The Lleida–La Pobla Line ( ca, Línia Lleida-La Pobla) is a railway line linking

Lleida Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as ...

and La Pobla de Segur, in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Spain. Most of its users concentrate between Lleida and Balaguer, where a frequent service is offered, with few trains continuing to La Pobla de Segur. Since 2009, a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

service branded ''Tren dels Llacs'' (English: "''Lakes Train''"), in reference to the number of reservoirs skirted by the line north of Balaguer, has been running on the railway. The line is part of the ATM Àrea de Lleida fare-integrated public transport system between Lleida and Àger. On 3 February 1924, the line's first stretch opened between Lleida and Balaguer, initially as part of a planned international rail line through the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

mountains between Lleida and Saint-Girons in France. Between 1949 and 1951, it was extended to the current northern terminus in La Pobla de Segur. The line was targeted for closure by the

Spanish government gl, Goberno de España eu, Espainiako Gobernua , image = , caption = Logo of the Government of Spain , headerstyle = background-color: #efefef , label1 = Role , data1 = Executive power , label2 = Established , da ...

in the 1980s, with great opposition from regional and local administrations. This led to the eventual transfer of the line to the Catalan government in 2004, though operations continued to be carried on by the national rail operator Renfe Operadora. In 2016, the line's operation was fully taken over by the regional company Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) following the introduction of new rolling stock and service improvements.

References

Bibliography

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External links

*
''Tren dels Llacs'' official website

Information and photos of the line
at trenscat.cat * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lleida-La Pobla Line Railway lines in Catalonia Iberian gauge railways Transport in Segrià Transport in Noguera (comarca) Pallars Jussà Transport in Lleida Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya Railway lines opened in 1924