The Ariz–Basurto line (, ) is a short single-track unelectrified railway line in

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

, Basque Country, Spain. Owned by

Euskal Trenbide Sarea , ), commonly known by its acronym ETS, is a railway infrastructure manager operating in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, Spain. The company was formed in 2004, but the railway infrastructure it operates was transferred ...

, it connects the Basque narrow-gauge railway network with the . It is used for

freight transport Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been exte ...

History

On 2 August 1897 the government awarded the concession for a narrow-gauge railway between La Industrial (in ) and Azbarren. The line opened in its entirety on 7 January 1906, connecting the Bilbao–San Sebastián and lines. Negotiations between the Santander–Bilbao Railway Company and Ferrocarriles Vascongados (the operator of the Bilbao–San Sebastián line) to establish a joint passenger service started in 1904. The negotiations proved difficult, and it wasn't until the opening of the San Sebastián–Hendaye line in 1912 that a joint service was inaugurated, running from

Hendaye Hendaye (; Basque: ''Hendaia'',HENDAIA
Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

via

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

, Bilbao and Santander. This service was short-lived, as the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

caused its suspension in 1914. Regular passenger service between San Sebastián and Santander wasn't restored after the end of the war.

Ariz TRIZ (; ) is a methodology that combines an organized, systematic method of problem-solving with analysis and forecasting techniques derived from the study of patterns of invention in global patent literature. The development and improvement of ...

, a station close to the terminus of the line at Azbarren, was also the starting point of a branchline that connected the Ferrocarriles Vascongados network with the broad-gauge

Tudela–Bilbao railway The Tudela–Bilbao railway (also known as the ''Casetas to Bilbao railway'') is a Spanish railway from Casetas to Bilbao. History The citizens of the city of Tudela, Navarre had planned a direct railway to Madrid in 1845, but this was not buil ...

at . In 1918 a new line opened from Azbarren to Matiko, linking the Bilbao–San Sebastián line with the

Bilbao–Plentzia railway Line 1 of the Bilbao metro is a rapid transit line in Biscay, Basque Country, Spain. It runs from Etxebarri to Plentzia. Its route covers the municipality of Etxebarri, the city of Bilbao, the right bank of the Nervión river and Uribe Kosta. Th ...

. In the 1920s Ariz had eight tracks while nearby Azbarren had four. By the late 1950s freight traffic levels were falling. The Matiko–Azbarren line had to be closed in 1969 due to the collapse of a tunnel, while the branchline to Dos Caminos closed in 1970 due to low traffic. The line from Basurto to Ariz remained open, and in the 1970s a new freight yard was built by

FEVE Renfe Cercanías AM, formerly known as Renfe Feve, is a division of state-owned Spanish railway company Renfe Operadora. It operates most of Spain's of metre-gauge railway. This division of Renfe was previously a stand-alone company named F ...

in Ariz. In 2016, after four years of works, the line was put underground in Bilbao. The urban section through was replaced by a

cut-and-cover A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two Portal (architecture), portals common at each end, though ther ...

tunnel, while the old tunnel under was replaced by a new one. The

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

ruled in 2016 that the Ariz–Basurto and Irauregi–Lutxana lines had to be transferred from the

Adif ADIF (, an acronym of ) is a Spanish state-owned railway infrastructure manager. This state owned company reports to the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility. ADIF is charged with the management of most of Spain's railway infrastru ...

-operated ' to

, since they run entirely within the Basque Country. The transfer of the two lines took place in December 2018. In 2023, the Basque Government made public a proposal to cover the line in Basauri.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ariz-Basurto line 1906 establishments in Spain Metre-gauge railways in Spain Rail transport in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Railway lines opened in 1906