The route of the Vasco-Navarro Railway used to stretch from the station at Estella in Navarre to the station at Mekolalde in Guipúzcoa, passing through Vitoria/Gasteiz. At Mekolalde the line linked up with the Maltzaga-Zumárraga railway, belonging to Ferrocarriles Vascongados. Its construction was a laborious task: the first works contract was granted in 1882, but the opening of the completed line would not be for another 45 years, in 1927. The early works were undertaken by a company whose name left no doubt as to the origin of at least some of its capital: The Anglo Vasco Navarro Railway Company Limited.      

The first section to be open, in 1889, covered the north of the Llanada Alavesa region, from Vitoria/Gasteiz to the head of the Deba Valley, at the town of Leintz-Gatzaga (in Spanish, Salinas de Léniz) in Guipúzcoa. In 1903 the State took possession of the works on the opened section of the line and started work on the rest of it. Between 1915 and 1919 the sections of the railway in the province of Guipúzcoa were opened, but the section which we are interested in took a further eight years to build, before finally being commissioned in 1927. In the meantime, in 1923 the Oñate branch line was opened and, finally, in 1948, the Estíbaliz spur entered into operation, making a total length of 139 km       

In 1929 the Vitoria/Gasteiz - Estella section was electrified but the line started to make an operating loss in the fifties. New Year’s Eve 1967 saw not only the end of the year but also the end of this modest railway which, shortly after being shut down, was dismantled and any usable rolling stock was distributed around the country.