Toral de los Vados – Cosmos

Line 802 runs from Toral de los Vados, on the Palencia – La Coruña line, to Villafranca del Bierzo (León). It was built by the Compañía Ferroviaria de Asturias, Galicia y León, which was awarded the concession in August 1882. [1] It was inaugurated in March 1883 and two years later, in 1885, it passed into the hands of the Northern Spain Railway Company, which absorbed the Asturias, Galicia and León Railway Company.

The establishment of the factory Cementos Villafranca S.A. in Parandones (Leon) in 1920, followed later by that of Cementos Cosmos in Toral de los Vados in 1924, generated a significant amount of cement traffic, both in sacks and in bulk.

In 1941, when the Iberian gauge railway network was nationalised, the line became part of RENFE, which electrified it to 3 kV DC in 1962.

The most important traffic on the line was that generated by the Exminesa company in Santa Bárbara de Rubiales, in Los Ancares (Lugo), which began in 1977. These minerals were sold to the Factoría Asturiana del Zinc in San Juan de Nieva, which required them to be transported by lorry to the station in Villafranca for subsequent shipment to León and onward via Pajares.

For some years the line had very good economic results, which led to it being nicknamed the ‘Tren del Oro’ (Gold Train).[2]

On the other hand, in 1984, following the cessation of passenger services, as part of the massive closure of loss-making RENFE lines approved by agreement of the Council of Ministers in September of that same year, the line experienced a decrease in freight volume until, at the end of the 20th century, transport to Villafranca became residual. In 1992 mining ceased and with it the transport linked to it.

In 2005, with the extinction of RENFE, under the framework of Law 39/2003 of the Railway Sector, the line came under the control of Adif, like the rest of the RFIG of the State, which in 2017 renovated the two kilometres that serve the logistics facility of Cementos Cosmos. The tracks between the Cosmos loading bay and Villafranca del Bierzo are currently abandoned and in many sections have been overrun by vegetation. Although there were attempts to turn it into a tourist train called ‘El tren del Bierzo’ in 2008, the project did not prosper. [2]

The line runs along the western edge of the Hoya Berciana, a tectonic basin that defines a fairly flat topography, bounded by mountains. This unique topographical depression determines the frequency of persistent fog throughout the region. The train leaves the town of Toral de los Vados heading north, then follows the A-6 motorway northwest until it reaches the noble town of Villafranca del Bierzo. However, the end of the section is at the loading bay which is located away from the town, without a building, and at a notably lower level, which does not favour its reuse for tourist purposes. The route, as has been said, runs parallel to infrastructure and does not present any outstanding landscape features.

Category C2.
A disused railway line in an abandoned or partially dismantled state.