Óscar Puente Announces Record Investment in the Mediterranean Corridor

The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, has announced that more than 7,000 million euros have already been tendered for the deployment of the Mediterranean Corridor, a sign of the government’s strong commitment to the development of this crucial infrastructure to enhance rail transport of goods and passengers, thus improving connectivity with Europe.

Since June 2018, Adif has tendered projects for a total of 7,110 million euros (VAT included), of which 1,420 million euros have been tendered in the last 12 months alone, from September 2023 to September 2024. “This pace demonstrates a strong commitment to improving rail connectivity from Algeciras to the French border, enhancing the transport of goods and passengers by train,” the minister stated in a video circulated on social media.

Contracts worth 5,300 million euros have been awarded, and currently over 800 km of the Mediterranean Corridor are under construction, in addition to various logistics terminals and port accesses.

After overcoming the Covid-19 crisis, more than 20 million euros per week have been invested on average since 2022 to carry out works. These investments will, for example, connect Murcia and Almería with high speed, boost the Algeciras-Zaragoza rail motorway, build the La Encina-Alicante line, and transform the railway in Catalonia.

Among the actions currently being carried out are the renewal of track and adaptation of clearance gauge for overpasses in the Bobadilla-Ronda section, the enlargement of clearance gauge in tunnels and overpasses on the Teruel-Sagunto fork line, the standard gauge implementation in the Encina-Alicante section, and the construction of the platform in the Loja Variant section on the Antequera-Granada high-speed line.

This high investment rate has allowed for 3,920 million euros to be executed by this government as of August 31, 2024, and, for example, bring high speed to cities such as Granada, Elche, Orihuela, and Murcia, in addition to building the Vandellós variant, the variant between Xátiva and the Nudo de la Encina, and completing the Río Andarax-El Puche section of the Murcia-Almería connection, which is progressing at a good pace.

Among the main actions tendered in the last 12 months for 1,420 million euros, the following stand out: track and electrification works on the La Encina-Alicante line for the implementation of the standard gauge for 154.5 million euros, adaptation of the Elda tunnel, clearance gauge adaptation and overpasses on the Sagunto-Teruel-Zaragoza section for 148 million euros, adaptation of clearance gauge on the Bobadilla-Algeciras section for 63 million euros for the Algeciras-Zaragoza rail motorway, and works on the Murcia-Almería section, among others.

The NextGenerationEU European funds from the Recovery Plan have been a key piece in continuing to advance towards the completion of the Mediterranean Corridor.

via: MiMub in Spanish

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