(As published in La Provincia)
My Dear Sir:
According to the progress of the works on the Zafra to Huelva railway, the line will soon be open to traffic before the Zafra fair, that is to say, during the whole of this coming September.
It is evident that the Seville to Huelva line traverses far more picturesque lands, among which the area from the Dibujo Station to Aracena is one of the most beautiful in Spain due to its varied vegetation set amidst increasingly surprising vistas.
However, although those sites will simultaneously attract both the people of Extremadura and Huelva for excursions and tours, it is not in this prospect that the transcendental importance for Extremadura of this route resides, for it shall provide the products of the Extremaduran region with one of the finest national ports.
The Zafra-Huelva railway shall be the great artery of our life in Extremadura through a close intellectual union between the Extremadurans and the railway company, based on the principle that it is in its interest to continually facilitate and study the agricultural and mercantile movement of the region, just as it is in the interest of the people of Extremadura to help the company in turn by advising and guiding it along the most profitable path for both parties.
The company will therefore be grateful for the submission by newspapers, corporations, and individuals to the Director of Operations in Huelva of all advice, warnings, and proposals that may redound to the benefit of both parties.
It is not the company’s intention to engage in puerile competition with other lines; it considers the port of Huelva to be the natural, most expeditious, and economical port for the products of Extremadura, harmonised with the company’s just interests.
The Zafra-Huelva Company believes, therefore, that this solution is only to be found in the cheapness of the tariffs and the facilities of transport; consequently, three daily trains will soon be running between Zafra and Huelva with fares approaching some twenty reales for the entire distance in 3rd class (harmonising the other classes), all applied equally with a corresponding reduction for intermediate stations. Furthermore, concerning the movement of grains, oils, and livestock, it will shortly finalise its arrangements with several steamship companies for economical transport to Cádiz and the entire Levant coast, and especially to Barcelona.
The special tariffs are currently under study and the Company will be deeply grateful for your opinion and ideas, Dear Director, as well as those of corporations and other interested parties, for its better success, and once completed we shall have the pleasure of sending copies to you. Your attentive and humble servant, Guillermo Sundheim.
