Aragon and New Aquitaine add “agenda” for the reopening of Canfranc

Canfranc is back again . This time, with its eyes set on the European Union and the Spanish and French governments . The latter, even more important because it is in the process of being formed after the legislative elections this July, which resulted in the victory of the New Popular Front . “We have been waiting for many years,” said the Aragonese president, Jorge Azcón , and doing it a little longer will not be “an impediment.” This Tuesday, Azcón and his counterpart from the region of New Aquitaine, Alain Russet , signed a new collaboration agreement between both sides of the tunnel, which sets the “agenda” and points to Paris, Brussels, Strasbourg and Madrid.

The aim is none other than to make “everything go faster”, in the words of Azcón and Russet, who were accompanied by the mayors of Canfranc , Jaca and the mayors of Huesca and Zaragoza, among other representatives involved in the reopening of the line. A route that would once again connect the capital of Aragon and Pau, which they want to name the Goya line . This is what President Russet proposed and the DGA is taking up the challenge when the time comes, coinciding with the bicentennial of the painter’s death.

For the moment, the agreement signed by the regional leaders emphasises the need to strengthen the cross-border route to connect the peninsula and France by “improving the offer of railway transport services , both for passengers and for goods”. All of this will be done in collaboration with the EU, the governments of the two countries and ADIF . Regarding the latter company, Russet has revealed that they have taken on the work in the entire area, which will “accelerate” the opening . According to the text, the first uses of the new line would be reserved for freight trains, and then it would be opened to passengers.

At the tunnel gates, both recalled that the line served around 300,000 people a year until 1970, when it was closed due to an accident . All this was in addition to its economic importance due to the transport of products . “The line was a mechanism for structuring the territory and connecting both countries,” Azcón insisted.

For the president, the Canfranc would be an alternative to the Catalonia and Basque Country routes , which today “are on the verge of saturation”. “The line would constitute a natural outlet for goods to Europe and a fundamental reinforcement of Aragon’s role as a logistics power ”, he stressed, together with its importance “as a railway highway”, which “would recover, even more strongly, the original essence of the line”.

According to the agreement, ADIF and the Spanish Government are currently carrying out works worth 200 million euros. In addition, since October 2011, 105 million euros have been provided by the New Aquitaine region to finance the Oloron and Bedous section, which was put into service in 2016 after the section from Pau to Oloron had been “regenerated” in 2010.