In the 19th century, the government and local companies wanted to build a railway to link Asturias with the rest of the country, so that Castile's agricultural products could be exported via the port of Gijón and Asturian coal could be easily transported to the rest of the country.

At that time, the sections between Leon and Busdongo and between Pola de Lena and Gijón had already been built.

[1] In the decades that followed, Norte opened several sections that split off from the main line in Asturias.

[2] In 1924, the segment between Gijón and Uxo was electrified at 3kV AC in order to increase the amount of coal that the company's trains could transport.

[4] After the war, the company's financial situation was extremely poor and in 1941 the new Francoist regime nationalised all the Iberian gauge railways in Spain and incorporated them into the newly formed Renfe.