LIVE from the Camino Canfranc Estacion IS Happening!!!

[Vacajoe]

After all the rumors and false starts, I can report firsthand that the station at Canfranc IS being renovated! Fresh paint on the outside and a partial gut/rebuild inside. It looks like a lot of the wall details are being saved as well as the woodwork ceiling, but the tiled floor is a bit battered. I’m guessing it could reopen by the end of 2022, but 2023 is more likely.

Also of note is that they have twice daily train! Under a promotional fair right now, service to/from Zaragoza is 17€ for the four hour ride. A new terminal has been created behind the old one and it’s very clean and modern. I was there for the arrival of the noon train: three carriages with eight passengers total! I am sure, though, that it will be packed during ski season.

 

[JabbaPapa]

I think there's still a serious plan to revive the rail link to France & Oloron etc.

And I think the plan to create a Pilgrim Albergue as a part of this renovation is not completely dead, despite the recent opening of the Albergue at Canfranc proper. Wealthier pilgrims would anyway be able to stay in the hotel still being created at Estación ... And who knows, they may just set aside a bunk beds space for peregrinos, as many other hotels have on these Camino Ways.

Thanks for the update !!

 

[Vacajoe]

I’m actually the hospitalero right now at the new Canfranc Puebla albergue - it’s like staying at a fancy hotel it’s so well-done.

As for the train returning through the Somport tunnel and beyond, that would take a major overhaul of the road system on the French side as they have built roads over some of the old rail rightaways and removed rail bridges in spots to allow taller trucks on old roads.

 

[JabbaPapa]

As for the train returning through the Somport tunnel and beyond, that would take a major overhaul of the road system on the French side as they have built roads over some of the old rail rightaways and removed rail bridges in spots to allow taller trucks on old roads.

A couple of spots perhaps ; but when I walked up that way, my impression was that the meat and bones of the railway route was intact.

I think any roads overhaul would be far less difficult than (if it's happening) the rail one !!

 

[Flog]

I'm told there aren't any plans for an albergue, but there is to be a pilgrim reception centre of some kind, not in the building but elsewhere on the concourse. The twice daily Zaragoza train is the same schedule that's being running for years. It seems strange that they've gotten ahead of themselves and painted the entire outside of the building while the inside is still being stripped right back to its concrete columns, but it's certainly drawing the tourists, well ahead of the sking season...

 

[Flog]

I’m actually the hospitalero right now at the new Canfranc Puebla albergue - it’s like staying at a fancy hotel it’s so well-done.

It is! I was a hospi there a month ago and we had a busier time than expected, I think 68 pilgrims.. I imagine you will have a quieter time of it. Enjoy it, it's a very friendly village and lovely daily walking between Somport and Jaca if you have time..

 

[JabbaPapa]

I'm told there aren't any plans for an albergue,

There's a difference between plans and actively turning them into reality, but it's not unlikely at least (IMO) that the projected Hotel would have some type of pilgrim hospitality.

IIRC the plan for a separate Albergue went onto the backburner after a delay in the renovation project, plus speedier advancement in the Canfranc village Albergue one.

Unsure, but wasn't there a notion at one point of using an old train carriage for pilgrim lodgings ?

 

[naplesdon]

That is great news for this pilgrim who can no longer walk. I have 2 nights booked in Zaragosa travelling by train between Barcelona and Pamplona. Now I know exactly what I will do with one of my days there.

 

[Flog]

That is great news for this pilgrim who can no longer walk. I have 2 nights booked in Zaragosa travelling by train between Barcelon and Pamplona. Now I know exactly what I will do with one of my days there.

Enjoy, it's a pleasant journey on that rickety little train. Note that your train ticket might state Miraflores as your starting point, but actually you can board the train at Delicias too. Had I known this I would have found someplace more central to stay in Zaragoza, Miraflores is way out of the city..

 

[trecile]

I’m actually the hospitalero right now at the new Canfranc Puebla albergue - it’s like staying at a fancy hotel it’s so well-done.

I think that we need photos!

 

[Vacajoe]

The train that arrived today was actually a three carriage modern version! I kind of hoped it would be a rickety one…or steam…or pulled by a burro

 

[Flog]

Unsure, but wasn't there a notion at one point of using an old train carriage for pilgrim lodgings ?

I think I prefer the albergue!!

 

[Vacajoe]

I think that we need photos!

Gronze has great interior photos, but an old exterior one. Here’s the updated fromt!

But for a real treat, we made a quick walkthrough for our friends that you can see on YouTube:

 

[Flog]

Nice video! Enjoy your time there!

 

[trecile]

Thanks for the video - better than photos!

 

[vjpdx]

I want to go to there. Right now.

 

[Vacajoe]

Well ya better hurry because it’s just starting to snow!

 

[lunna]

I'm told there aren't any plans for an albergue, but there is to be a pilgrim reception centre of some kind, not in the building but elsewhere on the concourse. The twice daily Zaragoza train is the same schedule that's being running for years. It seems strange that they've gotten ahead of themselves and painted the entire outside of the building while the inside is still being stripped right back to its concrete columns, but it's certainly drawing the tourists, well ahead of the sking season...

After all the rumors and false starts, I can report firsthand that the station at Canfranc IS being renovated! Fresh paint on the outside and a partial gut/rebuild inside. It looks like a lot of the wall details are being saved as well as the woodwork ceiling, but the tiled floor is a bit battered. I’m guessing it could reopen by the end of 2022, but 2023 is more likely.

Also of note is that they have twice daily train! Under a promotional fair right now, service to/from Zaragoza is 17€ for the four hour ride. A new terminal has been created behind the old one and it’s very clean and modern. I was there for the arrival of the noon train: three carriages with eight passengers total! I am sure, though, that it will be packed during ski season.

A lot of terribly sad and horrific history there, but an exquisite building. The highs and the absolute nadir of humanity reflected in that building and the beautiful surroundings…

 

[Vacajoe]

But the Camino returns the humanity to it, hopefully creating new stories of cultures interacting with one another in peace snd understanding. Ultreia

 

[Glenshiro]

I still have my ticket dated 30 November 2008 from Zaragoza Delicias to Canfranc (€11.75) leaving at 7:40 AM, arriving 11:40 AM. At that time of year it was still dark at 7:40 AM but the slow ride up into the Pyrenees is an unforgettable journey.

The train (there were two carriages on mine) goes first to Huesca, then reverses out and turns north into the hills. A long, slow, convoluted route climbs slowly through many tunnels and across viaducts with superb long reaching views across lakes and mountains and passes a number of closed and semiderelict stations before finally arriving at Canfranc Estacion.

On the day I made the journey the scenery subtly changed from brown vegetation to frost, then a light sprinkling of snow (through which I watched a fox padding over a field, pausing momentarily to glance at the train before continuing) and then continuously falling snow.

On arrival, there was about 12 inches of snow along the very long platform. The station master had cleared a length of about 20 feet, which my train regally sailed past, coming to a stop a hundred yards further on. All three passengers on the train had to trudge through the snow to the cleared area near which a coach, provided by SNCF, the French railway company, waited to take me (and no one else) onwards to Oloron St-Marie. Undoubtedly, One of the Great Railway Journeys of the World.

 

[lunna]

But the Camino returns the humanity to it, hopefully creating new stories of cultures interacting with one another in peace snd understanding. Ultreia

Hopefully…

 

[Vacajoe]

A few more interior shots from today - as you can see, they are preserving a lot of the interior features of the larger rooms, though the wings looked completely gutted and rebuilt.

 

[JLV]

Wow that is a great albergue , Thanks for the video.

 

[Flog]

A few more interior shots from today - as you can see, they are preserving a lot of the interior features of the larger rooms, though the wings looked completely gutted and rebuilt.

Will they restore the booking hall to its former glory do you think? Replica tiles on the floor perhaps.. The original plasterwork has survived remarkably well. There's a lovely bit of pitch pine in the kiosks, I'm glad they didn't end up as firewood! The rest of the building looks to be stripped right back to the structural columns. I managed to sneak in and nose around briefly last month before they spotted me and ran me out of it!

 

[Vacajoe]

I think it all depends on what hotel chain they manage to attract.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Another aspect of this is the rehabilitation of the train line.

Night Trains are being revived as well, and one of the projects envisaged is a Paris to Madrid Night Train seemingly via Canfranc.