Bif. Riofrío – Fuente de Piedra

The current 460 line was part of the Bobadilla-Granada line, which was planned as a connecting branch of the profitable Córdoba-Granada line.
Although the exploitation rights were initially held by the Marquis of Salamanca, he sold them in 1863 to the Córdoba to Granada Railway Company, run by the Spanish businessman and engineer Jorge Loring, who held the noble title of marquis. [1]

Shortly after the operating concession was awarded, work began on the construction of the line, which initially progressed satisfactorily, except for the section between Antequera and Archidona and Riofrío and Loja, due to the steepness of the terrain. [1] [2]

The line was inaugurated in 1874 and three years later it changed hands, becoming part of the Compañía de los Ferrocarriles Andaluces, in which Jorge Loring had a significant stake. This change allowed the line to be connected to others belonging to the company that spanned the territory of Andalusia. [3]

In 1904, Granada received a new railway from Moreda, to the east of the city. The interconnection between the two lines opened up rail communications between the western and eastern sectors of Andalusia. [4]

In 1936, under the Second Spanish Republic, the state intervened in the Compañía de los Ferrocarriles Andaluces, which was bankrupt, transferring the concession to the Compañía Nacional de los Ferrocarriles del Oeste. However, it only lasted a few years, as it passed into the hands of RENFE in 1941, with the nationalisation of the entire Iberian gauge railway network.

Over the following years there were no major infrastructure renovations and services were reduced in frequency and profile, providing coverage for passengers travelling between Granada and nearby Andalusian towns. Freight traffic was also limited.

In 1994, work began on extending the line as far as Fuente de Piedra station, establishing a connection with the line that linked this town with Utrera. The aim was to improve journey times between Seville and Granada.

In January 2005, when RENFE and ADIF were functionally divided, Bobadilla station was transformed and renamed Antequera-Santa Ana, with the inauguration of the Córdoba-Málaga high-speed line to Antequera. [‘5’] A track gauge changer was also put into service to serve trains from other lines that operated on Iberian gauge. In this way, the line began to offer long-distance services, normally Altaria, between Madrid-Atocha and Granada.

The construction work for the high-speed line from Antequera to Granada caused the service to be interrupted in 2015. Part of the line’s infrastructure was used by the high-speed line, specifically between the towns of Riofrío and Tocón, separated by some 25 linear kilometres. In fact, it can be seen in the field how a long viaduct was built followed by a short section in a trench as a platform for the high-speed line, although it is currently in disuse, due to the change in track gauge a few metres before the start of the viaduct.
The sections before and after the one used for the high-speed line remained intact, becoming two different lines, the 460-Riofrío-Fuente de Piedra junction and the 464-Tocón-La Chana junction, replacing the Fuente de Piedra-Granada line, which is eliminated in the 2019 ADIF Network Statement. [6]

Currently, both lines are closed to conventional traffic and in a state of temporary closure. [7]

The line runs through the fertile lowland landscapes of the Guadalhorce river and stops at towns of great interest to tourists, due to their aesthetic and cultural value, such as Antequera, where the station is located on the edge of town and, although it is not currently in service, it is connected to the new AVE station by an underground passageway. Archidona, another picturesque town, does not have the same luck, as the closed station is located far from the town centre.

Immediately after passing through Archidona, the line crosses the area where the hills and the foothills of the Subbetic System meet, where large alluvial cones and the foothills of the Sierra Morena stand out.

The line is of interest to tourists because of the geological, geomorphological and aesthetic value of the landscapes it crosses and the cultural importance of its municipalities.

Category C2.
A track without service, in a state of abandonment or partially dismantled.