Estremadura protects all hopes 2030 football world cup, It will be held between Spain, Portugal and Morocco.Because this could mean the implementation of the most requested infrastructure in the history of the region: a high-speed railway connection to Madrid. If achieved by then, it will be more than three decades away, but it will be a turning point for the people of Extremadura.
This connection between Extremadura and Madrid is embedded within a wider route that aims to connect Lisbon with the Spanish capital in three hours (it currently takes nine hours). This is also a historical demand for the so-called southwestern Iberian corridor. But for this to become a reality, it is a priority for the Portuguese government to advance the project, for which nothing has been developed yet. In this sense, the resignation of Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa a few days ago after being involved in a corruption case currently under investigation and his call for early elections next March may jeopardize this desire. This already happened after the 2011 elections, when Pedro Pasos Coelho came to government, who decided to suspend the high-speed plan with Madrid to save costs.
Again the extremadural joint I doubt this situation will happen again If the Portuguese administration changes after the March elections, it will decide to shelve the Madrid-Lisbon axis again. Among other reasons, its construction is a requirement of the European Union. “The elections planned for the beginning of next year do not need to affect these projects,” Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Housing Manuel Martín said in an interview with Canal Extremadura Radio yesterday.
Will request a meeting
However, it remains to be seen what the Government of Extremadura will do, as sources from this ministry confirmed to this newspaper. We call on this new government to accelerate the procedures to make this connection between the two European capitals a reality as soon as possible. for him They will request a meeting with the president and will do so by relying on the Atlantic Corridor forum. A meeting of this organization was held in Brussels this week. Officials from the department headed by Manuel said: “We met there with the infrastructure representatives of the Portuguese government. This is where the priorities and deadlines for all sections in the Atlantic transport corridor are reviewed, and through this mechanism we also convey these demands.” Martin.
Like the European Union, the Government of Extremadura states that the deadline for the completion of this route between Lisbon and Madrid is 2030.. There’s a lot to do right now. Actually The most advanced section is the one affecting Extremadura, as the first phase of electrification has already been completed. It connects Badajoz to Plasencia, although it is not yet in service. And the following route connecting Plasencia is carried out. Talayuela. There is nothing beyond this municipality of Cáceres. Also in the region affecting Castile-La Mancha The information work here is on environmental assessment, and efforts are being made to provide a solution for this line to pass through Talavera and Toledo.
Initially, since the route of the train has not yet been decided, it is located on the Portuguese border. The main problem is to agree on the access point for the locomotives: there are two bridges in Lisbon (Vasco de Gama and 25 de Abril), but none of them are primarily valid, so the solution would be to build a new bridge. This is what the new government, which will take action in March, must decide.
There is no date yet for electric trains to enter service
November. This was a commitment (one of many) by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda To put into service the first section of electrified roads in the region, affecting the connection between Badajoz and Plasencia. The work has been completed, the tests of the catenaries have been completed and it is just waiting for the approval of the railway safety authority to be tensioned.
The documents were handed over to this body, which reports to the Railway Infrastructure Administrator (Adif), on November 2, but it has not yet approved Extremadura to launch the first electric trains. TAlthough November enters its second two weeks from today, transportation has not yet specified a start date. This newspaper asked the ministry and Adif about this issue many times, but did not receive an answer.
“The electrified line was to be put into service in November and there is no official communication at the moment. Last month, the ministry secretary Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Housing He announced that it will be this month and we are in the last half of November and we cannot give an exact date. We hope it will happen as soon as possible.” Minister of Infrastructure of the Government of Extremadura, Manuel Martín, said in an interview with regional public radio yesterday.
The introduction of the catenaries between Plasencia and Badajoz will save travel time from the capital Badajoz to Madrid (it is not stated how many minutes the journey will take). As well as allowing electric trains to ply on Extremadura’s rails for the first time. The convoys used so far have been diesel.