Station known as ‘Titanic of the mountains’ reborn as hotel

Unlucky village in Pyrenees to gain new attraction

Canfranc train station (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A train station in the Pyrenees, nicknamed the “Titanic of the mountains” due to a run of bad luck lasting almost a century, is now being given another chance to thrive as a hotel.

The station at Canfranc, a village on the French/Spanish border that’s 1,000 metres above sea level, will be transformed into a five-star property after receiving a €27m investment.

Work on the hotel is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

As well as a 200-seat conference centre, a railway museum, shops and a pilgrim refuge – Canfranc is on one of the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage routes – the complex will also include a new renovated station.

It’s hoped it won’t be plagued by as many difficulties as the previous incumbent, which was beset by problems since its inception.

The station was first proposed in 1853 but building wasn’t finished until 1928.

“By the time it was built it already belonged, conceptually and technically, in the 19th century,” Alfonso Marco, author of El Canfranc, historia de un tren de leyenda (Canfranc, the story of a legendary train), told the Guardian.

In 1929, just after the station opened, there was a financial crash; in 1931 it was ravaged by fire.

In 1936 the Spanish Civil War began, swiftly followed by World War Two.

When that finished, rail travel in Spain didn’t gain momentum again until the 1950s – and even then, the railway line came with a significant problem. The gauge of the track was different on either side of the border, necessitating a change of train between France and Spain.

For a long stretch, the station was abandoned following a derailment that damaged a bridge in 1970.

It currently operates a handful of domestic services and attracts people interested in industrial heritage, according to Marco.

The new complex could finally give the world’s “unluckiest station” a new lease of life.