Towards the end of the 19th century, the rights for the exploitation of iron deposits in the municipality of Ojos Negros in Teruel were granted to several Basque businessmen, who subsequently founded Compañía Minera de Sierra Menera on 3 September 1900. The combination of the quantity and the quality of the mineral extracted, as well as discrepancies with the management of Ferrocarril central de Aragón (which operated the main Teruel - Sagunto line, which runs parallel to the rail trail in many stretches), led the company to apply for a licence to construct a narrow-gauge railway for the transportation of the iron ore to Puerto de Sagunto, on the Mediterranean Coast.