Trip to Spain - November 2021
General Notes
My first overseas trip of 2021 was planned with the dual purpose of travelling on the PTG "Alco Holic 6" 5-day railtour starting from Madrid, and also travelling on some lines in northern Spain - an area I've not previously visited. Flights with Ryanair between Manchester and Santander were very convenient.
Numbers/letters in [square brackets] are platform identifiers.
Operating Company Abbreviations:
- FEVE - Ferrocarriles de Vía Estrecha (Narrow Gauge Railways)
- RENFE - Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Españoles (principal train operator in Spain)
Track gauge
RENFE trains are broad (1668 mm) gauge unless otherwise stated: gauge-changing trains are listed individually. FEVE trains are all metre gauge (1000 mm). The ALSA special trains are broad gauge. Standard gauge: 1435 mm.
| Place | Arrive | Depart | Train | Traction details & notes |
Friday 5th November 2021
| Timperley | 05:07 | taxi | ||
| Manchester Airport T3 (MAN) | 05:22 | 07:10 | FR9816 | Ryanair EI-EBN delayed departure due to air con fault and taking on more fuel; push-back 08:05, take-off 08:18 from runway 23R |
| Santander (SDR) | 10:10 | landed 10:59 on runway 29, on stand 11:03 | ||
| Santander airport bus station | 11:30 | 'S4' | ALSA bus | |
| Santander bus station | 11:47 | |||
| Santander FEVE station | 12:14 | 'C3' | FEVE EMU 3813 | |
| Lierganes | 12:54 | 13:04 | 'C3' | FEVE EMU 3813 |
| Astillero | 13:29 | 14:14 | 'R3' | FEVE DMU 2716 |
| Gibaja | 15:32 | 15:36 | rail replacement bus | |
| Zalla | 16:30 | 16:35 | 'R3' | FEVE EMU 3602 dep 11 late |
| Bilbao La Concordia | 17:14 | arr 14 late | ||
| Indauxti | 18:29 | 'M2' | Bilbao metro (metre gauge) | |
| Sarriko | 18:35 | 18:39 | 'M1' | Bilbao metro (metre gauge) |
| San Ignazio | 18:41 | 19:01 | 'M1' | Bilbao metro (metre gauge) |
| Lutxana | 19:03 | 19:39 | 'E3a' | Euskotren EMU 973 (metre gauge) |
| Sondika | 19:46 | 19:54 | 'E3' | Euskotren EMU 970 (metre gauge) |
| Lezama | 20:12 | 20:22 | 'E3' | Euskotren EMU 970 (metre gauge) |
| Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo | 20:49 | 20:53 | 'M2' | Bilbao metro (metre gauge) |
| Indauxti | 20:58 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: Santander - Astillero - Lierganes; Astillero - Gibaja; Zalla - Bilbao La Concordia; Lutxana - Sondika; Lezama - Sondika - Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo. | ||||
| Overnight: Hotel Ibis, Bilbao. | ||||
| Notes Ryanair flight from Manchester to Santander airport; ALSA S4 bus to Santander bus station; FEVE ( "Ferrocarriles de Vía Estrecha"; Spanish for "Narrow Gauge Railways") trains on the branch to Liérganes and back to Astillero; on a FEVE train to Bilbao, though this was replaced by a bus between Gibaja and Zalla for no clear reason; then a FEVE train to Bilbao La Concordia station. After checking into my hotel, the ibis, I caught Metro Line 1 from Indautxu to Lutxana to cover the hourly Mondays-to-Fridays Euskotren 'E3a' service to Sondika; then on Euskotren Line 'E3' to Lezama, and back to Zazpikaleak/Casco Viejo; then back on Metro Line 2 to Indautxu. |
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Saturday 6th November 2021
| Indauxti | 08:10 | 'M2' | Bilbao metro (metre gauge) | |
| Kabiezes | 08:36 | 08:39 | 'M2' | Bilbao metro (metre gauge) |
| Portugalete | 08:45 | walk via transporter bridge to cross the river | ||
| Areeta | 09:22 | 'M1' | Bilbao metro (metre gauge) | |
| Ibarbengoa | 09:34 | 09:43 | 'M1' | Bilbao metro (metre gauge) middle road / outer road |
| Plentzia | 09:55 | 10:00 | 'M1' | Bilbao metro (metre gauge) |
| Indauxti | 10:40 | |||
| La Casilla | 11:41 | Bilbao tram 403 (metre gauge) | ||
| Axturi | 12:07 | 12:13 | Bilbao tram 403 (metre gauge) | |
| Arriaga | 12:16 | |||
| Abando | 12:47 | 'M2' | Bilbao metro (metre gauge) | |
| Indauxti | 12:50 | |||
| Bilbao La Concordia | 14:30 [2] | FEVE EMU 3617/3618 | ||
| Balmaseda | 15:19 | 15:20 | FEVE DMU 2702 | |
| Guardo | 19:38 | arr 9 late Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: Zalla - Balmaseda - Guardo. | ||||
| Overnight: Overnight at Hotel Tremazal, 15 minutes walk from Guardo station. | ||||
| Notes I started the morning with some more travelling around the Bilbao area: firstly on Metro Line 2 from Indauxti via Kabiezes to Portugalete; then down the hill to cross the river by the rather splendid Vizkaya (Biscay) Bridge. one of only a small number of transporter bridges still running in the world; then by Metro Line 1 from Areeta to Plentzia, changing at Ibarbengoa; then back to Indauxti to check out of the hotel; though I left my big bag there. A short walk found the terminus of the single Bilbao tram route at La Casilla, from where I took a tram to the other end of the line at Axturi; then back on the tram to Arriaga, which is close to the theatre of the same name and just across the river from the stations at La Concordia and Abando. A final trip on the Metro Line 2 from Abando to Indauxti took me to my hotel to pick up my big bag, for a gentle stroll back to the main stations. This led to the main aim for today which was coverage of the FEVE line from Bilbao to León via Guardo, part of which only has one train per day each way. From La Concordia the train was formed of EMU 3617/8 as far as Balmaseda, for a same-platform interchange into DMU 2702. To avoid doing too much of this in the dark, I had booked a hotel in the small town of Guardo. |
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Sunday 7th November 2021
| Guardo Apeadora | 12:31 | FEVE DMU 2613 | ||
| León-Asunción/Universidad | 15:12 | 15:14 | rail replacement bus | |
| León-Matallana | 15:25 | walk | ||
| León | 17:35 [2] | RENFE AVE EMU class 112 set 30 high speed line throughout | ||
| Madrid-Chamartín | 19:37 [20] | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: Guardo Apeadora - León-Asunción/Universidad; León - high speed line - Madrid-Chamartín. | ||||
| Overnight: PTG Hotel: Hotel Madrid Chamartín The One, adjacent to the station. | ||||
| Notes Being a Sunday, the first train of the day westwards towards León was not until lunchtime, so this gave me the morning to explore Guardo. The main thing of interest was the branch line to the power station at Velilla, about 1.5 km north of Guardo. This formerly carried inbound coal traffic but is clearly out of use; the hotel proprietor told me that both the coal-fired and adjacent hydro-electric power stations here had not generated for some time. The previous evening I had alighted from the train at the main station in Guardo, which was slightly closer to the hotel than the centre of the town. This lunchtime I caught the 12:31 train from Guardo Apeadero (halt) which is where the train started from, this being in the centre of Guardo and also a km or so nearer to Bilbao. FEVE DMU 2613/2614 took me to León, though only as far as Asunción/Universidad station, where a rail replacement bus was provided to the "proper" FEVE terminus at León-Matallana station. I had plenty of time to walk across León to the mainline station, from where I caught a RENFE AVE high speed service to Madrid-Chamartín. |
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Monday 8th November 2021
| Madrid Chamartín | 07:57 [11] | 39028 | ALSA DL 2150 PTG special train | |
| Via Jadraque (photo stop 09:25/09:37) - Torralba (10:14) - Almazan-Villa (photo stop 10:54/11:06) | ||||
| Soria | 11:42 [3] | 12:45 [3] | 39129/8 | ALSA DL 2150 PTG special train (loco run-round) |
| Via Torralba [2] arr 14:00 (15 late) - loco run-round then propel into tunnel - [3] dep 14:50 (15 late) - Paracuellos-Saviñán (photo stop ~16:27) - Morata de Jalón | ||||
| Casetas | 16:59 | arr 30 late - walk to visit AZAFT workshops | ||
| Casetas | 19:09 | 'C1' | RENFE EMU class 463 set 201 | |
| Zaragoza-Delicias | 19:15 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: Guadalajara - Torralba - Casetas; Torralba - Soria. | ||||
| Overnight: PTG Hotel: Hotel Eurostars Zaragoza (3 nights), in the station building. | ||||
| Notes Day 1 of the PTG "Alco Holic 6" 5-day railtour. Today's highlights are coverage of the long broad gauge classic route between Madrid and Zaragoza, including the branch from Torralba to Soria which only sees two train pairs per day; with a class 321 Alco diesel locomotive. At Casetas, nearly at Zaragoza, we visited the workshops of AZAFT, a local preservation centre. We were supposed to get a short ride in historic English Electric/Vulcan Foundry electric loco 7702, built in 1952, but unfortunately it wouldn't take power. The short run from Casetas to Zaragoza-Delicias was by Cercanías EMU. |
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Tuesday 9th November 2021
| Zaragoza-Delicias | 06:44 | 39132 | ALSA DL 2150 top-n-tail 2148 PTG special train | |
| Huesca | 07:50 | 08:49 | 39135/4 | ALSA DL 2148 top-n-tail 2150 PTG special train |
| Via Jaca (photo stop 10:48/11:08) | ||||
| Canfranc | 11:43 [1] | 15:15 [4] | 39137/6 | ALSA DL 2150 top-n-tail 2148 PTG special train |
| Via Sabinanigo (photo stop 15:04/15:19) - Ayerbe (photo stop 17:23/17:38) - Huesca avoiding line - Almudevar (18:33/18:40) - (La Cartuja) - Zaragoza Ronda Sur | ||||
| Zaragoza-Delicias | 19:48 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: Bif Teruel - Zaragoza-Delicias. | ||||
| New non-passenger track today: Huesca avoiding line; La Cartuja - Zaragoza Ronda Sur - Bif Teruel. | ||||
| Overnight: PTG Hotel: Hotel Eurostars Zaragoza (2nd of 3 nights). | ||||
| Notes Day 2 of the PTG "Alco Holic 6" 5-day railtour. Today was a run from Zaragoza to Canfranc and back: out via a reversal at Huesca, and returning via the non-passenger Huesca avoiding line and the Zaragoza Ronda Sur. The route into the Pyrenees is very scenic. Canfranc station is the famous border station with huge building, now being converted to a hotel. There was time at Canfranc to walk to the Somport Tunnel that passes into France; it is used for scientific experiments. Also there was time in Canfranc for some lunch. Heading back into Zaragoza we took the non-passenger north to east curve avoiding Zaragoza-Miraflores, then from La Cartuja via the mostly non-passenger Ronda Sur (south ring) to meet up with the Sagunt to Zaragoza route at Bif Teruel and then into Zaragoza-Delicias from the west. |
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Wednesday 10th November 2021
| Zaragoza-Delicias | 06:30 | 39556 | ALSA DL 2148+1603 PTG special train | |||||
| Via Marcen-Polini (07:37/07:46) - Raimat (08:51/08:54) | ||||||||
| Lleida-Pirineus | 09:10 | 11:53 | 39594/T2 | ALSA DL 1603 top-n-tail 2148 PTG special train | ||||
| Pobla de Segur | 13:44 | 14:14 | T1/39585 | ALSA DL 2148 top-n-tail 1603 PTG special train | ||||
| Lleida-Pirineus | 16:30 | 17:05 | 39501 | ALSA DL 2148 top-n-tail 1603 PTG special train | ||||
| 2148 failed after departure, train returned to Lleida-Pirineus | ||||||||
| Lleida-Pirineus | 17:45 | 21:05 | AVE 3202 | RENFE AVE EMU class 103 set 20 via short curves onto and off the high speed line | ||||
| Zaragoza-Delicias | 21:42 | Today's photos | ||||||
| New passenger track today: Tardienta - Lleida-Pirineus; Lleida-Pirineus - Pobla de Segur; Lleida-Pirineus - Zaragoza-Delicias (standard gauge). | ||||||||
| Overnight: PTG Hotel: Hotel Eurostars Zaragoza (3rd of 3 nights). | ||||||||
| Notes Day 3 of the PTG "Alco Holic 6" 5-day railtour. Today's itinerary was from Zaragoza to Pobla de Segur and back, via Lleida. Zaragoza to Lleida is the classic broad gauge route to Barcelona. The Poba de Segur branch is very scenic. Shortly after departure from Lleida on the way back, 2148 failed, despite various attempts to fix it. Returning to Lleida it was agreed that the tour participants would return on service trains to Zaragoza, with the tickets paid for by PTG/ALSA. This is a big job for a lot of people as every booking on Spanish main line trains is individually recorded, with ID details. I opted to wait at Lleida for an hour or so and catch an AVE working via the high speed line, this taking 37 minutes instead of what would have been nearly three hours on the railtour via the classic route. |
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Thursday 11th November 2021
| Zaragoza-Delicias | 06:50 | 37567 | ALSA DL 2150 top-n-tail 1603 PTG special train | |
| Via Castejón de Ebro (photo stop 07:54/08:09) - Alfaro (08:15/08:20) - Haro (09:54/10:09) - Miranda de Ebro (photo stop 10:36/11:52) - Orduña (photo stop 12:50/13:05) - Bilbao Abando avoiding line - Santurtzi (reverse, photo stop 14:11/14:41) | ||||
| Bilbao Abando | 15:06 | |||
| Zazpikaleak | 16:43 | 'E4' | Euskotren EMU 973 (metre gauge) | |
| Bermeo | 18:03 | 18:18 | 'E4' | Euskotren EMU 973 (metre gauge) |
| Zazpikaleak | 19:38 | |||
| Abando | 21:48 | 'M1' | Bilbao metro (metre gauge) | |
| Basauri | 21:59 | 22:03 | 'M1' | Bilbao metro (metre gauge) |
| Zazpikaleak | 22:15 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: Tudela de Navarro - Castejón de Ebro - Miranda de Ebro; Miranda de Ebro - (Bilbao Abando) - Santurtzi. | ||||
| New non-passenger track today: Bilbao Abando avoiding line. | ||||
| Overnight: PTG Hotel: NYX Hotel, a short walk from Abando station. | ||||
| Notes Day 4 of the PTG "Alco Holic 6" 5-day railtour. Zaragoza to Bilbao via Castejón de Ebro and Miranda de Ebro; we took the non-passenger curve avoiding Bilbao Abando to cover the suburban branch to Santurtzi before heading directly into Bilbao Abando. Unfortunately due to a combination of an error somewhere and a bit of late running, we were signalled in the wrong platform at Bilbao Abando, one that we had been specifically been refused access to due to reduced clearances (the suburban trains have a different gauging profile from main line stock); this caused at least one of the carriages to scrape along the platform edge. Someone was taking a video from the platform and this has appeared on the internet at various times, usually with incorrect reasons for it happening. After checking into our hotel we covered the Euskotren branch to Bermeo, then had some dinner in the hotel restaurant. After that I did the short Metro route to Basauri. |
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Friday 12th November 2021
| Bilbao Abando | 07:30 | 39636 | ALSA DL 2150 + 1603 PTG special train | |
| Via Miranda de Ebro - Pancorbo (photo stop 09:33/09:48) - Burgos | ||||
| Venta de Baños | 11:45 | walk to visit AVENFER workshops | ||
| Venta de Baños | 14:00 | 39602 | ALSA DL 2150 + 1603 PTG special train | |
| Via Valladolid Campo Grande - Medina del Campo (15:09/15:24) | ||||
| * Avila | 16:25 | 16:35 | ALSA DL 333107 + 2150 + 1603 PTG special train | |
| Madrid Chamartín | 18:12 [7] | 19:29 | arr 56 late | |
| Via Recoletos - Puerta de Atocha [4] | ||||
| Madrid Principe Pio | 20:00 | 20:08 | 'C10' | RENFE EMU class 450 set 033 dep 9 late |
| Madrid Chamartín | 20:45 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: Miranda de Ebro - Burgos - Venta de Baños - Medina del Campo - Avila - Madrid Chamartín. | ||||
| Overnight: PTG Hotel: Hotel Madrid Chamartín The One. | ||||
| Notes Day 5 of the PTG "Alco Holic 6" 5-day railtour.Bilbao to Madrid via Miranda de Ebro, Venta de Baños, Medina del Campo and Avila. At Venta de Baños we walked to the AVENFER workshops for a look around, also having a short ride in turns hauled by a steam locomotive and a small diesel locomotive. At Avila a Class 333 diesel was attached to the front of the train: it being a GM product not an Alco this was not appreciated by everyone! The train should have terminated at Madrid Chamartín but anyone wishing to could stay on through the Madrid tunnels out to Principe Pio station. Return to Chamartín was by suburban train but this ran late and it would have been much quicker to get the Metro! |
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Saturday 13th November 2021
| Madrid Charmartín | 07:08 [20] | Alvia 4071 | RENFE Alvia class 130 set 01 (standard gauge) | |
| Via Valladolid, Vilecha gauge changer to broad gauge, León [11], both tunnels south of Oviedo | ||||
| Oviedo | 11:54 | 12:25 [2] | 'C2' | RENFE EMU class 463 set 011 |
| El Entrego (RENFE station) | 13:04 | walk to El Entrego FEVE station | ||
| El Entrego (FEVE station) | 13:27 | FEVE EMU 3308/7 | ||
| Laviana | 13:40 | 13:45 | FEVE EMU 3308/7 | |
| Noreña | 14:36 | 15:02 | FEVE EMU 3637/8 via El Berron N-W curve | |
| Oviedo | 15:19 | 16:03 | 'C1' | RENFE EMU class 463 set 008 not via tunnels |
| Pola de Lena | 16:41 [4] | 17:13 [1] | 'C1' | RENFE EMU class 463 set 001 via first tunnel only |
| Oviedo | 17:47 | 18:05 | FEVE EMU 3638/3637 via El Berron W-N curve | |
| Gijón | 18:39 | 18:45 | FEVE EMU 3637/3638 via El Berron N-W curve | |
| Oviedo | 19:25 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: Vilecha gauge changer - León - Oviedo; RENFE Oviedo - El Entrego; FEVE Laviana - El Berron - Gijón; FEVE Oviedo - El Berron. | ||||
| Overnight: Hotel ibis Oviedo, 15 minutes' walk from Oveido station. | ||||
| Notes Heading for Oviedo to be in position for the only useful daytime train from there to Santander, which is next morning..... so high speed to Oviedo it is. Photos here are from the descent from the Pajares pass this morning - through the train window so there's some reflections, sorry. This is on the León to Gijón line and descends 927 m with an almost constant slope of 1 in 50 over a distance of 49 km. It opened in 1884 and will close when the new Pajares base tunnels (a pair of tunnels 25 km long) are opened, though that has already taken 16 years and is very late due to the tunnels leaking. To spend the afternoon usefully, I covered the broad gauge RENFE Cercanías branch from Oviedo to El Entrego then the nearby metre gauge FEVE Cercanías branch to Laviana. El Berrón on the FEVE Asturias metre gauge network is a very rare Grand Junction on a mainline railway, though the south to east curve passes through the depot. Other than the north-south and east-west lines, which are double track, the only other curve with a passenger service presently is the north to west curve, linking Gijón with Oviedo. Dropping my large bag at the hotel Ibis in Oviedo, I then covered the broad gauge RENFE Cercanías service to Pola de Lena and back, which duly covered different routes avoiding the tunnels used by the fast trains. Finally, to fill the time before dinner I did the metre gauge FEVE run to Gijón and back. |
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Sunday 14th November 2021
| Oviedo | 08:35 [1] | FEVE DMU 2721/2 | ||
| Santander FEVE station | 13:28 [8] | 14:15 [2] | FEVE EMU 3816 | |
| Torrelavega | 14:49 [1] | 15:06 [2] | FEVE EMU 3810 | |
| Santander FEVE station | 15:40 [2] | |||
| Santander bus station | 18:00 | 'S4' | ALSA bus | |
| Santander (SDR) | 18:10 | 20:35 | FR9817 | Ryanair B737-800 EI-EBO push-back 20:42, take-off 20:51 from runway 29 |
| Manchester Airport T3 (MAN) | 22:35 | 23:15 | landed 22:39 on runway 23R, on stand at 22:43 - taxi home | |
| Timperley | 23:30 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: El Berron - Torrelavega - Santander. | ||||
| Notes Last day of the holiday, heading for Santander to get the evening flight back to Manchester. Main aim was the morning working from Oviedo to Santander which, between Llanes and Cabezón de la Sal, is the sole eastbound working over the route. The route is quite scenic with views of the Cantabrian hills and, occasionally, the Bay of Biscay. With plenty of time to spare before the flight, and with all the practical track in the area covered, I did a return run from Santander to Torrelavega and back, before going up to a footbridge that crosses the approach tracks to the two Santander stations: there are two, the broad gauge RENFE station and the metre gauge FEVE station. The fact that the broad gauge line reduces from three platforms to a single line, and the metre gauge lines run from eight platforms as a pair of double tracks, gives an idea of the relative importance and indeed frequency of trains!. |
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Summary
A very successful trip.
Tickets used: single tickets as required.