July 12, 1924, marks the 100th anniversary of the enactment of the Railway Statute by royal decree of Miguel Primo de Rivera’s Military Directorate, an event that marked a significant turning point in the history of Spanish railways. The “Statute” sought to resolve the crisis that had plagued the Spanish railway system since 1914 by transferring to the State significant powers that, since the system’s inception, had been held by private concessionaires, thereby unilaterally breaking the “concession agreement” of 1848. Although this made it possible to address the main problems in the short term, in the long term it set in motion a process of state control over the Spanish railway system that culminated in 1941 with nationalization and the creation of the public company Renfe. 

ASIHF has decided to dedicate this Third Railway History Conference to discussing this topic, and to that end has invited several historians to a meeting on June 20 to address various issues, as outlined in the program.