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Railway of the Val de Zafán

Bot, Terra Alta, Tarragona

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Railway of the Val de Zafán

Historical milestone · Bot, Terra Alta, Tarragona

Image of Bot, not of the place itself.

The Val de Zafán railway was a 129-kilometre line between La Puebla de Híjar and Alcañiz, in Teruel, and Tortosa, in Tarragona, which was meant to be extended to the port of San Carlos de la Rápita, something that never happened. Works, begun in 1891, advanced in phases: the first stretch opened in 1895 and the extension to Tortosa was not completed until 1942, in the middle of the Civil War, a conflict in which the line played a logistical role during the Battle of the Ebro. Known locally as «el Sarmentero», it had a short life, with tunnels and viaducts cut through the gorges, and closed in 1973 after the collapse of a tunnel between el Pinell de Brai and Prat de Comte. Today much of its abandoned route is a greenway between els Ports and the Ebro.

1942-1973

Photo: Juan Emilio Prades Bel (CC BY 4.0)

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