Broad-gauge Lines
On 1 January 2005, ownership of the non-electrified broad-gauge line from Lleida to La Pobla de Segur passed from RENFE to FGC. This is the most derelict line in Catalonia — the stretch from Lleida to Balaguer was upgraded (using second-hand rails) in the recent past, but from Balaguer northwards the track is in an appalling state. FGC has a number of plans for this line, including increasing the service frequency from three trains a day to a 30-minute service from Balaguer to Lleida, along the lines of a commuter railway; replacing all the rails and sleepers; introducing new trains to replace the ancient diesel stock currently used; and promotion of the line to tourists (it passes through some scenic countryside at its northern end). There are even plans to extend the line to the Pyrenees and possibly on to connect with railways in France — the plan when the line was built, but never carried out. Recent budget cuts had left the line in a worse state than it was on RENFE days, with currently three daily services from Lleida to Balaguer and only one running the whole length up to La Pobla de Segur.
Read more about this topic: Ferrocarrils De La Generalitat De Catalunya
Famous quotes containing the word lines:
“While you are divided from us by geographical lines, which are imaginary, and by a language which is not the same, you have not come to an alien people or land. In the realm of the heart, in the domain of the mind, there are no geographical lines dividing the nations.”
—Anna Howard Shaw (1847–1919)