The line

Demanded by the farmers of the village, tired of the traffic jams from cars that got in the way of carriages and beasts along the Han, at the municipal council meeting of 16 September 1904, the Cave Line was granted to the SNCV by Royal Decree of 8 July 1905 and inaugurated on 1 June 1906. Of metric gauge and 3.7 km long, it ran from the church of Han, on the Rochefort – Wellin line, to the top of the Faule rocks, and was leased out to the company for the operation of the Rochefort – Grotte-de-Han – Wellin suburban tram on 1 January 1909, then, when the other railways of the Wellin Group were put out of commission, taken over by the company for the operation of the “Grotte de Han” railway on 1 September 1955, renewed in the “Moniteur Belge” [Official Gazette] of 28 June 1986, with a leasing contract renewable very fifteen years.

Dismantled in 1916 because of the war, it was re-opened to tourism on 13 June 1920 and, since then, has undergone alterations only at each end: on 29 March 1968, 1.7 km of new rails were constructed, the upper terminus was moved to the peak of the Faule rocks right in front of the Cave entrance: on 9 July 1989, again in order to provide greater comfort to visitors, the village terminus had its own line through the commissioning of the municipal park ring.

Rolling stock

Until 1935, the Han cave was serviced by trains pulled by HL locomotives, sometimes in double traction, with no fewer than seven daily trains to the entrance of the Caves during the season. The introduction of railcars running on fuel oil as of 1935 would make the line easier to operate and double the capacity of the tram.

In addition to the service cars, the current rolling stock comprises six railcars (the ART 89 and 90, the AR 145, 159, 168 and 266), dating from the 1930s, and about ten trailers the A 8798, A 8812, A 8820, A 8821, A 8861, B 8893, B 8895 and B 8896, made around 1895 and currently being replaced by their smaller facsimiles under no. GR 001 to GR 009, but equipped with brakes worthy of the name). They are: the

ART 89, the construction of which, based on the chassis of trailer A 10.538 (from the 1920s), was awarded to the Ghent-Destelbergen SNCV workshop on 18 September 1933, is railcar with wooden casing commissioned in Ghent on 1 August 1934. Turned into a locomotive railcar by ballasting and replacing the rails at Eugies or Jumet in December 1949, it served in Hainaut (Tournai, Mons, Chimai, semi-metro works of Charleroi and ASVi) from 1949 to 1985, before arriving in Han in 1995, where it is currently being restored.

ART 90, the construction of which, based on the chassier of trailer A 948 (from the 1890s) was awarded to the SNCV Brussels-Cureghem workshop on 18 September 1933, is likewise a railcar with wooden casing, commissioned in Jodoigne on 1 July 1934 . Turned into a locomotive railcar in Leuven in 1949, it served in Brabant (Leuven, Jodoigne, Tienen), before being decommissioned in Brussels (1962-1972) for the dismantling of the rails. It arrived in Han-sur-Lesse in October 1977.

AR 145, the oldest railcar in service at the Cave, is an a railcar with metal casing, the construction of which was awarded to Baume and Marpent, a company in Haine-St-Pierre on 7 March 1934 . It was commissioned by the Welling group which served in particular the line of the cave on 15 October 1935, and then, around 1950, was turned into a a semi-locomotive semi locomotive, by ballasting.

AR 159 is also a railcar with metal casing, the construction of which was awarded to the Forges Usines et Fonderies in Haine-St-Pierre on 11 August 1934 ; it was commissioned in Turnhout on December 1935. Turned into a semi locomotive in Ghent in 1951, it arrived at the Wellin group in 1952.

AR 168 is part of the same series as the AR 159 . It was commissioned in Courrière in January 1936, before being assigned to Antwerp in May 1937, then turned into a semi locomotive in Ghent in 1951, and arrived at the Wellin group in 1952.

AR 266 is a railcar with metal casing, the construction of which was awarded to the Ghent-Destelbergen SNCV workshop on 26 October 1936. Commissioned in Liège on 20 August 1938, it served in succession in the provinces of Liège (1938-1949), Hainaut (1949-1954) and Brabant (1954-1962), before arriving in Han, on 23 June 1966.