marseille and Ventimiglia. The contrast between Nice's ornate Belle Époque gateway and the long coastal traverse to Toulon captures the dual nature of a Victorian mainline that still carries the principal rail traffic of the French Riviera.