The acting Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Raquel Sánchez, visited the Xátiva station in Valencia today, where tomorrow Saturday the new conventional gauge route between Xátiva and the Nudo de La Encina, a section of 21.5 kilometers (km), basic to advance the development of the Mediterranean Corridor.
The variant, in which 505 million euros have been invested, will allow the three capitals of the Valencian Community to be connected by high speed in the future and reduce the best travel times between the towns by half an hour. That is, you can travel in one hour between Valencia and Alicante and in two hours between Alicante and Castellón.
The Iberian gauge variant that opens today will allow all rail traffic to be diverted while the adaptation works to the international gauge of the double track platform that traditionally connected Xàtiva and Nudo de la Encina are carried out.
As explained by the minister, the technicians calculate that "travelers between Alicante and Valencia will multiply by three, thus benefiting more than a million people."
During her visit, Minister Sánchez was accompanied by the Government delegate in the Valencian Community, María Pilar Bernabé, the president of Adif, María Luisa Domínguez, and the Corridor commissioner, Josep-Vicent Boira, where she highlighted the unblocking of this railway 'bottleneck' that will allow connecting the southeast and northeast of the peninsula with Europe in the next legislature.
At the station of Xátiva, the minister highlighted the progress of the Mediterranean Corridor in the Valencian Community, where there are ongoing works on the sections of Valencia - Castellón - Vandellós, the adaptation to mixed width between Valencia - Almussafes and the development of intermodal terminals and logistics, such as the Valencia-Fuente de San Luis terminal and rail access to the ports of Sagunto and Castelló.
In the new section, a new platform has been built on a 46 kilometer route, in which work has been done on the track superstructure, ballast layer, catenary, track devices, traffic management systems and command and signaling control. . The section has 2 tunnels, 7 viaducts, 2 overpasses, 3 underpasses and cross drainage works as the main structures.
On the other hand, the second phase is being addressed, which consists of adapting the double-track railway route to high speed, which will make it possible to connect the three capitals of the Community in standard gauge, with an investment of 245 million.
The installation of acoustic protection is also planned for the Nudo de la Encina-Xàtiva-València section and the necessary actions to adapt the Xàtiva station to the arrival of high-speed trains.
Complementary actions are also in the project phase for the commissioning of the international gauge route between València Joaquín-Sorolla-Xàtiva-La Encina and other works included in the development of the Mediterranean Corridor.
Since 2008, the Mediterranean Corridor has been adding kilometers and has reached 626 kilometers, of which 40% (275 km) have been put into service in the last five years. The objective, said the minister, is to continue advancing and reach 350 kilometers with the commissioning of the second mixed-gauge track from Valencia-Castellón.
During her speech, the minister announced the immediate tender for the comprehensive track renewal works of the Xàtiva-Alcoi line for more than 117 million euros, an action included in the Commuter Plan of the Valencian Community and which represents "a historic investment".
The action includes the renewal of all track material (sleepers, rail and ballast); action on infrastructure, both on embankments and on slopes and level crossings; and adaptation of tunnels and overpasses.
