The C-6 line is a rail service of Cercanías Asturias commuter rail network, operated by Renfe Operadora. Its termini are Oviedo and L'Infiestu stations.
History
Ferrocarriles Económicos de Asturias was constituted in 1887 and presented a plan to the Spanish Parliament in which it expressed its desire to build a railway line that linked Oviedo and L'Infiestu. Construction works were slowed down since local tenants showed their discrepancies with the sum that they were offered as a compensation for the seizure of their lands. Finally, the service started in 1891. In the following decades this line was expanded to Llanes. It transported both passengers and mining products.[1][2]
In 1972, the ownership of this line was transferred to FEVE, a government-owned company established with the objective of operating all narrow-gauge railway lines within Spain.[3]
Following the integration of Feve into Renfe Feve in 2012 (renamed as Renfe Cercanías AM in 2021), due to the lack of investment, infrastructure has been deteriorating and the poor conditions of the rolling stock have repeatedly caused service cancellations in the past years.[4][5] Cases like trains burning spontaneusly, trees falling in the railway lines and cattle colliding with the trains have dramatically increased.[6][7][8] Also, due to the new digital ASFA security system, trains are slower than a hundred years ago.[9][10][11] Consequently, the number of passengers has dropped during the last decades.[12]
Future
According to the Plan de Cercanías by the Spanish Ministry for Infrastructure, a signalling system renewal is scheduled for implementation in the coming years.[13] It is also foreseen that the railway line will undergo a comprehensive renewal between Colloto/Cualloto and L'Infiestu, with the addition of a second track in the La Carrera-La Pola Siero section.[14][15]
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