The wild abandoned railway in the centre of Paris [BBC]
Date: 25/10/2013
Long before the Metro, the steam trains of Petite Ceinture ('Little Belt' in English) connected Paris's main railway stations carrying people around the city along the path of its ancient walls. The circular line went into gradual decline from the 1930s, when competition arrived in the form of the more modern underground Metro system. For 32km (almost 20 miles) the tracks of Petite Ceinture snake through bustling Paris, isolated and largely unseen from street level in deep trenches, long tunnels, and bridges. Nature has reclaimed the space and it has become a haven for wild flowers and animals.
External links
BBC Video
BBC News went to meet the people trying to save the Petite Ceinture, a railway line in the centre of Paris mostly abandoned since the 1930s.
