"It is a historical fact." Josep Vicent Boira, Government Commissioner for the Mediterranean Corridor, states this in reference to a key decision adopted this week by the Spanish Government in relation to the development of the Mediterranean Corridor: 400 million euros have been approved to complete the last piece that was missing between Murcia and Almeria. That is to say, with this award, and what is being carried out, the corridor will soon be a reality of a thousand kilometers between France and Almería.
What is this piece? This involves the construction of the last section of the platform of the Murcia-Almería High Speed Line (HIV), as it passes through the city of Lorca, and includes the execution of a 2.9 km tunnel and the new Lorca station. -Sutullena. "Now it can be said that for travelers the entire route is undergoing platform works or in service; this has never happened before," says Boira, who emphasizes that at the moment "almost 80% of the infrastructure is under construction and 100% is already It's planned."
The section will be executed for the transport of passengers, so it remains to be adapted for goods, essential for the direction that the Mediterranean corridor should have. But Boira points out that "this issue is being defined" and that the step taken by the Government "shows the commitment to the Corridor and is evidence of the progress, because it means completing a first phase in the project, which is to carry out the international width to Almería".
With this step, the entire corridor from Almería to the French border is being adapted to UIC gauge and prepared for its link with the rest of Europe without changes at the border. The commissioner recalls that in 2003, 20 years ago, the corridor layout did not exist due to the marginalization to which the former European Commissioner for Transport, Loyola de Palacio, subjected it in Europe. And that in 2012, Ana Pastor voted against its recognition within the trans-European networks, "and that in 2018 40% of the corridor was still unplanned."
A little over a week ago, in Madrid, the Valencian Association of Businessmen, AVE, an entity chaired by the shipping company Vicente Boluda, demanded that the Government accelerate the works and specified the importance of them concluding the connection with Almería. The entrepreneurs also highlighted projects pending or in the execution phase, such as the double platform between Castellón and Valencia or the through tunnel of the Valencian capital, essential to decongest traffic from north to south.
Josep Vicent Boira recognizes the importance of the works that are underway, "The València through tunnel and the platform between Castellón and Valencia are key, as well as the La Encina-Xàtiva road to boost traffic with the west of the peninsula." He also highlights the importance of preparing passenger and freight services, with new operators, "to offer new services to people and companies." "Without forgetting the terminals and port accesses so that rail-port traffic is a reality. I very much believe in the future of this type of traffic and that of rail highways."
But Almería is not the last stop. The Mediterranean corridor, in its design along the coast, must reach Algeciras. Boira highlights that based on what has been achieved in Almería, a second stage begins "which must complete the work and put the standard gauge into service, extend the work to the south of Almería, with the proposed solution for Granada and the connection with Antequera and complete the improvement of the Algeciras-Bobadilla (with a budget of more than 470 million euros, a good amount already invested) in conjunction with the Atlantic corridor."
He warns, for this reason, that "sometimes we have a static vision of the corridor, waiting for a ribbon cutting that, due to the very nature of the infrastructure, will never come because there will be continued improvements." For now, the decision on the missing piece between Murcia and Almería is already beginning to become a reality.
