The former border station CanfrancThe former border station Canfranc
The former border station Canfranc
Canfranc is a small town on the border with France in the Spanish Pyrenees and has about 554 inhabitants. The small town originated in the Middle Ages as a border station. The border station was named "Campus Francus", which translated means "free field". He was given this name because of the task assigned to him, this was to keep the way for travelers and pilgrims free of obstacles. The core of the same place was the former border station Canfranc between Spain and France. When the railway line was closed in France at that time, the station served as the local train station. He has been working for this function change greatly oversized. The now disused railway station Canfranc was then conceived as a transit station. The plans for the construction of the line going back to 1853. It was originally intended as part of a rail link between Paris and Madrid. The station provided at the time of commissioning the hub for railways Pau-Canfranc and Saragossa and Canfranc. These two rail lines were built in the period 1902-1927. The cross-border traffic was controlled by a treaty between France and Spain in 1904. From the beginning, the French line was elektifiziert 1500 volts DC to the station of Canfranc. After 10 years of construction, the eight-kilometer railway tunnel under the Spanish-French border at Somport 1918 was completed. The station building was designed by the Spanish architect Fernando Remirez de Dampierre from 1921 to 1925 in reinforced concrete. It is 250 meters long. In this building were the restaurants, office units divided into Spanish and French departments, as well as border police and customs. With the construction of the station, the new settlement Canfranc Station was created around him. Under the Spanish King Alfonso XIII. and the French President Caston Doumergue the track was officially opened on 11 July 1928. The track shortcut to bypass the arc between Zuera to Huesca and Ayerbe was opened in 1929. The Canfranc station was to those times with a length of 241 meters, the largest train station in Spain and the second largest in Europe. He came with his size just behind the Leipzig Central Station. Since the then construction of the station, the standard gauge tracks from France, as well as the broad gauge imported from Spain, the passengers had to change before driving into another train. Here, too, took place the customs and border controls. The station had covered platforms from a total of 1.2 kilometers in length. Also there was for freight custom made warehouses. The tracks were 27km long and there was a roundhouse and a wagon shed. Since the railway line was too slow by mountain and winding roads, they could not penetrated in international travel. Most of the railway line runs through the Aspe valley. The lowest point in the route is located in Pau with 178 meters and the highest point in the Somport tunnel 1212 meters. That had not fulfilled the expected large number of visitors travel to the episode. The emergence of freight was disappointing. In the first year of operation in 1929 only 50,000 tons of goods were transported across the border. The reason was that was present on the Spanish side barely industry. With the advent of the Great Depression was decreased even more. Furthermore, the railway traffic was interrupted several times among others 1936 to 1940 due to the Spanish Civil War. On July 20, 1936 troops of the General Francisco Franco Canfranc during the Spanish Civil War. There were clashes with the French railway and border officials. Then the French government closed the border crossing and the Spanish side of the border in return walled tunnel on their side. 1940, the transition was reopened. It was after the German occupation of France in World War II an important escape route. During the Second World War the station was Hauptumschlagsort for Nazi gold to Portugal and Spain. 1944, the route of French resistance fighters was destroyed several times and the Spanish side sealed the tunnel again. From 1948, there was no other radio traffic on the track. Being on the French side in a railway accident, the bridge vin l'Estangaet collapsed and was not rebuilt, it turned 1970, here some traffic. Today the former border station serves two Regionalzugpaaren from Zaragoza as the end point. After the station had lost his real job, he fell and Bahnanlagenn zusehens. Even before looting was not stopped. Some old cars left behind to rot in the former railway field. The former railway line is partially degraded today and not consistently passable. Since 2007, the former station building is being renovated, there is a luxury hotel and condominium arise. Since 2012, the work should be completed there, but there have been several delays. Other voices have called for the reopening desEisenbahntunnels and the resumption of the service. According to information from working on the restoration of the railway station and the resumption of the service, opening is planned for 2020.
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