The Tudela–Bilbao railway (also known as the ''Casetas to Bilbao railway'') is a Spanish railway from Casetas to

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 ...

History

The citizens of the city of

Tudela, Navarre Tudela is a municipality in Spain, the second largest city of the autonomous community of Navarre and twice a former Latin bishopric. Its population is around 35,000. The city is sited in the Ebro valley. Fast trains running on two-track electri ...

had planned a direct railway to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

in 1845, but this was not built. After the Northern Railway ( Compañía del Norte) planned a railway from Madrid to

, bypassing Tudela, it was decided to build a railway to Bilbao and outline permission was granted in 1856. The necessary finance was raised and

Charles Vignoles Charles Blacker Vignoles (31 May 1793 – 17 November 1875) was an Irish railway engineer, and eponym of the Vignoles rail. Early life He was born at Woodbrook, County Wexford, Ireland in May 1793 the son of Capt. Charles Henry Vi ...

appointed Engineer. Work started in 1857 and the line completed in 1863. However the railway struggled to cover costs and declared bankrupt in 1866. The line was damaged during the Carlist War and closed from 1873 and 1875. In 1878 the railway was absorbed by the Compañía del Norte.

Beyer, Peacock & Company Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English general engineering company and railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson founded the company in 1854. The company close ...

built forty-one

2-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles and no trailing wheels. In most of North America it b ...

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

for the railway in 1861 and 1862, followed by eight

4-4-0 4-4-0, in the Whyte notation, denotes a steam locomotive with a wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels. First built in the ...

tank engines A tank locomotive is a steam locomotive which carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locomotive a tender h ...

. One of the later tank engines is preserved outside Bilbao Abando railway station.

Services

The

Cercanías Bilbao Cercanías Bilbao (Basque language, Basque: ''Bilboko Aldiriak'') is a commuter rail network in Bilbao, serving the city and its Bilbao metropolitan area, metropolitan area. It is operated by Cercanías, as part of RENFE, Renfe, the national railw ...

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 ...

service operates to Orduña from Bilbao-Abando; along with regional services along various stretches of the line. At Casetas, the line joins the

Madrid–Barcelona railway The Madrid–Barcelona railway is the conventional railway line linking the Spanish capital Madrid with the country's second largest city of Barcelona, Catalonia. It now primarily serves local commuter rail services and regional traffic since t ...

. The line also serves as the only rail link from Bilbao to

and the rest of the Spanish mainline network. Once the

Basque Y Basque Y or the Basque Triangle is the high-speed rail network being built between the three cities of the Basque Autonomous Community, in Spain; Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Donostia-San Sebastián. Route It will transport cargo and passen ...

opens, journey times will decrease significantly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tudela-Bilbao railway Iberian-gauge railways Railway lines in Spain Railway lines opened in 1863