Canfranc International railway station is a former international railway station in the village of Canfranc in the Spanish Pyrenees. The Somport railway tunnel, inoperative since 1970, carried the Pau–Canfranc railway, under the Pyrenees into France, and the station is located at its northern end. The station, which was opened during July 1928, was constructed on a grand scale to serve as a major hub for cross-border railway traffic. This came to a full and abrupt end during 1970 following a train derailment that damaged a key bridge in France.
The main feature of the Canfranc station is its international nature. As tracks in Spain have a different gauge (the Iberian gauge is1668 millimetres as opposed to 1435 for the European gauge), this meant there had to be two marshalling yards, one for each side of the building, with their respective duplicated platforms, entrances, and internal services for the station.
With only minimal services over five decades, Canfranc station experienced a major decline and neglect, resulting in much of the site becoming derelict. The regional government has ambitions to reopen the international line and has redeveloped the station, which meant the renovation of the existing station building for use as a hotel and its replacement by a new facility in the former freight area. In February 2020, funding for both the relaunch of international services and the station's rehabilitation was made available by the European Union.
After years of regeneration, Canfranc Station welcomed its first guests in January 2023. There are 104 rooms in the hotel, including four suites. The hotel's surrounded by the Pyrenees mountains. The Aragon government, which owns the building, had ensured the façade’s original colours and windows had been faithfully restored. “Most importantly the spectacular vestibule, which is the heart of the station, will be open to the public not just for hotel guests.” It is managed by Barcelo Group.
We left Gaynor and Vic on Thursday morning and had a pleasant ride through some good scenery to the Royal Station Hotel at Canfranc, including the final 8 kms in a tunnel. The station and hotel were opened in 1928 but fell into disuse when the line through to France was closed in 1970.
We went for a walk around the ski resort after I had a short siesta. Ate in the hotel dining room, delicious food . It was a pleasant room with an exceptional toilet - it was illuminated by a blue UV light which lit up the loo even if the main light was off.
Left by 8.40 the next morning ( did not partake of their 25 euro a head breakfast!), and had a pleasant run home of 6 hours
To get a larger photo, please click on thumbnail below
