Lleida-Pirineus – Manresa

The connection of Barcelona with the centre of the peninsula by rail was the objective pursued by the promoters of this line, in a historical context in which other minor sections already connected Barcelona with nearby localities of commercial and industrial interest. The main driving force behind this incipient initiative was the notary José María Planas y Compte, although with short-lived success when the Ministry of Public Works rejected the application for the creation of a concessionary company in 1852.

That same year, however, the Ministry granted the concession to the ‘Railway Company from Barcelona to Zaragoza via Monzón and Lérida’, which, after several financial adjustments, was able to begin studying solutions. The most important business association was with the investors Girona Hermanos, Clavé y Compañía, who were decisive in getting the project off the ground. Given that, as has been indicated, short-distance lines already reached Barcelona, the most reasonable thing to do was to negotiate with the concessionary companies the link with this new one. One option was to start from Moncada and Reixach, a town that had a station on the existing line from Barcelona to Granollers, operated by the ‘Compañía de los Caminos de Hierro del Norte de España, CCHNE’. From Moncada it would reach Manresa and from there Lérida, and later Zaragoza. The other option proposed was to start from Martorell, where a line from Barcelona, which was under construction, arrived. Finally, the Moncada and Reixach alternative was chosen, and the route was divided into four sections: Barcelona-Manresa, Manresa-Lleida, Lleida-Monzón and Monzón-Zaragoza.

The first section of this line was inaugurated in 1855 and was almost 12 kilometres long, between Moncada and Sabadell. It was operated by the company that already managed the existing line to which it was linked. Over the next four years, work progressed from Sabadell and Lleida until the route was completed in Tarrasa in 1859. Just two years later, the Zaragoza-Lleida section was inaugurated, thus completing the line. However, disagreements with the CCHNE led to the construction of a new section between Moncada and Reixach and Barcelona, which ran, to a large extent, parallel to the Barcelona-Granollers line. With this last section, opened in 1862, the Barcelona-Zaragoza line would be almost 370 kilometres long.
In 1864, the company merged with the Zaragoza to Pamplona Railway, creating the company Zaragoza to Pamplona and Barcelona Railways, which later merged with the CCHNE in 1878.

In 1928, the CCHNE electrified the section between Barcelona and Manresa, while RENFE electrified the remaining section to Lleida much later, in 1981.  

Broadly speaking, railway line 220, which connects Lleida with Manresa, offers a landscape that gradually evolves from plains or gentle undulations to moderately rugged terrain. Most of the stops are operational.

From Lleida to Bellpuig, the Pla d’Urgell reveals a landscape dominated by irrigated crops, which turn to rain-fed crops in the following two stations, Anglesola and Tàrrega. Throughout this section, there are no relevant landscape features.

The line runs along this section parallel to the A2 motorway, along which the Rodalies de Catalunya rail service runs, which is to say that the rail services run entirely within Catalonia on the general state network. All the stops on this first part are located in or very close to towns.

Between the halt at Cervera and Calaf station the dry land begins to mix with ancient uncultivated terraces and more prominent masses of vegetation. The topography has a gentle undulation with outstanding visual patterns. From Calaf to Manresa station, line 220 runs through a depression between hills to the south of the Castelltallat mountain range, with an abundance of pine trees. The only station with access to a town before Manresa is Rajadell. In these last two sections the landscape is of moderate value. There could be some potential for rural tourism development.

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