The Spanish Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has submitted to public information the Informative Study for the reopening of the Somport railway tunnel. For the Spanish section, alternative 1 is proposed as the best option, which involves an investment of approximately 93 million Euros to enable a complementary railway corridor to the Atlantic and Mediterranean.
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(31/10/2024)
The actions that are finally approved will be developed within the framework of the works related to the reopening of the Canfranc international line, which have European funds from the Connecting Europe 2022 Facility.
The tunnel is 7.8 km long, was built between 1908 and 1915 and put into service in 1928. Currently, it functions as an emergency evacuation gallery for the Somport road tunnel, which is located very close and substantially parallel to it.
International connection
The technical studies for its reopening are part of the set of actions to reopen the Zaragoza-Canfranc-Pau line to international traffic and which will allow the creation of a complementary railway corridor to the Mediterranean and Atlantic for the connection between Spain and France.
These studies are part of the European project for this reopening, which is being developed jointly by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility and the Government of Aragon, on the Spanish side; and by the Ministry of Transport and the Region of New Aquitaine, on the French side.
There are currently no international train services on the Zaragoza-Canfranc-Pau line, which links France with Spain and crosses the Pyrenees via this tunnel. On the Spanish side, passenger and freight trains run from Zaragoza to Canfranc International Station, while on the French side, passenger services run on the section from Pau to Bedous. The section from Bedous to Canfranc, which includes the Somport tunnel, is therefore out of service.
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