The Pajares Ramp (), also known as the Pajares Descent (), is a section of the railway line between León and Gijón in Spain. It allows trains to cross the Cantabrian Mountains via the Puerto de Pajares to connect Castilla y León with Asturias.
The final section was built between 1880 and 1884 and is considered one of the major engineering projects of the 19th century in Spain... According to Trevor Rowe, a railway enthusiast and railway photographer from Great Britain, the railway line via Pajares was, in 1970, one of the most difficult mountain passes in Europe.
Since 2017, a platform has been advocating for the recognition of the Pajares Ramp as a World Heritage Site..
The Variante de Pajares (Pajares Bypass), under construction since 2005, will provide a new high-speed rail access to Asturias when completed. It is planned that the historic Pajares Ramp will then be permanently closed due to the high cost of its maintenance. A preservation group has also met with Talgo to defend a proposal aimed at making the line a future test bench for its trains.
Route
According to Hacar and González, for the general public, the Pajares Ramp runs from Puente de los Fierros station (in Asturias) to the south portal of the La Perruca Tunnel (on the side of the province of León). However, for people linked to railway infrastructure in northwestern Spain—particularly on the León–Gijón line"personas vinculadas a la infraestructura ferroviaria en el noroeste de España, y más concretamente a la línea de León a Gijón".—the ramp on the Asturian side extends as far as the old station of La Cobertoria, an additional further. This additional section has a continuous gradient of about 20%. Characteristics
General characteristics
In the direction of Gijón, the line goes up from Busdongo station at to the south portal of La Perruca Tunnel at , which is the highest point on the route. This tunnel crosses the border between León province and Asturias. It then descends to at La Cobertoria station (in the municipality of Lena), with an almost constant gradient of 20‰ over . Up to Pola de Lena railway station, 44% of the alignment is curved, generally with a radius of .
The construction of the ramp required boring 61 tunnels and building 156 bridges and viaducts of all sizes. The Parana viaduct near Puente de los Fierros station was notable for its length; built in iron with three curved spans totalling , it was later replaced by an embankment.
Tunnels From Busdongo to Puente de los Fierros the section consists of a succession of 63 tunnels. At opening there were 61 tunnels totalling of underground line out of total—about 60%. Six exceed : La Perruca (), La Pisona (), La Sorda (), Congostinas (), El Capricho (), and Orria ().
La Perruca tunnel (between Villamanín in León and Lena in Asturias) is straight and was inaugurated on 15 August 1884. It was hand-driven using compressed-air drills similar to those used on the Gotthard railway tunnel. Excavation was carried out from both portals and three intermediate shafts. At the end of its construction, it was the longest tunnel built in Spain.
Since 1884, several artificial tunnels (snow sheds) have been built to protect the railway from avalanches in the most exposed areas.
Stations
Between Busdongo and Puente de los Fierros four intermediate stations were built to allow train crossings. These stations were also equipped with water cranes for the refueling of steam locomotives.
In the León → Gijón direction they are: Pajares (km 62.7) Navidiello-Parana (km 72.2) Linares-Congostinas (km 82.3) Malvedo (km 88.0)
Technical characteristics
According to ADIF's 2013 Network Statement, the Pajares Ramp forms part of line 130 (Venta de Baños–Gijón). It is single-track and electrified at 3 kV DC with non-compensated catenary. As regards signalling and safety systems, the section has been equipped with an automatic block with centralised traffic control (CTC) since 1967 plus train-ground radiotelephony and ASFA (Automatic Brake and Signal Announcement). The ruling gradient is 23‰ uphill and 22‰ downhill; maximum speed is
History
Project origins
The Busdongo–Ujo section was the last part of the León–Gijón railway to be completed. Originally awarded to the Compañía del Noroeste de España, the concession was rescinded by the Spanish government on 8 February 1878 due to the company's financial difficulties (similar action was taken on León–Ponferrada and Ponferrada–A Coruña).See also: Real decreto rescindiendo la concesión de las líneas férreas de Palencia á Ponferrada, de Ponferrada á la Coruña y de León á Gijón. Gaceta de Madrid no. 42, 11 February 1878, p. 349. Ministry of Development
At that point, only the sections of the line linking Pola de Lena to Puente de los Fierros, undertaken directly by the Spanish government, and Busdongo to Puente de los Fierros remained to be built to complete the León–Gijón railway line. The government withdrew the concessions previously granted to the Compañía del Noroeste de España and to the Oviedo–Trubia line, a branch of the León–Gijón line.
On 4 February 1880 the government awarded the concessions to the French group las Sociedades de París reunidas, represented by banker Armand Donon.The winning group included the Société des dépôts et comptes courants, Société générale de crédit industriel et commercial, Société Financière de Paris, and Compañía de los Caminos de Hierro del Norte de España They formed the Compañía de los Ferrocarriles de Asturias, Galicia y León (AGL) and transferred the concessions (approved by royal order of 31 March 1880).Arrêté royal (rectifié) acceptant le transfert des lignes du nord-ouest réalisé par les compagnies concessionnaires en faveur de la nouvelle compagnie AGL. Gaceta de Madrid no. 96, 5 April 1880, pp. 34–35.
Soon afterwards (27 April 1880) the mayor of Lena warned other Asturian municipalities that AGL was studying a route change via Pajares with steeper gradients and tighter curves. The deputy Rafael María d'Ouvre, originally from Asturias, presented on 19 May a letter of protest in front of the Cortes against the plans of the company of Donón.[ (http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000081190&page=6&lang=es) Gaceta de los Caminos de Hierro], May 23, 1880, p. 6. The letter, dated 12, was signed by seven Asturian newspapers, namely Revista de Asturias, La Opinión, La Luz de Avilés, El Carbayón, El Comercio, El Boletín de la Liga and El Naranco, and said to do so on behalf of the Asturian press.http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000081232&page=4&lang=es,Gaceta de los Caminos de Hierro, May 30, 1880, p. 4.
The Oviedo press called a meeting in the city on Sunday, 27 June, to protest against this change. More than two thousand people attended, including Leopoldo Alas, who voiced support for the proposals read out by the journalist César Argüelles, including that of not voting for Asturian deputies who did not oppose the modification of the route.(http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0003907520&page=1&lang=es) La Unión. June 1880, p. 1.
On 28 February 1881, Revista de Asturias reported that the AGL intended to propose to the government a reduction of the original route from 37 to just 23 kilometres, increasing the gradient from 20‰ to 35‰ in order to reduce costs.Cronología de Asturias, p. 770.PASO DEL PAJARES
"Tenemos el sentimiento de anunciar á nuestros lectores que la Compañía de los ferro-carriles de Asturias, Galicia y León, tiene resuelto proponer al Gobierno la variación del trazado de la bajada del Pajares adoptando la pendiente del tres y medio por ciento."
Revista de Asturias, no. 4, p. 1.
Translation: PAJARES PASS: "It is with regret that we inform our readers that the Asturias, Galicia and León Railway Company has decided to propose to the government a modification of the layout of the Pajares descent, adopting a gradient of three and a half percent".This proposal was supported by the report Notes on the Pajares Descent, published in Paris in January 1881. It was written by the engineers Paul Eugène Bontoux and Paulo Amilhau, directors of the Austrian State Railway Company and the Società per le Ferrovie dell’Alta Italia, respectively, with the support of other engineers. In exchange for modifying the alignment of the railway line, the company was prepared to provide economic support for the development of the port of Gijón. The AGL formally set out its intentions by officially requesting the change of route on 4 March.
Leading figures in Asturian society called for a demonstration in Oviedo to protest against the company's plans, which they considered counterproductive to regional industry. The event took place in Oviedo's Plaza de la Escandalera on 27 March 1881..
By royal decree of 15 June, "the request of the Asturias, Galicia and León Railway Company, seeking to modify the approved project with gradients of twenty per thousand for the descent of the Pajares Pass on the León–Gijón line, and to accept gradients of thirty-five per thousand for that alignment, is rejected",[ (http://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/issue.vm?id=0000084932&page=4&lang=es) Gaceta de los Caminos de Hierro], No. 29, July 17, 1881, p. 4. in accordance with the opinion of the Junta Consultiva de Caminos, Canales y Puertos. Likewise, the rack railway option and the possibility of further studies by the AGL to modify the route were also rejected. Construction
General progress
For the construction of the ramp between Puente de los Fierros and Busdongo, the section was divided into five parts. The first, where work began, included the Perruca Tunnel and its surroundings, between Busdongo station and the Las Piedras valley, along with three shorter tunnels: Maja del Estudiante, La Calera, and Loma del Asno.
The remaining four sections, known as the “Pajares descent,” are numbered from one to four from the Las Piedras valley to Puente de los Fierros station and were assigned in pairs: the first and second to Francisco Buergo and Salustiano Regueral, and the third and fourth to engineer Eduardo Calleja, who designed the route for the entire section. The boundary between the two concessions was located at the Salguero Tunnel.
1st and 2nd sections
These sections measured 16,067 metres (16.1 km) in total and required 27 tunnels with a combined length of 10,665 metres (10.7 km). They extended from the Las Piedras valley (León side) to the Salguero valley, the boundary with Section 3.
To support construction, Buergo and Regueral built a 70-cm-gauge tramway that bypassed the tunnels and linked their entrances and exits. Traction on this auxiliary line was provided by locomotives from the Belgian firm Cockerill.
3rd and 4th sections
These sections totaled 20,565 metres (20.6 km) and required 29 tunnels with a combined length of 10,080 metres (10.1 km). A suspension bridge and an inclined plane were built to supply construction materials. From Puente de los Fierros station, on the left bank of the Pajares River, a 50-cm-gauge tramway—horse-drawn —crossed the river on a 98-metre bridge, 40 metres above the water, built in Gijón by the Fábrica de Moreda. The line then split toward the Congostinas Tunnel and the inclined plane.
At the base of the incline, a crane placed loaded wagons onto the track, while a steam engine at the Collada station hauled them by cable, counterbalanced by descending wagons on a single track with a passing loop. Over gradients of 22° to 40°, the system overcame a 350-metre elevation gain in a short distance. A second crane at the top removed the wagons for unloading. This system allowed engineers Calleja and Inchaurraudieta to complete the upper section without interruption.
Inauguration
Ceremony