Euskotren, formally known as Basque Railways (, ), is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

railway company A rail transport company is a company active within the rail industry. It can be: * a manufacturing company, * a rail transport operations, railway undertaking providing services through operating rolling stock, * a railway infrastructure manager ...

controlled by the Basque Government and officially established in 1982 to operate several narrow gauge railways inside the

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

of the Basque Country, under the terms of the

Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country The Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country of 1979 (; ), widely known as the Statute of Gernika (; {{langx, es, Estatuto de Guernica), is the legal document organizing the political system of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country' ( ...

. Originally operating under the commercial brand ''ET/FV'', it took control of the management and operations of the narrow gauge lines formerly operated by the railway company FEVE. The commercial brand eventually changed to ''Euskotren'', as it remains today. Since 2006, the infrastructure on which the company runs its trains has been owned by Euskal Trenbide Sarea.

Divisions

Euskotren operates several

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

ation services; including

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

inter-city rail Inter-city rail services are Express train, express trains that run services that connect cities over longer distances than Commuter rail, commuter or Regional rail, regional trains. They include rail services that are neither short-distance co ...

urban rail transit Urban rail transit is a wide term for various types of local rail systems providing passenger service within and around urban or suburban areas. The set of urban rail systems can be roughly subdivided into the following categories, which som ...

and public bus services as well as freight rail transport. Each of the transport services is operated under a global commercial brand. The company also aims to operate

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...

services on the Basque Y. Aside from its four main divisions, the company also manages the Basque Railway Museum in Azpeitia and the Larreineta funicular in Valle de Trápaga-Trapagaran.

Euskotren Trena

''Euskotren Trena'' is the commercial brand for the railway services operated by Euskotren (including Bilbao metro line 3). Until 2012 the commercial brand for the service was ''EuskoTren''.

Euskotren Tranbia

''Euskotren Tranbia'' (''tranbia'' being the Basque word for

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

) is the commercial brand for the urban tram services operated by Euskotren. From the opening of the first line in Bilbao in 2002 until 2012 the commercial brand for these services was ''EuskoTran''.

Euskotren Autobusa

''Euskotren Autobusa'' (''autobusa'' being the Basque word for

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

) is the commercial brand for the operator of several bus lines in the provinces of

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 ...

and

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

. Euskotren Autobusa serves as an operator for the services among other companies; the commercial brand for the services is Bizkaibus in

and Lurraldebus in

Euskotren Kargo

''Euskotren Kargo'' is the commercial brand for the freight rail transport services operated by Euskotren. Euskotren Kargo operated only during nighttime, sharing the railtracks of Euskotren Trena. Until 2012 the commercial brand for the service was ''EuskoKargo''.

Rolling stock

As of 2021, the Euskotren Trena service is operated with a fleet of 58

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

s (EMU), all built by CAF. The Euskotren Tranbia tramway services in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

and

Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz (; ; also historically spelled Vittoria in English) is the seat of government and the capital city of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country and of the provinces of Spain, province of Álava in northern Spain. I ...

are operated using a fleet of 26

CAF Urbos The CAF Urbos is a family of trams, streetcars, and light rail vehicles built by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, CAF. The Spain, Spanish manufacturer CAF previously made locomotives, passenger cars, regional, and underground trains. In ...

trams, distributed between both networks. Additionally, Euskotren owns several TD2000 series locomotives, intended for freight transport. File:Bilbao 05 2012 EuskoTran 2868.JPG, 400 series tram File:Vitoria 05 2012 EuskoTran 1927.JPG, 500 series tram File:Bilbao - Estación de Atxuri 02.jpg, 900 series EMU File:Estación de Uribarri 10.jpg, 950 series EMU File:Ord BidAsua2.jpg, TD2000 series locomotive

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1982 establishments in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Railway companies established in 1982 Metre-gauge railways in Spain Basque Government Government-owned companies of Spain Organisations based in Bilbao Government-owned railway companies