Strawberry train
Encyclopedia
El Tren de la Fresa or the Strawberry Train is an excursión train operated over the RENFE
line between Madrid
and Aranjuez
, constructed in 1851 as the second railway line in Spain
. The original purpose of the railway was to connect Spain’s capital with the Royal Palace of Aranjuez.. It was called the "Tren de la Fresa", the "Strawberry Train," as it originally went past vast fields of strawberries en route.
The excursions run from Spring (late April or early May) until the late June or early July and then again from mid-September to mid-October. The train departs from Madrid Atocha railway station, arriving 50 minutes later in Aranjuez . The return journey departs from Aranjuez at 18:25, arriving again at Atocha at 19:15.
The train is pulled by a steam locomotive and includes 6 wooden coaches of 19th century vintage.
The ticket includes a guided visit to the historic part of Aranjuez and the beautiful gardens and palace All passengers receive a plate of the famous delicious local strawberries en route from hostesses on the train, dressed in the period costume of the Spanish 19th century.
RENFE
Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...
line between Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and Aranjuez
Aranjuez
Aranjuez is a town lying 48 km south of Madrid, in the southern part of the Community of Madrid. It is located at the confluence of the Tagus and Jarama rivers, 48 km from Toledo. As of 2009, it has a population of 54,055.-History:...
, constructed in 1851 as the second railway line in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. The original purpose of the railway was to connect Spain’s capital with the Royal Palace of Aranjuez.. It was called the "Tren de la Fresa", the "Strawberry Train," as it originally went past vast fields of strawberries en route.
The excursions run from Spring (late April or early May) until the late June or early July and then again from mid-September to mid-October. The train departs from Madrid Atocha railway station, arriving 50 minutes later in Aranjuez . The return journey departs from Aranjuez at 18:25, arriving again at Atocha at 19:15.
The train is pulled by a steam locomotive and includes 6 wooden coaches of 19th century vintage.
The ticket includes a guided visit to the historic part of Aranjuez and the beautiful gardens and palace All passengers receive a plate of the famous delicious local strawberries en route from hostesses on the train, dressed in the period costume of the Spanish 19th century.