The Larreineta funicular railway to alter its timetable from 13 February as its carriages are refurbished
Euskotren, the publicly-owned company answering to the Basque Government’s Ministry of Sustainable Mobility, will temporarily adapt the timetable from Friday 13 February.
The company will mark the Centenary of the Larreineta Funicular Railway this year by fully refurbishing the two carriages of the historic means of transport.
The project to refurbish the carriages – costing €142,000 and with a lead time of six months – seeks to ensure greater comfort and convenience when travelling; the aim is to continue offering quality transport for residents in Larreineta and La Arboleda and for visitors, as it has been doing continuously for one hundred years, specifically, since its maiden journey on 26 September 1926.
Euskotren has found a novel technical solution to ensure that the funicular service is not disrupted during the work. It consists of replacing the first carriage while it is in the workshop by a modified maritime container, with a front windscreen and fitted out with a fully functional driving position so the driver can oversee the journey and act if necessary.
The container will not transport passengers and the funicular will only run one carriage; this will mean that there will have to be temporary changes to the timetables from Friday 13 February until the work is finished.
Furthermore, the service will be provided by bus from 10 February as the result of the work to extract the first carriage for its maintenance/refurbishing. There will be no changes to the regular funicular timetable from the 13th.
During the refurbishment work on the carriages, the service will be run every 60 minutes during most of the day on weekdays from 13 February; however, there will be a funicular every 40 minutes at peak times. The more frequent service will apply from 7.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. and from 1.40 p.m. to 3.40 p.m. A weekend service has also been put in place that is adapted to passengers’ needs. If there is ever a specific need in terms of demand, the plan is to put on additional bus or taxi services.
Once the first carriage has been refurbished, it will be returned to service and container will be moved to replace the other carriage while it is being refurbished.
Passengers can obtain further information by phoning the information line on 944 333 333, www.euskotren.eus website and the Euskotren official APP.
2026: the centenary year
The carriages currently in service on the Larreineta funicular railway were designed and manufactured in 1985; even though the respective maintenance works and partial repairs have been undertaken since then, there has been no structural refurbishing as will be carried out in the coming months.
Thus, the Larreineta funicular will debut completely refurbished carriages in 2026, the year of its centenary. This project is just one of the main initiatives that Eusotren, in conjunction with Trapagaran Local Council, is going to organise to mark the anniversary.