Loja Train Station

Loja Train Station

by Max Phythian

The station of Loja offers high speed AVE trains operated by RENFE. It is the only intermediate station on the line between Granada and Antequera Santa Ana. It opened on the 26th June 2019.

 

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Train Service

There are about eight high speed services a day east to Granada. The non stop journey takes 22 minutes.

There are also eight sevices a day west to Antiguera AV (station in the town) and Antequera Santa Ana (station outside the town). The journey takes about one hour.

There are three direct trains a day trains to Malaga Maria Zambrano calling at Antequera AV (station in the town) but not Antequera Santa Ana (station outside the town).

There is one direct trains a day to Madrid, calling at Antiguera AV (station in the town) and Antequera Santa Ana (station outside the town) and Cordoba. The journey takes about 3 hrs 17 mins.

There are four direct trains a day to Seville, calling at Antiguera AV (station in the town) and Antequera Santa Ana (station outside the town), Puente Genil and Cordoba. The journey takes about 2 hrs 19 mins.

Timetables and Tickets

Below are a selection of the direct AVE and AVANT train routes from Loja train station. Click on the buttons which link to the website of of affiliate partner - The Trainline. Check the timetables and if desired buy an eTicket with a seat reservation.

Variante de Loja / Loja by-pass

Loja By-pass

The AVE high-speed line from Antequera to Granada was originally to bypass Loja to the north. Unfortunately technical problems arose, it was therfor decided to bypass Loja to the south. However, due to time constraints - Granada has been cut off from the Spanish rail network for five years - it was decided to use a section of the old broad gauge route. This is why the AVE high-speed train passes right through Loja at low speed. In 2024, the plans were revived and work has started on the southern Loja by-pass. When completed, this will increase the capacity of trains to Granada, which is currently limited by this single-track line. In the plan above, the Antequera to Granada line is in blue, the current 'temporary' line through Loja is in thin grey, and the new southern by pass to be constructed is in Yellow. 

The project has been divided into four sections; Viaduct over (old) line Bobadillo to Granada, Riofrio, A92, Valle de Genil.  

Abridged and translated ADIF press release - 31 July 2024

Adif AV (Alto Velocidad) has started the contracting process for the construction of the Loja-A 92 bypass section (6.3 km) on the Antequera-Granada High Speed Line (LAV). The estimated value of this project is 179.9 million euro.

The bypass, equipped with a double-track standard gauge platform, will reduce journey times in railway connections with Granada.

The Loja Bypass (19 km) is completed with two more sections: Loja-Riofrío Bypass, whose works have recently begun; Loja-Valle del Genil Bypass, with the project in the supervision phase; together with the section corresponding to the viaduct over the conventional line Bobadilla-Granada, which has already been completed.

The route of the Antequera-Granada high-speed railway through the region of Loja takes place in a key environmental setting of great complexity, with the presence of an aquifer. The Loja Bypass, which runs through a third of its route in tunnels or viaducts.

The section Variante de Loja-A 92 starts at the ‘Los Abades’ service area, on the southern side of the dual carriageway, and ends at an intermediate point between the towns of Loja and Salar, also to the south of the A-92.

The route includes the Manzanil viaduct, the longest of the Loja bypass: at 1.7 km, it will have 33 spans and its piers will have an average height of about 35 m, reaching a maximum height of 65 m. The section is completed by the tunnels that cross the Sierra Gorda: the Abades tunnel (615 m, of which 380 m will be in a mine and the rest as an artificial tunnel) and the Monjas tunnel (693 m, of which 540 m will be in a mine and the rest in an artificial tunnel); as well as the Juncar viaduct (63 m); and a 51 m overpass.

Loja - San Francisco station

The old station Loja - San Francisco, which also used to be known as San Francisco de Loja, located 2km west, closed ini April 2015. it used to offer oth medium and long distance train services by Renfe on the Iberian guage line between Antequera and Granada.