Ceuta – Tétouan railway line
| Ceuta – Tetouan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Ceuta station
during the opening ceremony in 1918 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 41 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The railway Ceuta-Tetouan linked to the period of Spanish colonial rule the port city of Ceuta to the capital of the Protectorate of Spanish Morocco , Tetouan .
Political starting point
The Mediterranean port of Ceuta has been in Spanish hands since 1581. Its hinterland, northwestern Morocco , became a final Spanish protectorate in the mid-1920s , and the rest of the country came under French rule. Tétouan became the capital of the Spanish part of Morocco. At that time, both cities had around 50,000 inhabitants each; around 40,000 Europeans lived in Tétouan alone. This justified a railway connection .
In 1956, under international pressure, Spain gave up the North African protectorate, although it retained the two exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla . An international border was laid between Ceuta and Tétouan. The traffic requirement of the route , previously generated to a considerable extent by the need of the administration in Tétouan for a fast connection to the motherland, was eliminated and Morocco preferred the port of Tangier , which was subject to its own sovereignty, for freight traffic . Spain continued to operate for two years. But neither Spain nor Morocco showed any interest in investing in the railway infrastructure. So operations were stopped on July 1, 1958 and the line was shut down .
The train
Infrastructure
The motivation for building the route was initially primarily military. In April 1913, the Compañía Española de Colonización (CEC) was granted the concession to build the line. Construction work began in 1916. The line was originally planned to be standard gauge , also with a view to connecting it to the Tangier – Fez railway in the future , but this never happened. A shortage of materials, caused by the First World War , and problems with insurgents meant that only one meter- gauge narrow - gauge railway was built, the route of which was also laid closer to the coast than originally planned. The route had five tunnels and 6 reinforced concrete bridges . It overcame an altitude difference of around 80 meters over a distance of 41 km. The maximum gradient was 17 ‰. Rails of 32 kg / m were installed and the minimum curve radius was 200 meters. On March 17, 1918, Prince Carlos consecrated Maria de Bourbon as representative of the Spanish King Alfonso XIII. and Mohammed Mehedi Uld Ben Ismael enter the train.
In Ceuta, the railway connected to the existing meter-gauge Ceuta – Benzú line . In Tétouan, a network with a 600 mm track connected to Laucien , Rio Martin and Zinat .
vehicles
The first six steam locomotives were purchased from the American Locomotive Company (Alco), as there was a shortage of locomotives in Europe due to the war. Their operation turned out to be difficult: The quality of the water available was poor, coal was scarce, so that wood also had to be used for heating, which meant an excessive amount of time for maintenance and repairs. Obtaining spare parts was difficult. Two more steam locomotives were delivered by Henschel & Sohn , Kassel , in 1925 .
The freight cars for the route came from Great Britain and Spain, while the passenger cars came from the Hanoverian Waggonfabrik (HAWA). They led the first to third car classes . A saloon car was also part of the fleet.
Later two benzene railcars operated by Christoph & Unmack from Niesky with an engine power of 150 hp, which offered the second and third car class. Presumably they were used since 1943 because of the war-related coal shortage. 1955 they were by two diesel railcars of MAN , which in Nuremberg replaced were built. They were designed for 60 km / h and as single runners, so they only had an emergency coupling for towing. Each railcar offered 12 seats first in 1 + 2 seating and probably 40 second class in 2 + 2 seating. After the protectorate was abandoned, the MAN diesel railcars were taken over by Explotación de Ferrocarriles por el Estado (EFE) and used on the Ferrocarril Madrid-Alvorox under the company numbers EFE 2201 and EFE 2202 . After this route was also closed, they came to the Ferrocarriles de Vía Estrecha (FEVE), where they were rebuilt and used as motorless luggage carts under the company numbers DD 9005 and DD 9006 . In 1999 they were scrapped.
business
As a rule, three pairs of trains were offered daily, one "express train" and two mixed trains . Their travel times hardly differed. Trains took about an hour and a half to get there. Initially, the first to third car classes were offered, later only two, which were initially designated as second and third, later as first and second class.
The construction and operation of the line were predominantly politically motivated and deficient. In the 1920s, however, the operating result was even satisfactory. But then the competition from road traffic set in, so that the deficit grew massively in the 1930s. In 1938, the CEC was no longer able to continue operating the railway. However, since the state still considered it necessary for political reasons, it revoked the concession and took over the operation itself. During the Spanish Civil War , the railway had to cease operations temporarily. During the Second World War , too, there were again material and fuel shortages. Operations could only be maintained because material from the Nador – Tiztoutine railway line, which was closed in 1940 , could be used, including two other Henschel steam locomotives.
In 1942, all railways in Spanish Morocco were merged into the Ferrocarriles de marruecos . The change of gauge to standard gauge, even electrification was considered, but probably not implemented due to the war.
After operations ceased in 1958, the staff was taken over by the Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Españoles (RENFE) and the vehicles were transferred to various meter-gauge railways in Spain.
literature
- Javier Aranguren: Automotores Españoles. Madrid 1992, ISBN 84-604-4753-7 .
- Rolf Löttgers: By ship to Ceuta. In: Lok Magazin 7/2002, pp. 62–65.
- José Manuel Vidal Pérez: Los ferrocarriles en los Protectorados y Colonias españolas en Africa. Marruecos, Guinea Ecuatorial e Ifni. El cruce del Estrecho de Gibraltar. Barcelona 2004, ISBN 84-930930-9-2 .
Web links
- Timetable and prices 1935 .
- Photos from the opening .
- NN: Se inaugura en Tetuán el Centro de Arte Moderno. In: Comunidad Profesional v. November 22, 2013 (report on the renovation and conversion of the former reception building in Ceuta into a museum for modern art).
Remarks
- ^ The order is dated September 9, 1953 (Rolf Löttgers: Per Schiff nach Ceuta. P. 65).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Rolf Löttgers: By ship to Ceuta. P. 62.
- ↑ See: Photos from the opening (web links).
- ↑ a b Rolf Löttgers: By ship to Ceuta. P. 63
- ↑ Rolf Löttgers: By ship to Ceuta. P. 64.
- ↑ Rolf Löttgers: By ship to Ceuta. P. 63 f, assumes that they have been driving since 1927 or 1928.
- ↑ Rolf Löttgers: By ship to Ceuta. P. 65.