Recalling the Limón Express, the first tourist train of the country

El Transcantábrico on the north coast of the country, Strawberry Train between Madrid and Aranjuez or Tren Al-Andalus in Andalusia are some current examples of tourist trains in our country. But, did you know that first of all output was destined and our city?

It was the year 1971 when an Englishman named Simpson decided to launch a different project: to rescue the old wooden cars Dénia-Carcaixent railroad for a tour around the Alicante coast to join Denia and Benidorm: Lemon Express.

Since then, and with the help of public initiative, the Lemon Express was a reality that helped to publicize some of the towns of Alta and Baja Marine tourists. In its first years of travel, Lemon Express united Denia and Benidorm, and it was a real excursion train, where travelers food included in the ticket price.

They were wooden trains, repainted and enabled its new role, which many will remember for their yellow color. Each car received a woman's name. Although at first fought for them to move with the power of steam, the non-conditioning of stations and the danger they could pose to users did rule out the idea.

Over time, the route, which was already a big hit among tourists and residents of the regions, was reduced to stretch Benidorm-Gata, but many dianenses that today still remember a ride on the Lemon Express.

In the year 2005, and the intention to repair its wheels after a few mishaps, their service was halted and since then the Lemon Express lies forgotten in garages in El Campello (Alicante), abandoned, filled with painted and glass and broken seats .

There have been several attempts to retake the path of Limon Express. In 2007 the Generalitat was even repair tender and allocated one million euros to re-start it, but never heard.

Currently any repair work has been paralyzed. According to FGV resume work would bring the workshops, purchase parts, solve your eplotación or determine your itinerary. In addition we should adapt the way and allow greater number of circulations-the Denia-Benidorm stretch is via IT ONLY.

A few months ago, and immersed fully on the controversial closure of the 9 line linking Denia and Benidorm, the Socialist Group in the city of Denia it proposed to monetize restore this historic line.

Unfortunately, this is a project that requires a large investment that at the moment is practically impossible to achieve, but that would undoubtedly be an incentive for regional tourism, as well as for the union of the Marina Alta and the Lower Marina.