Cáceres – Km. 428,5 (Frontera)

Line 502, which runs from Valencia de Alcántara to the so-called km 428.5 on the Portuguese border, was developed in conjunction with line 500, which links Madrid-Planetario with Valencia de Alcántara. The origin of this railway connection can be traced back to the Law of 9 July 1856, which authorised the Government to grant, by means of a public auction, the construction of a line in the provinces of Madrid, Toledo and Cáceres without state subsidy. The aim was to define a railway connection between Madrid and Lisbon, in what would become known as the ‘fast track’ or the ‘direct route’ between the two capitals.

In 1865 the section between Madrid and Malpartida was granted, in 1877 that between Plasencia and Cáceres and in 1876 that between Cáceres and the Portuguese border. These concessions were transferred until in 1881 they were grouped together in the so-called Sociedad Anónima de los Ferrocarriles de Madrid a Cáceres y Portugal.

Construction work began in 1866 in the south of Madrid by the Compañía del Ferrocarril del Tajo, created specifically to undertake the project. The work came to a standstill in 1869 without having made significant progress. The company, unable to meet the initial deadlines, requested multiple extensions while making slow progress on the construction. [1]

In June 1876, the first 85 km section between Madrid and Torrijos was completed. From then on, construction accelerated, with sections opening relatively quickly: Torrijos-Talavera de la Reina in July of the same year. Talavera de la Reina-Oropesa in September 1877, Oropesa-Navalmoral de la Mata in March 1878 and Navalmoral del Mata-Bazagona in February 1879. [1] [2]

With the line between Madrid and Malpartida under construction, the focus shifted to the other end of the route, with two sections being established, Malpartida-Cáceres and Malpartida-Valencia de Alcántara. From 1879 the railway company from Cáceres to Malpartida and the Portuguese border jointly managed the two sections, with the Valencia de Alcántara-border section being inaugurated in June 1880 and later the rest of the route to Cáceres. [1]

In December 1880 the Madrid to Cáceres and Portugal Railway Company was created, with the head of the line in Madrid, specifically at Delicias station. However, the line was not completed until 1881, when work between La Bazagona-Malpartida and Malpartida-Cáceres was finished. [2] [3]

In October 1881 the line from Madrid to Cáceres and Portugal was put into service and inaugurated by King Alfonso XII of Spain and King Luis I of Portugal. The customs post between the two countries was located in Valencia de Alcántara. This circumstance made it become an important railway complex at the time, despite being located more than 3 km from the town of the same name. The customs post was dismantled in the 1990s, when the borders between certain European Union countries disappeared as part of their customs policy.

Despite being a line with international projection, the results of the Madrid to Cáceres and Portugal Railway Company were not particularly good. In 1891 its financial situation was aggravated by the economic problems of the Royal Portuguese Railway Company, the company that operated the section to Lisbon.

In this context, the railway company Compañía de los Ferrocarriles de Madrid a Cáceres y Portugal sold its rights over the line in 1894 and was re-founded as Compañía de los Ferrocarriles de Madrid a Cáceres y Portugal y Oeste de España, incorporating the railway line between Astorga and Plasencia, despite which its financial situation continued to deteriorate until the State intervened. In 1928, the line came under the control of the Compañía Nacional de los Ferrocarriles del Oeste, and in 1941, when the Iberian gauge national railway network was nationalised as a whole, it became part of RENFE. [4] Since 2005, when RENFE was dissolved under the terms of Railway Sector Law 39/2003, it has been under the control of Adif, like the rest of the RFIG (State Railway Network).

A peculiarity of this line was the exclusion of the original route to Cáceres, which was connected by a branch line from Arroyo de Malpartida, with the aim of shortening the distance between Madrid and the Portuguese border. This situation, which adversely affected the connection between Cáceres and Madrid, was resolved with the Casar variant, which replaced the original route in June 1971. [5]

The line’s international vocation, with services such as the Lusitania Comboi Hotel, continued until August 2012. As a result of a gradual reduction in service, the Portuguese authorities decided to completely close what was known as the ‘Cáceres line’, also known as the ‘Cáceres branch line’, which runs between Torre das Vargens (Eastern line) and the Spanish border, thus interrupting the rail connection with Portugal via the Madrid-Valencia de Alcántara line [⁶]. The ‘Cáceres branch line’ has subsequently been excluded from the official railway map of the Refer. This has resulted in the section between Valencia de Alcántara and the border currently having no rail service. On the rest of the line, between Cáceres and Valencia de Alcántara, there are daily medium-distance passenger services, with a journey time of 90 minutes.

In November 2024 Adif announced an investment of more than €9 million in the modernisation of signalling between Cáceres and Valencia de Alcántara, with the removal of the telephone block and the installation of an automatic system remotely controlled from the CTC and a new communications system between the train and the CRC using digital technology. [7]

The perception of the tourist potential of this line is low. The line runs through an area of rolling pastureland, far from population centres. Its main function was the connection, now closed, with the Portuguese border, its most unique element being the station of Valencia de Alcántara, large due to the facilities it had at the time (customs, etc.) but in a state of conservation that could be improved. This station, far from the centre of the village, could be refurbished for other uses (museums, audiovisual recordings, etc.). As for the rest of the line, it is worth mentioning the possibility of establishing hiking routes through the Sierra de San Pedro, of great ecological and scenic value, if a halt were to be reopened at the old Herreruela station.

Category C1.
Non-electrified track with wooden sleepers in need of repair.