Ferrocarriles y Transportes Suburbanos (), commonly known by its acronym FTS, was a railway company in the Basque Country,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. Founded in 1947 as the merger of various railway companies, it operated several

suburban rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are ...

lines in the

Greater Bilbao Greater Bilbao (Basque language, Basque: ''Bilboaldea'', Spanish language, Spanish: ''Gran Bilbao'') is an administrative division of the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, Spain. It is one of the se ...

area.

FEVE Renfe Feve is a division of state-owned Spanish railway company Renfe Operadora. It operates most of Spain's of railway. This division of Renfe was previously a stand-alone company named FEVE (Ferrocarriles de Vía Estrecha,Law 11/1965 of 2 ...

took over its operations in 1972, which in 1982 were transferred to the new company Basque Railways.

History

FTS was founded in 1947 with the merger of two independent railways and two lines operated by another company: * Lutxana-Mungia railway, an independent company. * Bilbao-Lezama railway, an independent company. * Bilbao-Las Arenas-Plentzia railway and the Matico-Azbarren branch, operated by the Bilbao-Santander Railway Company. Aside from the railways, FTS also operated several

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

and bus lines. The Bilbao-Plentzia line had been electrified since the 1920s, and shortly after the establishment of the new company the remaining non-electrified lines were electrified too. The rolling stock was renovated starting in the 1950s, but by the 1960s the company was in financial difficulties. Rather than due to low ridership, they were caused by the artificially low fares imposed by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

, which didn't subsidize the company. In 1969, a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of environments, ...

forced the closure of the Matico-Azbarren line and the relocation of the Bilbao-Lezama terminus out of central Bilbao. In 1975, due to the lengthening of the

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

runway, most of the Lutxana-Mungia line had to close too. On 30 December 1977,

took over the operations of the network. Despite ceasing operations in 1977, the company wasn't immediately disbanded. In May 1983, after all the legal difficulties it faced were solved, the board of directors proposed the dissolution of the company, which happened in December that year.

Rolling stock

After the merger, the new company inherited the rolling stock owned by its predecessors. The steam locomotives inherited from the Bilbao-Lezama and Lutxana-Mungia railways were retired soon after the merger, as since 1950 the whole FTS network was electrified.

Electric rolling stock

References

Citations

Sources

External links

* {{Ferrocarriles y Transportes Suburbanos 1947 establishments in Spain Railway companies established in 1947 1983 disestablishments in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Railway companies disestablished in 1983 Railway companies of the Basque Country (autonomous community) Organisations based in Bilbao