This chapter will explain how to get around Spain by road, air and sea

Travelling By Train

History Of Rail Transport

During the 19th century Spain was one of the poorest and least economically developed countries in western Europe and politically unstable. Railways were therefore relatively late to appear. The first line to be built was a short link from Barcelona to Mataro which was opened in 1848, although by that date a line was already working in Cuba – then part of the Spanish empire. It was not until laws were passed in the 1850s making railway investment more attractive to foreign investment that railway building on a large scale began.

One major misfortune was a decision taken at an early stage, that Spain’s railways should be built to an unusual, broad track gauge of 1674 mm (roughly 5ft 6in, or six Castilian feet). The choice of gauge was influenced by Spain’s hostility to neighbouring France during the 1850s: it was believed that making the Spanish railway network incompatible with that of France would hinder any French invasion. As a result, Portuguese railways were also built to a broad gauge.

This unfortunate political decision would be regretted by future generations, as it hindered international trade and also made railway construction more expensive. As a result of the cost of building broad-gauge lines, a large system of narrow–gauge railways was also built in the poorer parts of Spain, especially in the north-west of the country.

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.

During the Spanish Civil War the railway network was extensively damaged. Immediately after the war the Franco regime nationalised the broad-gauge network, and in 1941 Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Espanoles RENFE was formed. Narrow-gauge lines were nationalised in the 1950s, later being grouped to form FEVE. It took many years for the railway system to recover from the war; during the 1950s it was common to see intercity express trains being hauled by 100-year-old steam locomotives on poor, worn-out track.

Following the decentralisation of Spain after 1978, those narrow-gauge lines which did not cross the limits of autonomous communities of Spain were taken out of the control of FEVE and transferred to the regional governments, which formed, amongst others, Eusko Trenbideak and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya; Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao all have autonomous subway services.

In recent years Spain’s railways have received very heavy investment, much of it coming from the EU. Most recently a standard-gauge high-speed rail line (AVE) has been built between Madrid and Seville. In 2003 a high-speed service was inaugurated on a new line from Madrid to Lleida, due to be extended to Barcelona by 2007 and eventually onwards, via an international tunnel beneath the Pyrenees, to Perpignan where it will link up with the French TGV high-speed system. Delays on the part of the French government in authorising construction on its side of the border have held up Spanish plans to some extent. Further high-speed links are under construction from Madrid to Valladolid and from Cordoba to Malaga, and a new line is planned to Lisbon.

The state-owned RENFE operates the Spanish rail network consisting of 15,000 km of track and 2,500 stations. The network covers all major cities and is supplemented by a few suburban networks and private narrow-gauge railways. Compared with the volume of goods shipped by road, little freight is transported by train. RENFE operates a service that is continually improving. The fastest services are called the AVE and the TALGO their names being acronyms for high-speed trains that run along these routes. Grandes Lineas (long distance), Regionales (regional) and Cercanias (local) are other, self explanatory, marketing names.