5 Critical Points Blocking the Mediterranean Corridor

More than 4,000 kilometers, corresponding to the Spanish part, Delays of up to 26 years. The Mediterranean Corridor thus became the never-ending story of the four autonomous communities (Catalonia, Valencian Community, Murcia and Andalusia) through which it would pass. They do not understand how the government will achieve its goal of launching it in 2025.. Currently, more than 700 kilometers are under construction, and although a completion date has not always been specified, logistics and urban actions are planned in the coming years.

Despite the numerous traffic jams, the truth is work required for adaptation. infrastructure On the road since 2018. From the Office of the Government Commissioner for the Mediterranean Corridor, “Over the last four years, we have awarded jobs worth 4,400 million, which guarantees substantial executions over the next three years.” Of these, only 1.9 billion have been executed and are under construction. “We always say that the hard thing is not to plan, but to make things happen, and something is going on in the Hallway,” they say.

The executive’s optimism clashes with the optimism of railway associations, who have been waiting for real results for years. “We have one completely stagnant state Joan Amorós, president of the European Ferrmed ​​association, expressed his concerns about the development of the European freight rail network, which is the main beneficiary of this route. In Spain, the volume of goods transported by train is 4%, a figure that contrasts with 18% in Europe.

Ferrmed, apart from the 300,000 million that the European Commission has envisaged to strengthen the infrastructures that make up the European Union, the need for a “coherent plan” Deadline for trains to circulate on all rail corridors included in the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), with an additional investment of 100,000 million euros by 2030. The expansion of investments was also requested by the Valencian Entrepreneurs Association (AVE), led by Vicente Boluda and a supporter of the #QuieroCorredor movement. In their last six-month review conducted in the summer of this year, they assure that the target of completing work by 2025 set by different governments is “no longer possible” due to accumulated delays.

Certain points of the infrastructure are critical to progress in full connectivity within Spain for both goods and passengers, many of which are in preparation. Which ones?

New entrances to La Llagosta and Port of Barcelona

A strategic hub for goods entering and leaving the European Union by rail is the intermodal hub of La Llagosta, 15 kilometers from Barcelona. adipose Investment of 80 million euros stranded in June After tendering the platform, line and electrification works, it promised to be operational by 2024. However, the new road and rail accesses to the Port of Barcelona do not suffer the same fate. The core project completion date has been delayed for years. In the absence of any new changes, the study will end one year at the end of this year. 600 million euro investment this will increase the port area’s share of freight rail, currently fixed at 15%.

Castellbisbal and Martorell tunnels (Barcelona-Tarragona)

The size limitations, the minimum and maximum dimensions required for a train to pass a tunnel safely, are repeated in the Mediterranean Corridor. This is the case of Martorell and Castellbisbal. This is a job of great complexity, because these tunnels accommodate a significant number of circulations, especially medium and short-haul trains. Although the Martorell tunnel has already been adapted, work at Castellbisbal still needs to be undertaken as traffic has to be diverted by other routes. The government has committed to complete the Castellbisbal tunnels by 2022 and lay the third lane between Castellbisbal and Tarragona in 2023. not sure if they can meet deadlines. Adif and Adif Alta Velocidad (Adif AV) want to finance the Castellbisbal-Martorell division and actions at Vila-seca Junction (Tarragona) with an investment of 64 million Euros.

Xàtiva-Nudo (Valencia)

Government projections suggest that the knot between Moixent-La Encina-Xàtiva and L’Alcúdia will be untied between 2022 and 2024. In the same week, the high-speed train between Valencia, Xàtiva and La Encina started and the actions for the change of track gauge started. and the renovation of the La Encina-Xàtiva section. The idea is that passengers and goods travel on double international lines via the so-called ‘Triángulo de La Encina’. from 2024. This point is crucial to connect Murcia and the Valencian Community through the AVE. The total investment of this action is estimated as follows: 187 million €.

Murcia-Cartagena-Almeria

Another of the important pits in the Mediterranean Corridor is concentrated in its connections with Murcia and Andalusia. Most of the necessary actions are included in the project: the undergrounding of Lorca, the international unit of measure at the entrance to Cartagena and the Pulpí-Águilas section. None of these studies are planned before 2025. It should be noted that the burial of the Lorca and Pulpí-Águilas section, necessary for the development of the railway network to Almería, does not have a completion date. The investment that will connect Murcia to Almería is approximately 3,000 million Euros and is co-financed with European funds.

Algeciras-Bobadilla (Antequera)

Most of the Mediterranean Corridor investments included in the General Government Budget (PGE) for 2023 are concentrated in the Algeciras-Bobadilla section and the city port. The total amount to solve a stagnant bottleneck in its electrification amounts to 160.7m euros. If deadlines are met, this action will take place in 2025however, Adif has to wait for the Environmental Impact Statement to be approved before starting its work.