Réunion (France)

Country Details

See Wikipedia. Réunion is an overseas département of France.

Railway system

There is now no "national" railway but at maximum there was an over 120 km Metre Gauge line around the western coast of the Island. Its Wikipédia history is here Chemin de Fer de la Réunion (CFR) with the last CFR section closed on 31 December 1963.

Tourist railways

A tourist service commenced on a re-laid 4km stretch of the above based on Grande-Chaloupe but had ceased by 1996 due to a combination of weak bridges and nesting Salanganes rare birds in one of the tunnels used. So it was unexpected to find a YouTube video dated September 2024 of one of the original Railcars coupled to a small diesel running on tracks at Grande Chaloupe station. The length of track available is unknown [press comment "enjoyed a ride of a few minutes" with footage showing traversing a tunnel and a small viaduct] but it appears to be an irregular event, last known on 6 April 2025 so check their Facebook page or website. Report updated: May 2025

Metro and LRT Systems

None. Unlike nearby Mauritius, Réunion thought about trams but this has not progressed as wiki says "The tram-train project was abandoned in 2010 and was not based on the same route" [as the long closed NG Railway]. The same seems true for the Réunion Island tramway project launched in 2018 as no further information is found online in recent years.

On 29 August 2025, the overseas territory of La Réunion and its five municipalities signed a ‘partnership roadmap’ for revival of the Réunion Express interurban light rail project, a 140 km TER line project linking Saint-Benoît and Saint-Joseph to the west, along with bus and road improvements. Construction of this "Réunion Express," which would be a first in the French overseas territories, is expected to begin in 2030 with completion in 2035. Report updated: September 2025

Recent and Future Changes

See Tourist Railways and LRT Systems.