The TiTrain railway line in Saint-Leu

Park in the car park near the Kelonia roundabout: Corail Farm and Sea Turtle Observatory.

(S) Head towards the roundabout, leave the RN1a and turn left onto Rue Georges Pompidou.

(1) Take the sharp right-hand bend onto the small street: the first (derelict) house on the left is the gatekeeper’s cottage, where the old railway halt used to be. Walk down the street, which turns into a grassy path, to reach the Viaduc des Colimaçons : this viaduct is one of the most impressive remnants of Réunion Island’s railway heritage.

(2) Cross the viaduct then head right to go back down to the RN1a. Head left to reach the hamlet of Cayenne, where a hiking trail begins.

(3) Continue along the road until you reach the Chaloupe railway bridge. As at the Ravine des Colimaçons, the road used to run below the railway line.

(4) Carry on straight ahead to the roundabout at the entrance to Saint-Leu.

(5) Take the second exit and follow Rue Lambert to Place Raymond Vergès. From this square, you can see, up on the hillside, the Chapel of Notre-Dame de la Salette and the Parc du 20 décembre 1848. On the square, the old post office is on the left and the town hall at the far end.

(6) A passageway between these two buildings leads to Ruelle de la Marine; take this to the right to reach Boulevard de la Compagnie des Indes. Turn left.

(7) Walk round the flowerbed opposite the current post office building, which was built on the site of the old railway station. Opposite the post office entrance, railway tracks are used as a border for the flowerbed. Continue along Boulevard de la Compagnie des Indes, cross the Ravine de Grand Étang bridge, then turn right onto Rue du Lagon. Cross the Ravine des Poux bridge and you’ll come to a small car park.

(8) Carry on straight ahead, passing the children’s playground, until you reach Rue du Général Lambert. Keep going in the same direction, cross the Ravine du Cap bridge, and continue along the RN1a towards Étang Salé until you reach the Saint-Leu cemetery on the left. On the right is the Ravine de Fond Bagatelle culvert, where, on the Indian Ocean side, sections of railway track are embedded in the masonry (E).

The start and finish of the walk are situated right next to bus stops and a car park.

There are bus stops and car parks at the start and finish points.

In the town of Saint-Leu, you’ll find all sorts of shops and services.

The Tourist Office is situated at the entrance to Rue du Général Lambert, on the left.

(S/E) Visit the Kélonia Sea Turtle Observatory: a Creolised form of a Greek term associated with turtles.

(1) Before the railway was closed down, there was a culvert on either side of the Pointe des Châteaux halt.

(2) From the Colimaçons viaduct, you can see below, upstream of the ravine, one of the abutments of the old road bridge.

(3) From Cayenne, a path begins which walkers have dubbed ‘the letterbox trail’; it leads to Bras Mouton and, for the more adventurous, even to the summit of the Gand Bénard, which rises to 2,898 metres. It is the island’s third-highest peak and offers unobstructed views of the cirques of Mafate and Cilaos. It can also be reached via the Col du Maïdo.

(4) Just before the bridge over the Ravine de la Chaloupe, there used to be a railway barrier, and the masonry features that can be seen conceal a small former lime kiln which was connected to the railway by tracks used by mine trolleys.

(5) At the entrance to Saint-Leu, there are three possible routes:

• to the left to reach the Saint-Leu ravine, where, at the entrance to the car park alongside a wire fence, you can take the paved path leading to the cannons situated higher up. Another interesting route is the Salette path, which starts at the wayside shrine, passes by the Chapel of La Salette and, after 200 steps, joins a small road accessible only from the higher ground.
• To the right, the TiTrain continued its journey along the coast to Saint-Leu railway station.
• Straight on towards the town centre via Rue du Général Lambert. Once you’ve reached the end of the walk, we’d suggest returning to the starting point via this street so you can explore its many shops.

Take Rue du Général Lambert; the Tourist Office is on the left at the start of this street. A little further on, on the right, a small kiosk houses a ticket office for the ‘Yellow Buses’ network.

(6) The Town Hall Square is truly the heart of the town because, apart from the Town Hall, the CCAS occupies the premises of the former post office. Two visits are unmissable:

The 20 December Park (20 December 1848 marks the date of the abolition of slavery on Réunion Island). This date was chosen so that the slaves could finish the sugarcane harvest.

A little further on to the left, you can see the Church of Notre-Dame de la Salette. The history of this church is less well known than that of the chapel of the same name, but you can read the information boards in front of the church.

The old Saint-Leu railway station has been replaced by the current post office. Rows of filaos were planted along the coastline, as can be seen on old postcards which illustrate many books on the island’s railway heritage. As plantations of this tree species can be found near most former stations, it is likely that filaos wood was traditionally used as fuel for steam locomotives.

The bridge over the Grand Étang ravine and its tributary, the Petit Étang ravine, is of limited interest, as are those over the Poux and Cap ravines. At the end of this walk, a question may arise: did the railway continue along the RN1a to reach a superb culvert over the Fond Madiel ravine, and then on to the site of Pointe au Sel? On examining the 1950 aerial photographs on the Géoportail website, it is clear that the route climbs upwards and only joins the RN1a further on, some 2 km away, at Piton des Roches Tendres.