Paris-based Parc Asterix is opening its new season this Spring with the launch of a ghost train, Transdemonium.

After an investment of E6.2m and seven months construction work the 13-carriage train will take 1,300 visitors per hour on a 270-metre circuit. Located in the 'Middle Ages' area of the Parc, the train will carry 'daring little Gauls' and 'trembling bigger Gauls' through a haunted castle, full of wizards and ghouls intended to provide 'spine-chilling fun for all the family'.

Parc Asterix now boasts 29 attractions, six large shows held three to six times a day, 10 entertainment venues, 40 food outlets including 6 restaurants and over 20 themed shops on a site of more than 20 hectares inside a protected forest.

Two years ago Grevin et Compagnie SA became the first French family leisure group to reach 3.5m visitors and celebrated its success by opening La Trace Du Hourra a bobsleigh type attraction of 850 metres in length and 31 metres high. The train, with seven two-seater cars races down a slope in a chute made of metal tubing at a speed of 54km per hour. Details: www.parcasterix.com