Bilbao to Santander or Miranda del Ebro ?

[AdamWW]

I may have a spare afternoon/evening in Bilbao in August, during which it looks as if I could either get the train to Miranda del Ebro and back, or do the narrow gauge line to Santander one way and a bus the other.

Anyone have any opinions on which would be more interesting, in terms of both scenery and railway interest?

I believe that the line to Miranda del Ebro is quite scenic (looks convincingly wiggly on the map as if it's making its way through mountains). But has wretched demand pricing and the need to guess which seat actually has a good view out of a window beforehand. And it looks like a class 120 which I don't find all that thrilling.

I don't know what to expect on the line to Santander.

I'm expecting to arrive on the narrow gauge line from Hendaye so will already have done a fair bit of metre gauge travel, but not RENFE (and not diesel).

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

The Santander line is pleasant enough, but runs largely inland - the A8 motorway (used by the express coaches) is actually more scenic with a coastal section and some quite large engineering structures. Santander is an attractive city with plenty of dining opportunities!

The Miranda del Elbro line, once you get out of the grot of the Bilbao suburbs, is very scenic with a spectacular climb up to the 'plain' with some horeshoe curves. Sit on the RHS going south. Miranda del Elbro is a sort of mini Crewe with lots of railway interest as a junction but rather a bleak town. The big downside is that the timetable on this line is very 'thin'.

 

[peteb]

I've done Miranda to Bilbao and Bilbao to Santander last year.The metre gauge FEVE line to Santander was more interesting scenically I thought. The train climbs through dense woodland before descending to the coast. The Miranda line was undergoing a degree of modernisation with new level crossings and easing of some sharp bends. I guess if you wanted to see how that work is progressing the Miranda route is for you. The views on the Miranda line are good but not as spectacular as say Oviedo to Leon or the Ronda route.

 

[stuu]

Bilbao to Santander is a lovely journey from a scenic point of view but the train stopping every few minutes does make it a bit of a slog. Santander is a nice city though and the station is right in the centre

 

[geoffk]

I'm thinking of doing the Plymouth - Santander trip later this year, then heading to Bilbao for a few days. It's evident that the express bus is both more frequent and faster than the train and may be the better option if I want to maximise my stay in Bilbao.

 

[WolvertonWorks]

We did Bordeaux to Hendaye followed by the Euskotren to San Sebastian and then the ALSA bus to Bilbao on 28th May. Bus journey was an hour and 20 minutes and cost 16.85Euros.

I was a comfortable ride. Easy walk (we had a wheeled suitcase each) from Euskotren station in San Sebastian to the bus station on the other side of the river but finding the way into the bus station wasn't obvious at first and then finding which bay our bus departed from. Bus station is underground, as it was in Bilbao, and down a couple of levels from the surface with retail above.

Only downside was that we then needed a metro ride on arrival in Bilbao - impressed with the easy connection to the metro at the bus station though - to our hotel which was just across the river from Bilbao La Concordia where we were leaving from a couple of days later.

 

[TheHSRailFan]

Best to do Euskotren or FEVE in my opinion.

My girlfriend (who lives in the area) would also recommend Euskotren as the line between Miranda De Boro and Bilbao takes several hours (compared to the 1 hour it takes by car or bus). Not only that, but Renfe are the only operator on that route. So, compared to the hourly or so many trains a minute we have here in the UK, Renfe will only operate so many services a day (typically less than 20 or 10). Not to mention, Renfe are Unpredictable and their services have been known to be very delayed.

Euskotren on the other hand has a great reputation. Their Trena service (the one they are known for and referring to) is clean in terms of punctuality. They operate a lot of trains (especially in the Bilbao and the Donostia/San-Sebastian metro areas) and are pretty good at what they do. Only gripe is there are no charging ports, and because their intended use is of a commuter service, the seats aren't great. FEVE I cannot comment as me nor my girlfriend have used it.

Its fair to mention that travel between the Basque cities and others along northern Spain is currently dominated by driving and the many Coach/bus companies. Basque Y is supposed to fix this, but it won't be finished for another few years.

 

[AdamWW]

Its fair to mention that travel between the Basque cities and others along northern Spain is currently dominated by driving and the many Coach/bus companies. Basque Y is supposed to fix this, but it won't be finished for another few years.

When it is, I presume that will be the end of the remaning passenger services on the direct line between Bilbao and Miranda de Ebro.

Journey time would not be a major factor in my decision because I would be doing the journey for the sake of it, not because I wanted to get to Miranda as quickly as possible.

 

[Djgr]

The Santander line is pleasant enough, but runs largely inland - the A8 motorway (used by the express coaches) is actually more scenic with a coastal section and some quite large engineering structures. Santander is an attractive city with plenty of dining opportunities!

I did Bilbao to Santander around three weeks ago. It is scenic but I was surprised how little of the coast that you saw.

Just several tangential points:

It is cheap-about 10 Euros from memory

No reservations. Busy at both ends of the line but quiet in the middle. I think I was the only one who travelled all the way.

You can buy your ticket online (Renfe website) but the barcode won't open the gateline barrier. Not a huge amount of point tbh as the Bilbao station has a staffed ticket office.

The specific platform gate at Bilbao for the Santander train is opened (for free entry) around 30 minutes before departure.

Surprisingly little English understood

 

[WolvertonWorks]

I did Bilbao to Santander around three weeks ago. It is scenic but I was surprised how little of the coast that you saw.

Just several tangential points:

It is cheap-about 10 Euros from memory

No reservations. Busy at both ends of the line but quiet in the middle. I think I was the only one who travelled all the way.

You can buy your ticket online (Renfe website) but the barcode won't open the gateline barrier. Not a huge amount of point tbh as the Bilbao station has a staffed ticket office.

The specific platform gate at Bilbao for the Santander train is opened (for free entry) around 30 minutes before departure.

Surprisingly little English understood

We did Bilbao La Concordia to Santander and then Santander to Ribadesella on Friday 30th May. We were using Interrail passes.

QR Code on the pass wouldn't open the gateline barrier at La Concordia and the first, young, chap we asked said we needed reservations for the train with an Interrail pass, then an older chap, who turned out to be the guard/ticket inspector/jack of all trades on the journey over-rode him saying that reservations weren't needed. This was my understanding as it is basically a commuter service with no means of reserving seats.

Along the way this chap came and told us in English that we would have to change trains at somewhere I didn't catch the name of - he had translated "I will tell you when we get there and help you" on his phone which he showed us. Can't remember exactly where this was but good to his word he shepherded us and all the other passengers off of the train and watched as we all walked across the line to board the train on the other platform which was going to continue the journey while he and the original train were the return service I assume back to Bilbao.

On arriving at Santander our passes wouldn't open the gateline. After finding someone to let us through I went and had a word with the lady in the ticket office who said to come and find her when we needed to get through the gateline again. We went off and found some lunch and enjoyed the sunshine and returned to Santander station for the 15:28 which was going to take us to Ribadesella. Aforesaid lady nowhere to be found and no staff around just a security guard who didn't want to know when I asked him how we got through the barrier. Then we found an Australian couple also travelling on a pass and wanting to take the same train who had also been having problems with their pass and gatelines. We then found a member of staff who let all four of us through rather grudgingly. The Australians said it wasn't the first time they'd found problems getting through the barriers on trains that didn't need reservations - the codes on the reservations worked fine.

I'd agree with Djgr that the ride is scenic, and fun to do, but I too was surprised we didn't see more of the coast. It felt a bit like taking the two coach service from Bletchley to Bedford but with better scenery.

We loved the "Thomas the tank engine" sitting at La Concordia - tried in my not very good Spanish to get a laugh from the younger chap by saying that in England all little engines like that were called Thomas but my joke fell flat.

 

[TheHSRailFan]

When it is, I presume that will be the end of the remaning passenger services on the direct line between Bilbao and Miranda de Ebro.

Journey time would not be a major factor in my decision because I would be doing the journey for the sake of it, not because I wanted to get to Miranda as quickly as possible.

Not for a bit as a few major things have happened in the last few months to do with it. However, the target is still 2027 and the tenders for track laying and OHLE installation have just gone out.

As for the current line when it opens, it will stay put as there is a port in Bilbao and there's still some sense in keeping the line open. As well as Renfe's "Intercity" services, which don't use high speed at all and take forever will just do it instead.

 

[shredder1]

I travelled the line last wednesday from Concordia to Santander , it takes around 3 hours, infact Ive been out there for 2 week and completed all the lines between Ferrol and Hendye, I can certainly recommend the line from Oviedo to Ferrol. While using a Barik card I travelled from Bilbao to Hendaye for 2 Euros, for line west of Bilbao you can buy a card for the over 65s, the Tarjeta Dorada, 4 Euros Bilbao to Santander

 

[AdamWW]

As for the current line when it opens, it will stay put as there is a port in Bilbao and there's still some sense in keeping the line open. As well as Renfe's "Intercity" services, which don't use high speed at all and take forever will just do it instead.

Well that's good news and I'd assumed they wouldn't want to cut the port off from the Iberian gauge network but I have to say I'm surprised it would keep a passenger service.

At the moment the only passenger traffic (beyond the Cercanias services) seems to be 2 or 3 Alvia trains a day each way to Madrid that would presumably start using the standard gauge lines and one Intercity running just between Bilbao and Miranda with only one intermediate stop (which is in any case served by Cercanias trains).

 

[david_g]

Along the way this chap came and told us in English that we would have to change trains at somewhere I didn't catch the name of - he had translated "I will tell you when we get there and help you" on his phone which he showed us. Can't remember exactly where this was but good to his word he shepherded us and all the other passengers off of the train and watched as we all walked across the line to board the train on the other platform which was going to continue the journey while he and the original train were the return service I assume back to Bilbao.

Karrantza. Same thing happened to me 04/11/24.

 

[shredder1]

It happens a lot that

 

[stuu]

I expect that will be made permanent if they ever finish the electrification