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Eugenio Cabezas
Vélez-Malaga
Thursday, 2 January 2025, 19:06
After more than twelve years since Vélez-Málaga's tram stopped operating, the eastern Costa del Sol town hall announced in May 2024 its intention to call a public consultation on whether or not to reinstate the public transport system. It also said that alternatives to what was the first modern tram to operate in Andalucía, between October 2006 and June 2012, would be put on the table.
After Spain's central government granted last April an extension of one year, until December 2025, to justify a grant of 3.7 million euros awarded from European funds in 2022, the town hall still hasn't sent out the survey. Municipal sources have informed SUR that they are working on the technical design of the initiative, as they do not want to consider it in absolute terms of ‘tram yes’ or ‘tram no’, but also intend to address an alternative of electric buses that would use the tram platform.
If this option was chosen, the existing tramlines would have to be dismantled. The so-called BRT system has been proposed several times. It is a system halfway between a bus and a tram and already operates in 170 cities around the world.
"The different options, both technical and computerised, are being evaluated to see how to carry out the consultation with guarantees that there will be resident participation and that it will be representative, but the idea and the objective is to carry it out in the first quarter of 2025," municipal sources told SUR.
The mayor of Velez, Jesús Lupiáñez, said last May that in order to replace the tram system, the town hall would have to contribute around another five million euros to the 3.7 million in European funds. "We have many other needs in the municipality, sanitation, asphalting and lighting, so we believe that it is time to rescue a council agreement that was adopted in 2016 to consult residents on whether or not to resume the tram at this time," Lupiáñez told the Axarquía's Cadena Ser radio. That agreement was adopted unanimously following a proposal by the local Izquierda Unida (IU) political party.
"We are evaluating the tools for participation and we hope to set it up very soon," said the mayor of Vélez. According to the data provided by Lupiáñez, to the 3.7 million euros of European funds Next Generation granted, the council would have to contribute 1,276,000 euros to complete the first phase of repair work on the damaged infrastructure after twelve years without any maintenance or surveillance.
Subsequently, according to Lupiáñez the town hall would have to fully assume another investment of 3.7 million euros, due to the fact that a second request for aid has not been granted by Spain's Ministry of Transport. However, he admitted that the town hall is "not in a position to allocate five million to the tram". However, the councillor pointed out that, depending on the result of the public consultation, one possibility is to modify the terms of the aid granted and adapt it for the purchase of more sustainable electric or hybrid public transport vehicles.
The mayor also recalled that in 2016 a report by the Junta de Andalucía recommended replacing the three tram units with other smaller ones. "We are studying this possibility because it seems that there would be interest from other Andalusian tram systems in our units," said Lupiáñez. He added that the town hall would to claim the estimated 2.6 million euros in economic “damage” due to the lack of maintenance of the depots since 2012 from Alsa, the transport company responsible for the tram.
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