While on holiday in your
MALLORCA HOLIDAY RENTALS take a day out of your busy schedule and go back in time on the Soller Orange Train. It may be wise though to buy a single ticket rather that the return even though it is just an hour's journey from one end near the centre of Palma to the station at Soller. 'The Soller railway and tram service advert talks of the time machine of H G Wells and quite rightly too. No doubt the Palma to Soller Train and Tram are both one of those few things that tourists are obliged to do when visiting a new town. After all this is the only one of its kind still in commercial use today.
The train is an electric powered locomotive first introduced in 1929 although the first trains that used the track when it first opened were steam locomotives. Once on one of the wooden carriages it is like a step back in time. In the early days, oranges were carried overland in a journey of up to 10 hours by donkey and the road to the port in Palma where they would then be exported. As oranges became more popular a newer faster way of moving them was needed and the idea for a train running between Soller and Palma was devised. A railway company was set up in Soller and the locals were offered shares in the business in that way they could all earn from the trains success. 3.5 million pesetas were raised and construction started. The longest tunnel though Sierra de Alfabia on the route took over 4 years to complete and is over 3 kilometres long; it was finished in back in 1908 and was one of the 13 tunnels on the route.
The train was inaugurated the day after the Titanic sank on 16th April 1912 and built solely for the transportation of oranges. With the improvement of the roads and road transport, it was believed that the Soller train would go the same way as other old train services have gone. But then someone came up with the idea of a tourist train and so the train carriages were built and the service has not looked back since.
The train starts at 8 am and travels the streets of Palma, passing cars and other traffic along the roads before entering the country side through almond and olive groves. After a while, the train stops at Bunyola before heading off up through the mountains of Serra de Tramuntana, endlessly twisting and turning through tunnels and over bridges. There are thirteen tunnels with spectacular views to be had between them. The train follows the side of the mountain as it descends back down towards the valley of Soller, crossing yet more bridges and through tunnels and passing still more olive and orange groves before pulling into Soller station. It is a unique experience. Once at Soller station there is a vintage tram that is waiting to take passengers 5 kilometres into Soller Port which costs another 4 Euros.
The station at Palma gives travellers an idea of what to expect from the train. The station is at Plaza Espana and is an attractive Edwardian building with an old fashioned ticket office. It can be a very special ride up to Soller so once there spend a little time in this lovely village and maybe take the bus back instead of the very busy train when on
MALLORCA HOLIDAY RENTALS in Soller.
