The station Bilbao Concordia , also called station La Concordia and known colloquially as station Santander is a terminal railway station of the capital Bilbao , Bilbao , in the Basque Country ( Spain ).
At present, it offers commuter and medium-distance (regional) services operated by Renfe Feve , being the starting point of lines C4f (Bilbao– Valmaseda ) and R3b (Bilbao– Carranza ) of the province's suburban rail network , as well as well as the regional lines R-3 (Bilbao– Santander ) and R-4 (Bilbao– León ). It is adjacent to the Abando Indalecio Prieto station, forming part of its transport interchange system for decades; in fact, it is the oldest station in the complex, which originally also included the old La Naja station , located below it. In addition, it is the head or intermediate station of the Transcantábrico itineraries .
Inaugurated in 1898 as the eastern head of the Bilbao-Santander railway , and completed in 1902 , its unique modernist- style building is one of the architectural jewels of the town. Its façade and characteristic rose window are, together with the Arriaga theater , reference points in the Arenal area of Bilbao, and it is considered one of the most genuine heritages of Belle Époque Bilbao. In 2007 the renovation works of the station finished, which have given a total change to the interior of it. Its main facade was also restored and access to the Abando Indalecio Prieto station was arranged. In the future, with the comprehensive reform of the latter, it is expected that it will stop offering rail services (which would be relocated to the new terminal), leaving the iconic property free for other uses, yet to be defined.
Narrow gauge lines were born in the 19th century on the Cantabrian coast to overcome orographic difficulties, due to the high cost of installing broad gauge lines.
The station is located on the edge of the new Bilbao expansion on the edge of the Nervión estuary , elevated above it, showing itself as a balcony over the then central nucleus of Bilbao, the Old Town, also called Siete Calles. This same point had been chosen by the Carlist artillery in the siege of the city in the last of its wars . The central location chosen has been key to maintaining the service.
It was designed by the engineer Valentín Gorbeña (who also promoted the Cadagua Railway ) and the architect Severino Achúcarro who had collaborated in the Ensanche Plan in 1876 . This station was the head of the line in Vizcaya of the Santander to Bilbao Railway Company, which was a union of three previous railways: the Cadagua, between Zorroza and Balmaseda; the one from Zalla to Solares; and the one from Solares to Santander. In its conception it was a mixed passenger and freight station. It opened in 1902 . After the transfer of said company to FEVE, all the assets of the private company, including the La Concordia station, passed into the hands of this public company.
In 2007 it was restored and reformed adapting it to modern traffic and current mobility regulations. It also prepares to be able to carry out social events, concerts and presentations at its facilities.
In 2008 work began on the installation of the traffic control center for all the railway lines that originate from it: 391 km long. The work, awarded in January 2008 for an amount of 1,148,084 euros, has fallen to the architecture firm IMB, and will consist of the interior demolition of one of the two existing buildings on the platform for the construction of another that has a large open space and a viewpoint towards the control room to give the possibility to see the work carried out in it.
The name of Concordia is taken by the station of the place where it was located, where there were some pavilions where a very large meeting was held that ended with an agreement, with "concordia", thus calling the place in a popular way.
One of the main investments of the 19th century in Bilbao was 1857 when the Tudela-Bilbao Railway company was created. It mobilized a large volume of capital from numerous Bilbao families. When a few years later the company suspended payments, this fact caused desolation in Bilbao and many tensions in investors. An agreement was reached at a meeting held in a warehouse of the railway company next to the station. In memory of this event, the adjoining grounds were named concord.
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