Petit train d'Artouste, Mountain railway in Laruns, France

Petit train d'Artouste is a narrow-gauge railway in the French Pyrenees accessible by cable car from the valley below. The line winds through high mountain terrain with views of peaks, rocky slopes, and alpine meadows.

The line was laid in 1920 by the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Midi as a 314 m construction railway with 500 mm gauge and 7.5 kg/m rails, carrying men, fuel, equipment and tonnes of cement for the Artouste dam. The track was lifted in the late 1920s, then relaid for site maintenance. From 1932 the Compagnie opened it to tourists, running on Sundays in summer with three Renault locotractors and wooden-seated flat wagons, operated by retired railwaymen.

The line's nickname comes from its origin as a construction railway for the hydro-electric works of the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Midi. From 1932 the Conseil Général pushed to open the route to tourists, and retired railwaymen ran the first Sunday summer services with wooden-seated flatbed carriages. La Poste issued a stamp honouring the train on 12 July 1993.

Visitors reach the railway via a cable car starting from a valley station. The train journey itself takes about 1 hour and moves slowly, so plan to spend time there and bring warmer clothes since temperatures drop at higher elevations.

The line's claim to be Europe's highest train is not accurate: it is France's second-highest tourist railway after the Tramway du Mont-Blanc, and fifteenth in Europe. Its summit point near the start reaches about 1,940 m. The 315 m Tunnel de l'ours crosses beneath the ridge before the ledge above the Soussouéou valley.