Caudiel – Teruel

The railway connection between Calatayud and Valencia, via Sagunto, was the object of several business initiatives from 1870, all of them failures, until in 1984 the Compañía del Ferrocarril Central de Aragón was set up, which managed to complete the connection between Calatayud and Valencia in the following eight years. [1]

The line was built in sections, with those presenting fewer orographic difficulties advancing at a faster pace. However, the Calatayud-Sagunto section would be operational in 1901 and a year later, the connection between Sagunto and Valencia, with the Valencia-Alameda terminal station, would receive its first passengers. [1] [2] [3]

It is striking that, for a long time, the line between Calatayud and Valencia operated at the same time as the Ojos Negros line, a narrow-gauge line, owned by the mining company Sierra Menera, which ran parallel to Sagunto. This line connected the Ojos Negros mining basin with the port of Sagunto. The line is currently dismantled and its route has been converted into a well-preserved greenway.
The Compañía del Ferrocarril Central de Aragón, owner of the Calatayud-Valencia line, bought the existing line between Cariñena and Zaragoza, to extend it and link it with its own, thus allowing a rail connection between Zaragoza and Calatayud, as well as between Zaragoza and Teruel and Zaragoza and Valencia. The connecting station was named Caminreal, and the Delicias station was built in Zaragoza. The works were inaugurated in 1933. [2] [4] [5]

Shortly afterwards, due to the outbreak of the Civil War, much of the railway infrastructure was severely damaged as several viaducts were destroyed and a significant part of the track was rendered unusable.

In 1941, the nationalisation of the Iberian gauge railway network led to a gradual improvement in the service, with diesel traction progressively replacing traditional steam locomotives. In addition, the service between Zaragoza and Teruel was improved with the incorporation of railbuses, TAF trains and TER trains. [6] [7]

In January 1985, due to its lack of economic profitability, the last section of the line, from Caminreal to Calatayud, was closed to traffic, as well as the abandoned section between Sagunto and Valencia, which ran parallel to the Tarragona-Valencia line. Currently, from Caudiel onwards, the route is used as part of the Valencia suburban railway infrastructure. From then on, the sections between Sagunto and Caminreal, and between Caminreal and Zaragoza, were merged into a single railway line. [5] [8] [9]

The line is currently undergoing extensive remodelling as part of the plan to create the so-called ‘Cantabrian-Mediterranean Corridor’. Several stations along the route have also been renovated to adapt them as 750-metre sidings to service freight trains.

As part of the ongoing modernisation process, work began in January 2020 on the electrification of the Zaragoza-Teruel section, which is currently in full swing. These actions make it difficult to promote tourism on the line, which is mainly intended for freight traffic. There is, however, some tourist accommodation infrastructure, although it is geared towards serving users of the Ojos Negros greenway.

Category B2.
Non-electrified track with concrete sleepers in need of repair.