The railway tunnel of Palma’s Port turns 85
Palma de Mallorca
05/02/2016
The 5th of February 1931 the railway tunnel which connected Palma’s Port with the city was inaugurated. The Association Amics del Ferrocarril of the Balearic Islands has commemorated this anniversary of events with an exhibition of unpublished images of this railway line which became operational in 1877. The line to Palma’s Port was really important and it went through today’s Avenidas, Rambla and Born. However, its itinerary over the surface led to many problems, so it was moved underground and the tunnel in today’s Parc de la Mar was opened. Until 1881 the train carriages were drawn by mules. That year the first train engine arrived, although animal traction was not completely abandoned and it continued to be used in the city. Finally, in 1928, the works of the port’s tunnel started, and the tunnel was inaugurated the 9th of February 1931. It started in Palma’s train station and it arrived at Portella and Ses Voltes, in Parc de la Mar. The material from this excavation allowed for the construction of Parc de la Mar’s esplanade, where the station of classification of goods was built. The new track measured 2.046 metres in length, of which 1.252 were underground. Besides, in the port station there were 900 metres of secondary tracks and the dock tracks over Moll de la Riba. A total of 3.7 km of tracks. In the last operational years of the line, which ceased to operate in 1965, the main product leaving the dock was coal from Lloseta, which was shipped to Alicante.
