Rebuilt Canfranc Station Opened

Plenty of U Tube Reports on the recent reopening of the rebuilt Spanish Station at Canfranc in the middle of nowhere on the Spain/French border currently closed via the tunnel to France.

A couple of things struck me,

1) The Spanish compliance or rather lack of to COVID precautions, plenty of masks at the Opening but precious little distancing.

2) The site has seen some rationalisation but the provision is still mind boggling for some 3 trains per day. It is like B Ffestiniog getting a new overall roofed 4 platform terminus with subways with more columns and provision for the roof expansion to take 12 coach dmus. Lets hope like the speeches said the link through the tunnel does get reopened. Lots of new concrete sleeper track and points. Must have cost millions of Euros although the restoration of the old Customs Building has been done nicely.

3) The old roundhouse with turntable appears to have been kept and filled with Carriages but I cannot find any details of who or what this is intended to be.

Brian

 

EU largesse, no doubt.
As my late father (a soldier) used to say, 'There's nothing so easy as spending other people's money!'
Pat

 

Often thought of using it in the picture puzzle (Europe) thread, but it would have been too easy for the sleuths on there.

 

Although it is not actually other people's money. EU spends the EU's money on projects in the EU. No different to any government spending money on vanity projects or projects with more political value than anything else. (Hello HS2, hello 'levelling up projects', a billion pounds for Northern Ireland).

You could argue the same about EU funding that came into the UK and went to heritage railway projects. It is ironic to mention Blaenau Ffestiniog which received £12 million in funds from the EU for regeneration.

It's in an area that has suffered economic decline in recent years, it is also a historically significant place - in railway terms but also regional, european and global history (its place in WW2). It seems like the obvious project to invest in.

It is worth noting that there are several dubious projects such as the trams in Jaen which were more about politics but that is about domestic politics.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/19/canfranc-europe-unluckiest-train-station-hotel

Would be a fun place to stay near the start of the Camino if anyone fancied a (long) walking holiday in Spain…

Simon