November 2021, Madrid. "We hope that on the horizon between 2025 or 2026 at least the connection between Almería and the French border will be executed," said the acting Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, before an auditorium packed with businessmen and businesswomen, many of them from Valencia, and for whom the connection of the Mediterranean with the French border towards Europe was and is capital.
His words still resonate because the commitment of the Government, now in office, requires no small amount of speed and active involvement such as that which will be demanded, with their presence, by the more than 1,800 personalities from the business world who will meet again on Thursday in Madrid, again in the capital two years later, to extract more commitments from the Minister. Sánchez has always been "committed" and her department has been taking steps along those lines.
But, what is the status of execution of the Mediterranean corridor works? Adif emphasizes that 100% of the 1,800 kilometers of the network are already planned, 75% of the sections are under construction or have already been completed and 85% already have an approved project. These are data from the Spanish Government commissioner for this infrastructure, Josep Vicent Boira, who adds that “the passenger stations and freight terminals, as well as their accesses, are either under construction or have been completed.”
The conclusion is that at this time the Mediterranean corridor is in an advanced state of execution. At the same time, the sections that connect these nodes are also mostly in the works phase or have already been completed. Boira values that with this planning “we already know the solution in each section of the corridor.”
In terms of kilometers of sections already in service, these add up to a total of 634, which represents 34% of the total of 1,800 km. The last milestone reached was the arrival of the AVE to Murcia last December, to which 24 more km will be added imminently with the commissioning between Moixent and La Encina, and another 70 km of the second will soon be added. road between Valencia and Castelló.
There are more recent milestones, such as the commissioning of the 21.5 kilometer Xátiva-La Encina section, "basic" according to the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda to advance the development of the Mediterranean corridor. In fact, the Executive's forecast is to close 2023 having executed 1,000 million euros during this same year.
Last summer, the document of the Quiero Corredor platform, promoted by the Valencian Association of Entrepreneurs, estimated the percentage of sections already in service at 34% and the percentage of sections under construction at 75%. Now the key is to know if, six months later, the distances continue to close.
Also in November 2021, the informative studies of the new north-south through axis of the València arterial railway network and the Valencia-Castellón double platform were presented and as of today, there is no progress. The expansion of the València-Font de Sant Lluís terminal, the southern rail access to the Port of Castellón or the works on the València Access Canal have begun, along with the expansion and remodeling of the València – Joaquín Sorolla station and the expansion from your parking lot.
The Mediterranean corridor is advancing, but some experts question whether this progress is made in a "coordinated" manner. And it is not trivial. There are more than 12,000 vehicles that cross the border daily, 6,000 going and 6,000 returning, which congest the main roads and for whom the rail alternative could reduce costs and time. It would also be an opportunity for passengers and a project that would serve to "shorten distances in the Mediterranean axis and to sew up the territory," claim the same sources.
The businessmen summoned to Madrid next Thursday will undoubtedly arrive with a protesting tone - in a political environment especially heated by the political negotiations that could even coincide with the investiture session. At the event there will be a check on the status of the works, the bulk of the event, as usual, and beyond the speeches and the staging, always striking, the business meeting will involve verifying the status of the works section by section. .
