History of rail transport in Spain

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Map of railways of the Iberian peninsula (1921)

The history of rail transport in Spain begins in the 19th century. In 1848, a railway line between Barcelona and Mataró was inaugurated,[1] although a line in Cuba (then a Spanish overseas province) connecting Havana and Bejucal had already opened in 1837.[2] In 1852 the first narrow gauge line was built, in 1863 a line reached the Portuguese border. By 1864 the Madrid-Irun line had been opened, and the French border reached.[1]

In 1911 the first line to be electrified was the Gergal-Santa Fe line.[1]

In 1941 RENFE was created.[1]

The last steam locomotive was withdrawn in 1975, in 1986 the maximum speed on the railways was raised to 160 km/h (99 mph), and in 1992 the Madrid Seville high speed line opened,[1] beginning the process of building a nationwide high speed network.

Development

The Havana-Güines rail line
Railway network in Spain and Portugal in 1906

Railway transport was first developed in Northern Europe during the 19th century, spurred not only by rapid economic growth, but also by landscapes favourable to railway construction. The mountainous terrain, low population density, relatively weak 19th century economic development and political up-and-downs hindered the development of the

Játiva.[5] The development of a true railway network began under the overarching legal frame of the 3 June 1855 Ley General de Caminos de Hierro, during the bienio progresista.[6]

A major company, the

Marquis of Salamanca and the Rothschilds.[7] Primarily led by the Péreires, its main rival was the Compañía de los Caminos de Hierro del Norte de España ('Norte'), constituted in 1858.[8]

One key development was the decision, taken at an early stage, that Spain's railways should be built to an unusual

Iberian gauge
.

The decision for an Iberian gauge would later come to hinder interoperability of rail services with France, and it also made railway construction more expensive. Apart from the widespread broad-gauge lines, a large system of

north coast of the country, where narrow gauge was the most adequate option. In 2023 transport officials in RENFE in Spain resigned when it was found that narrow-gauge passenger rolling-stock ordered in 2020 for the northern regions of Asturias and Cantabria would be too wide for the tunnels and were to be redesigned with delays of a year or two in delivery.[10]

The main-line network was roughly complete by the 1870s. Because of Spain's (until recently) relative lack of economic development, the Spanish railway network never became as extensive as those of most other European countries. For instance, in terms of land area Spain is about 2.5 times the size of Great Britain but its railway network is about 3,000 km (1,900 mi) smaller.

During the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s the railway network was extensively damaged.

Nationalization of rail network

Immediately after the war

nationalized in the 1950s, later being grouped to form FEVE
.

It took many years for the railway system to recover from the war. In spite of this, innovators like Goicoechea created advanced trains like the Talgo and the TER. Only with the Spanish transition to democracy in 1975, did the Spanish railway network begin to modernize and catch up with the rest of Europe.[citation needed]

Tail end of a Talgo III train, designed in the late 1960s

Following the

Metro Bilbao) all have autonomous metro
services.

In 1986/7, many radial routes were closed: thousands of kilometres of passenger lines were axed.

The Railway Sector Act of 2003 separated the management, maintenance and construction of rail infrastructure from train operation. The former is now the responsibility of

Renfe Operadora
('Renfe') owns the rolling stock and remains responsible for the planning, marketing and operation of passenger and freight services (though no longer with a legal monopoly).

High speed

High speed lines operating, under construction and planned
Main article: High-speed rail in Spain

In recent years Spain's railways have received very heavy investment, much of it coming from the

standard gauge high-speed rail line (AVE) was built between Madrid and Seville. In 2003, high-speed service was inaugurated on a new line from Madrid to Lleida and extended to Barcelona in 2008. The same year, the lines from Madrid to Valladolid and from Córdoba to Málaga
were inaugurated.

The Madrid-Barcelona line is being extended onwards via an international

Valencia and to Lisbon. The Basque Y
, also under construction, will link the three Basque cities.

In June 2011,

RENFE announced they would suppress the three daily high-speed trains between Toledo, Cuenca and Albacete because of lack of passengers despite an investment of 3.5 billion euros (this figure includes the full Madrid-Cuenca-Valencia high-speed railway and the Cuenca-Albacete branch – later extended to Alicante, Murcia and, soon, Valencia – construction costs).[11] Some media stated that the average number of daily passengers was 9 between Toledo and Albacete and 6 between Toledo and Cuenca while the daily cost was 18,000 euros, while official figures give us an average of 403–464 daily passengers.[12]
Those trains ran over existing high speed lines (the lines to Toledo, Seville and Valencia) and so the lines remain open, but passengers travelling between the cities had to change trains at Madrid. However, in 2022, as the Madrid-Cuenca-Valencia traditional railway was closed, trains between Toledo, Cuenca and Albacete have been reinstated, this time operated as Avant, catering better to the needs of passengers than the AVE trains that were operated in 2011.

Loading Gauge

Width

African Integrated High Speed Railway Network
.

Spain UIC loading gauge


Thus

OSShD
platforms with a wider gap, but not the other way round.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Significant events in the history of Spanish infrastructures and railways www.fomento.es
  2. ^ Tovar, Julio (21 June 2020). "Breve historia de la esclavitud en España". CTXT.
  3. ^ "España en líneas" (PDF). museo del Ferrocarril. p. 10.
  4. ISSN 0211-0849
    .
  5. ^ Ruzafa Ortega 2018, p. 33.
  6. JSTOR 26543241
    .
  7. ^ Rubio, Javier (27 January 2010). "Línea férrea Madrid-Sevilla: de los Rothschild al AVE". El Mundo.
  8. ISSN 1134-2277
    .
  9. ISBN 9780060730871. Retrieved 2015-04-19. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help
    )
  10. ^ "Heads roll in Spain over trains too wide for tunnels". Stuff/Fairfax. 2023.
  11. ^ "Renfe suprimeix l'AVE Toledo-Albacete-Conca per manca de viatgers". 27 June 2011.
  12. ^ CCMA (27 June 2011). "Renfe suprimeix l'AVE Toledo-Albacete-Conca per manca de viatgers" (in Catalan). Retrieved 2016-02-06.

External links

  • Winchester, Clarence, ed. (1936), "Spain and Portugal", Railway Wonders of the World, pp. 1473–1480 illustrated description of the railways of Spain and Portugal
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