The Quiero Corredor platform, promoted by the Valencian Association of Entrepreneurs (AVE), anticipates that the deadlines set by the Government for the execution of the Mediterranean corridor will not be met. It is his conclusion after analyzing the current state of the works in the first semi-annual check of this 2023 that the platform announced yesterday.
In their analysis, the head engineers of the platform question the commitment of the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, in attention, mainly, to six sections in which they point out that the works are still pending. They are the completion of the works on the Castellbisbal tunnel as well as the laying of the third lane on the remaining track between Castelló and Valencia; the commissioning of the single track in Iberian gauge in the Moixent-La Encina section; the projects for the remaining sections of the Murcia-Cartagena line; the definition of the alternative to the Almería-Granada line; and the electrification solution in the Ronda-Bobadilla section.
On the positive side of the balance, it should be noted that the change in track width between Castelló and Vandellós has been awarded -to which Europe recently awarded 27 million euros-, works have begun on the Totana-Totana section, they are already in Work is underway on the Lorca-Pulpí section and the burying of the Lorca tunnel has been tendered.
However, the president of AVE, Vicente Boluda, points out that “everything is underway, but without substantial progress and the works are going, but not at the pace that we would like or that we expected.” And he focuses on another project, that of the Valencia tunnel, which is on hold after the presentation of the informative studies almost two years ago now. Boluda points out that “it is not even designed” and acknowledges that it is one of his biggest concerns, since he points out that “as long as it is not there, it will be the traffic light of the Corridor. That’s where it all ends.”
In the check, the experts analyze section by section and warn, for example, how the work between Murcia and Alicante is still not finished despite being “essential” to get goods to the French border. Both Francisco García Calvo and Xavier Lluch point out that, at the rate at which the works are going, the deadlines set by the Executive will not be met.
“In order for them to do so, the Murcia-Cartagena connection and the Bobadilla-Algeciras line should be in operation. In addition, the Almería-Granada section does not yet have a project and the Valencia through tunnel threatens to be the traffic light of Europe if the works are not carried out accelerate.”, point.
In its particular inspection of the works, the platform has encrypted the work since the Quiero Corredor movement was launched as an incentive for the Government on the Mediterranean corridor. Thus, they maintain that in 2016 there were 19% of the trains in service and now the percentage is 34%; 45% of the infrastructure was under construction and currently 75% is and 54% was in the project before and now 85%.
The check carried out on the Mediterranean corridor by the platform promoted by AVE adds to the activities that the platform is carrying out these days, with the installation of an infrastructure, in 3D, in different cities to make the population known as ” the troubles” that the Mediterranean corridor faces. The action has been installed in Cartagena and Antequera, will be followed by Barcelona this weekend and will end in Alicante, pending closing the date and its location.
