Our Greenway makes use of part of the route of two interconnected railways. One was the Villena-Alcoy-Yecla railway, commonly referred to as the "VAY" (and more popularly known as the Xixarra train) of which we use the Santuario de las Virtudes to Biar section. In spite of the name of the company, the Villena-Alcoy-Yecla railway  never actually reached Alcoy. At Muro de Alcoy the line connected with the Alcoy-Gandía of the same gauge, but this was only possible after 1909, 25 years after the first train had run on the Villena to Banyeres sections. Meanwhile, at Jumilla the VAY also linked up with the similarly narrow gauge Jumilla-Cieza railway (part of the Ferrocarriles del Sudeste de España which only operated this one line.

These lines lasted a relatively short time. In 1965 they were both taken over by the FEVE, which meant that the Xixarra trains could continue down to the coast at Gandía, connect with another FEVE line from Carcaixent to Denia and from there reach Alicante. However, a mere four years later both lines were closed for economic reasons.

The day-to-day life of a modest railway line

This was a very modest and almost self-sufficient line; only the locomotives were brought in from outside builders, while the passenger coaches and railcars were hand-built in the company’s own workshops.

A curious feature of these trains is that they were never fitted with toilets which, as might be expected, gave rise to the occasional difficult moment. However, the lack of toilets on the train was made up for by the fact that most stations were equipped with toilets. And since the stations tended to be very close to one another, the passengers were normally able to hold on until the next stop, hoping that there would be no delay along the way. Under the circumstances, the engine drivers would always wait for passengers to empty their bladders and reboard the train, to resume their journey much relieved and much more comfortable.

Another story from the old days of the railway tells of the man who used to run a mobile postal service and who liked to play his game of cards at Agres station with the station master, the engine driver, and the ticket inspector, while the train waited for the connecting Renfe train and its passengers. On more than one occasion all the passengers on the train had to wait, however long it took, for a particularly crucial hand to be played, while hoping that the engine driver had not lost the game and so would not be in a bad mood when he got back to his locomotive.