Up until 1911, only the vultures enjoyed one of the most beautiful canyons in the Pyrenees: Foz de Lumbier. From then on, it could be contemplated from the Irati trains that, until 1955, passed through it thanks to two tunnels. Now that the railway has been closed, the galleries that were excavated for the trains enable us to venture into an undoubtedly spectacular spot.
Our trip along the Irati Railway Greenway begins in the locality of Lumbier (km 0), at the crossroads and roundabout on the NA-150 road to Aoiz to the northwest of the town. At the beginning of the route, the railway line is recognisable, almost as if it were another trail, until we reach the Foz de Lumbier Nature Reserve, where the characteristic greenway stands out.
From the crossroads onwards, the railway has disappeared due to this road. The same thing has happened with the old railway station, which gave up its plot for a new old people’s home. Its occupants are the best witnesses for evoking the journeys in those old electric railcars that, just like the Irati train, dared to challenge the rocks of the Leire mountain range.
The appearance of the asphalt announces the fact that the railway line has become the approach route to this protected nature reserve. However, if we are walking or cycling, we are lucky to have our own trail that gets us off the small local road and likewise takes us to the monitored carpark (km 1.5). In this place there is also a recreational area with toilets, an information point, a drinking-water fountain, tables and benches.
However, before coming to the carpark and recreational area, and shortly after leaving Lumbier, we cross the itinerary’s first bridge over the Salazar River –it is worth mentioning that we will come across a reminder of the old bridge of Los Hierros that used to exist here, along with an information panel. From here, we can take the liberty to contemplate this tranquil river course. Its considerable volume of water, which is crossed downriver by the medieval bridge of Las Cabras, was responsible for carving the morphology of Foz de Arbayún, the most impressive of the Navarre canyons in the Pyrenees.
Km. 2
We continue our journey from the carpark and come to the Foz de Lumbier Nature Reserve (km 2). It is worth mentioning that the entrance to the canyon is disabled-friendly, the same as the interpretation centre that exists in the locality. Although the itinerary has already been pleasant and attractive up to now, the following stage will leave us at a loss for words. The old railway line through the canyon makes this route one of Spain’s most impressive greenways.
It is a short distance, so it is worth taking your time, enjoying almost every metre of the way. The compacted-dirt trail passes through a narrow space carved out of the canyon walls, dropping down as much as 120 m. The vultures and other birds dominate the sky of this rocky landscape, flying from one side of the canyon to the other. This helps slow us down to a relaxed pace and focus more on the leisurely contemplation of wild nature rather than covering kilometres.
The railway engineers decided to make use of the passageway eroded by the Irati river, millions of years ago, through the Leire mountain range, discarding the apparently easier solution of bordering the mountains. The option chosen by the engineers would certainly have “annoyed” the vultures, who lost their exclusive right to this place, which they had to share with humans. However, we imagine that the birds ended up accepting the presence of the Irati’s electric railcars that passed through here now and again. Our route sticks to the left riverbank since the slopes on this side of the canyon are gentler. The posts that supported the railway’s overhead power cables still exist here, adding a peculiar and, to a certain extent, strange touch to this route surrounded by nature.
The trail through the canyon forms a curve just over 1 km long. This canyon features, at both its beginning and end, two narrow clefts in the mountain. The railway was therefore obliged to bore out two tunnels in this short section. We immediately come to the first tunnel, which is straight and asphalted, and its entrance to the railings crossing the Irati river. From here, if we look up, we can see the peculiar system that the guards and some stockbreeders used to cross over from one side of the canyon to the other. It was called the “carrico", and consisted of a precarious gondola made of iron and boards, suspended from an iron cable that enabled it to fly between the narrow pass’ rocks. Years after it was abandoned, this manual cable car is still hanging in the middle of the canyon. Today, it is difficult to imagine those men crossing the gully using such apparently unstable means.
This point marks the beginning of a route, indicated in the rest area’s maps, that enables us to follow a circular itinerary. This trekking trail goes up to the top of the canyon, giving us one of the route’s best views from the highest point (taking us slightly to the south), at the same height as the jealous vultures gliding above these crests. The itinerary then goes down again towards the railway line, at a mid-point between the second tunnel and Liédena. The second tunnel (km 3) at the end of this beautiful section was carved out of the hard limestone crests using picks and shovels. Although it is only 100 m long, it is advisable to use a torch or your bike’s lights due to its curved shape.
Km. 5
The tunnel brings us out of the canyon, bordered on the right by the Irati river and on the left by the presence of the limestone rocks of the Leira mountain range, which create a narrow, and very attractive, riverside itinerary.
We gradually leave the Irati river behind and head through fields towards the A-21 Pyrenees dual carriageway. To get across to the other side, on reaching the dual carriageway, we turn right along a road that takes us under it and soon leads into a short street, at the end of which we can see the sober building of Liédana Station (km 6). We are now in Liédena. From the station, we can head towards the town centre along the street on the left called Calle de los Mártires.
And this is the end of our striking journey along one of Spain’s most beautiful greenways, which is soon to be extended towards Pamplona, and also towards Sangüesa; this would create a spectacular 49 km itinerary connected to Navarre’s major cycle routes.
Photo: Railway Historical Archive of the Madrid Railway Museum.
The Irati Railway is called after the company that operated it, “Sociedad El Irati”. This company was not originally a railway one: it was mainly centred on forestry activities in Navarre’s Pyrenean mountains, specifically in the renowned Irati Forest. At the same time, in the surroundings of Aoiz, it built a hydroelectric power plant, which not only supplied its own sawmill but also sold electricity to nearby villages, and even as far as Pamplona. As part of its business, this company decided to build a railway that would basically be used to transport timber from Aoiz to Pamplona. However, the transportation of other goods and passengers also became very important.
This small metric-gauge railway was opened in 1911, having been built with a tramway license. This resulted in a considerable reduction in costs, enabling it to operate in Pamplona as a city tram, along the streets, and in rural areas to alternate between sections of its own platform and country roads, making use, for example, of all the bridges over the itinerary’s numerous river courses.
The railway line had access to Aoiz, where the sawmill was located, although this section was conceived as a short three-kilometre branch line. The main line continued on for another 26 km from Empalme de Aoiz towards Lumbier and Sangüesa, passing through Foz de Lumbier in the final section. A total of 59 km of metric-gauge tracks were laid, being the first narrow-gauge railway that was electrified in Spain. Curiously, its voltage was similar to that of the modern high-speed AVE train (5000 VAC), although in the city section through Pamplona it dropped to 750 VCC. Certainly, its speed was nothing like that of its modern successor. Due to economic difficulties in the fifties, as a result of the boom in road transport, the railway was closed in April 1955.
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CONDITIONED GREENWAY
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