The government of Jaume Collboni is clear that the best formula to link the Trambaix and the Trambesòs is the straight line that forms the Diagonal. The mayor also assures that he plans to face this second phase and continue the work that will extend it from Glòries to Verdaguer next year. Even so, Collboni has sown doubt this Monday about when the section to Francesc Macià will be a reality.
“The decision on when it will be has not been made, depending on the budget allocation it will be seen,” the mayor responded after the first session of the infrastructure advisory committee was held. The realization that without a municipal budget the City Council will not be able to put out to tender the urbanization works associated with the tram union may ruin the plans of the previous socio-common government. At the same time, it can be interpreted as a message to both Colau and ERC – both defenders of the tram – in the face of negotiating the 2024 municipal budget.
Until a few months ago, there was active and passive insistence that the second phase of the works would overlap with the completion of the first, now scheduled for the second half of next year. The project is in the drafting phase and the work could be put out to tender in a matter of months if the machinery is forced.
Although among the members of the infrastructure advisory committee is the person responsible for the technical work of the tram union project –Pere Macías–, that topic was not the focus of the meeting. At a technical level it is considered that there is nothing more to discuss about the tram.
The first studies of the council of wise men led by Santi Vila will address the expansion of the El Prat airport, the port of Barcelona and the open debate on railway infrastructure, especially around Rodalies. The latter is an issue that acquires notable relevance given the changes that the investiture agreement will bring, which includes the creation of a joint company between the Government and the Generalitat to manage the service in Catalonia.
The three topics will advance in simultaneous discussions with the different experts involved and during the coming year reports will be presented in which general guidelines and technical contributions will be collected. “We are not asking them for exact solutions,” Collboni made clear about the twenty members who met this Monday for an hour and a half and have already registered their first loss: the former mayor Jordi Hereu, now the new Minister of Industry.
