La Robla – Puente de los Fierros

The section between La Robla and Puente de los Fierros belongs to line 130. Gijón-Sanz Crespo – Venta de Baños. Currently, the section between Puente de los Fierros and Gijón-Sanz Crespo has been integrated into the Asturias commuter rail network. It includes the so-called ‘Rampa de Pajares’, which runs from Busdongo station to Puente de los Fierros station.

The project to build a railway line between Gijón and Venta de Baños was proposed by Asturian industrialists in the mid-19th century, who were interested in having a railway connection between Asturias and the central plateau after the start of regular coal mining in 1840. This line was also intended to facilitate the export of agricultural products from Castile-León.

The construction process lasted several decades. [1] [2] The first concession to connect León with Avilés (Asturias) was awarded to the Asturian Mining Company, a British-owned company, in December 1844, [1] who did not get to start the project. In 1858, a tender was called for the construction of a railway line from Palencia to the ports of La Coruña and Vigo, passing through León and including a branch line to Asturias, which was not awarded until 1864 in a second auction.

Finally, the construction of the line was started by the Northwest Railway Company of Spain, which went bankrupt in 1878, before completing the works. At that time, the section through the port of Pajares, between the stations of Busdongo and Pola de Lena, the most difficult stretch due to the gradient that had to be overcome, was still pending. This task was taken on by the Compañía de los Ferrocarriles de Asturias, Galicia y León, and the section known as the Pajares Ramp was inaugurated in August 1884.

The Rampa de Pajares road climbs 927 metres with an almost constant gradient of 20 thousandths and a layout in which 44% of the bends have a radius of 300 metres. It was a highly complex project, which put to the test not only the best engineering of the time, but also the technology with which it would later be necessary to maintain and expand its function. [3]

Shortly after the line was fully inaugurated, in May 1885, the Asturias, Galicia and León Railway Company merged with the Northern Spain Railway Company, which, from that moment on, expanded its network in Asturias by building branches of this León-Gijón line. [2] [4]

In the 20th century, the need for a greater capacity to transport coal from Asturias to the interior of the Iberian Peninsula prompted the company to electrify the Busdongo-Ujo section of the Pajares ramp, which in 1924 became the first railway section in Spain to be electrified with 3 kV direct current. [5]

In 1941, when the Iberian gauge national railway network was nationalised, the line became part of RENFE, which completed the electrification of the Ujo – Gijón and León – Busdongo routes in 1955. In 1970, as part of the Asturias Railway Infrastructure Plan, the main line and its branches were renovated and improved.

In 2005, with the extinction of RENFE, within the framework of Law 39/2003 on the Railway Sector, it came under the control of Adif like the rest of the RFIG of the State.

In 2007, Acciona Rail Services began transporting imported coal from the port of Gijón to the La Robla thermal power station in León, becoming the first private company in Spain to offer a complete freight transport service using the public railway network following the liberalisation of the sector. [6]

In 2023, the so-called ‘Pajares Variant’ was put into service, between La Robla (start of the section) and Pola de Lena (on the section of the line belonging to line C1 of the Asturias suburban network, 4 stations after Puente de los Fierros), an engineering and construction challenge in Europe as 80% of its route of almost 50 kilometres (km) runs through tunnels and it saves more than an hour on the journey between Asturias and Madrid. [7]

The opening of the alternative route has led to a drastic reduction in the number of trains and therefore of passengers travelling along the Pajares route.In 2024 there are only two regional passenger services a day, one to Gijón and the other to León, raising fears for the future of this railway line, which could be threatened with closure. As for freight, it is increasingly being transported through the new tunnel.

In recent years, important maintenance work has been carried out, so the line is in good technical condition. Its enormous tourist potential, mainly centred on the famous Rampa de Pajares, is leading to an evaluation of the possibilities of introducing tourist rail services along its route. In fact, in July and August 2024, the company Alsa has already offered some tourist routes on specific days with historic trains.

The great attraction of the line is that it crosses the Cantabrian Mountains, allowing passengers to enjoy spectacular mountain views on the sections where the train travels in the open. The most attractive section for tourists due to its natural beauty and scenery is the one between Busdongo and Puente de los Fierros, although the adjacent sections leading to the mountain range (Santa Lucía de Gordón – Busdongo, and Puente de los Fierros – Campomanes) are also interesting in terms of scenery, although not as good as the central section. Another of the attractions of the line is travelling through the famous 19th-century Perruca Tunnel, at the time the longest tunnel in Spain. This line is a journey back in time, being one of the most iconic infrastructures of the Spanish railway. Travelling on it in panoramic trains, like those used in Switzerland, could favour the appreciation of the spectacular landscapes through which it runs.

Category A2.
Electrified track with concrete sleepers in need of improvement