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Canfranc station hotel ready to open on ‘lost’ Pyrenees line

The railway that ran across the Pyrenees was closed in 1970 after a train accident
The railway that ran across the Pyrenees was closed in 1970 after a train accident
GETTY IMAGES

Hopes for the recovery of a “lost” historic railway that ran across the Pyrenees between Spain and France have been boosted by the planned reopening of the line’s grandiose station as a luxury hotel this month.

The fortunes of Canfranc International station, once dubbed the Titanic of the Mountains and about ten times the size of London’s St Pancras station, dwindled after the railway closed over 50 years ago after a train accident. The brakes failed on a French freight train sending it careering back down the mountain at about 100km/h and it crashed into a wrought-iron bridge, which collapsed.

Nobody was injured but the incident in 1970 led to the line’s closure. The station, set among mountains in the Aragon region on the Spanish side of the border and built in carved stone in the style of a late French château, fell into a ruinous state. The international track between Canfranc and Bedous in France became obsolete, with much of it pulled up.

It is hoped the new hotel in Canfranc, converted from the railway station, will lay the ground for the small town to become an international economic and tourist hub
It is hoped the new hotel in Canfranc, converted from the railway station, will lay the ground for the small town to become an international economic and tourist hub
GETTY IMAGES

Since then the authorities on both sides of the border have lobbied for the reopening of what one senior French official called “perhaps the most beautiful European project”. The proposal has been given new impetus by the transformation of Canfranc station into a 5-star hotel, which is due to open this month.

“Since the closure of the international railway Canfranc has suffered a gradual decline and it’s our fundamental desire for it to be reopened,” José Luis Soro, the head of Aragon’s regional transport department, told The Times. “We’ve been working for years to reopen it and to recover the station and its area. The imminent opening of the hotel has created new energy and along with our other recent efforts has greatly reinforced the project to revive the international railway.”

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Soro pointed to his government’s rebuilding of Canfranc’s infrastructure, including a new station for local services that was opened in 2021, and its transformation of part of the old railway area’s grounds into a large public square, which was inaugurated last week.

“Before the hotel and these projects there was a lot of scepticism but now we’ve proved it’s possible to restore Canfranc’s railway heritage to working order,” he added. “The new station faces the direction of the old tunnel towards France. It’s ready for international traffic. The hotel is ready for international tourism. We have positioned ourselves in a favourable way to convince the European Union to fund the reactivation of the railway.”

The palatial 104-room hotel, which has a high slate roof crowned by domes and balustrades, will conserve the old railway’s spirit, said Soro. He added that the Aragon government, which owns the building, had ensured the façade’s original colours and windows had been faithfully restored. “Most importantly the spectacular vestibule, which is the heart of the station, will be open to the public not just for hotel guests.”

The Barcelo group, which is running the hotel and will charge from €240 for one night, said in a statement that its renovations of the interior had “respected the DNA” of “one of the most important railway complexes built in Europe in the first third of the 20th century”.

France and Spain built the railway as part of a lofty vision of harmony between the nations. The idea was mooted in 1865, but work, which involved digging a five-mile cross-border tunnel, took so long that it was only inaugurated in 1928.

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The railway’s reopening, said Soro, “needs the agreement of four governments, those of Aragon, Aquitaine [a region in southwestern France], Spain and France, and of course the European Union”. He added: “It makes sense from a touristic point of view but also from a logistical transport one.” Since the closure of the line, freight has been carried over the border at an average of 346 lorries a day.

France and Spain inaugurated the station, which was part of a vision of harmony between the two nations, in 1928
France and Spain inaugurated the station, which was part of a vision of harmony between the two nations, in 1928
ADOC-PHOTOS/CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES

One of the biggest challenges is that the French part of the 37km track from Bedous to the Spanish border no longer exists. French officials have launched a study and preliminary works to rebuild it, with the EU paying 65 per cent of the €4.7m cost.

Benjamin Casanova, a member of a local pressure group that along with its French counterpart has lobbied for the railway’s reopening, welcomed the new hotel, saying it had strengthened the decades-old cause.

“Over the years we have organised numerous protests and, along with our French friends, have prevented this railway from falling into oblivion,” he said. “Despite the broken promises, repeatedly forgotten, of politicians on both sides of the border, we remain optimistic. The hotel is a symbol of what could be achieved.”

Fernando Sánchez, the mayor of Canfranc, heralded the railway works and the hotel as a new chance to push for the line’s revival. “All is ready for reopening the link to France,” he said. “It’s the launch of the new Canfranc, a town of only 600 inhabitants that has laid the ground to become an international economic and tourist hub.”