Information AboutFeve |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT FEVE | |
| railway companies of spain | |
| metre gauge railways | |
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FEVE ('''Ferrocarriles Españoles de de Vía Estrecha''', meaning "Narrow-Gauge Spanish Railways") is a state-owned Spanish Railway company, which operates most of Spain's 1,250 km (775 miles) of Metre-gauge railways. HISTORY FEVE was created in 1965 , as a successor to the government-run organization EFE (Explotación de Ferrocarriles por el Estado), which had been taking over failed private railways since 1926 . Following the creation in 1941 of RENFE , to which the ownership of all Spanish broad-gauge railways was transferred, EFE had in practice become the operator of a collection of exclusively narrow-gauge lines. The present status of FEVE, as a government-owned commercial company, dates from 1972 . The new company continued to absorb independent narrow-gauge lines which the existing concession holders had been unable to make profitable. However, from 1978 onwards, with the introduction of regional Devolution under the new Spanish Constitution , FEVE also began transferring responsibility for a number of its operations to the new regional governments. This happened in Catalonia in 1978, in the Land Of Valencia in 1986 , with a part of the Basque network in 1979 , and with Mallorca n Railways in 1994 . OPERATIONS TODAY The great majority of the narrow-gauge lines still operated by FEVE are located on or near Spain's Atlantic coast, stretching from Galicia in the northwest, through Asturias and Cantabria to the Basque Country (with a branch extending into Castile And León ). Together they form a large and strategically important system, which is why – unlike the other, more isolated regional railways – they have been retained under the integrated management of FEVE. FEVE operates 1,194km of track, of which 316km are electrified. ''Transcantábrico'' line The most important line operated by FEVE is a 650 km (400 mile) long line, the ''Transcantábrico'', which runs along the entire length of Spain's north coast, and has connected the cities of San Sebastian , Bilbao , Santander , Oviedo and Ferrol to Leon since 1982 . Operated as a holiday service, the carriages of the train are furnished with bedrooms, lounges and restaurants and voyages typically last eight days and seven nights. Commuter services FEVE also operates a range of ''cercanías'' or commuter services, such as the line running from Bilbao 's Abando station to the large town of Balmaseda , calling at local villages and settlements on its way through Vizcaya , as well as the main towns of Basurto, Sodupe, Aranguren, and Zalla. Goods operations FEVE's rails transport approximately 460 million tonnes of goods each year, accounting for a large part of the company's business. The products one may expect to see on board their goods trains include Iron , Steel and Coal , fuelling much of the country's industry. COMPANIES OPERATING FORMER FEVE SERVICES
SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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