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Lorena Cádiz
Benalmádena
Monday, 21 October 2024, 18:17
The construction of a long-awaited Cercanías commuter train station on the C1 Malaga to Fuengirola line at Nueva Torrequebrada area of Benalmádena is one step closer to becoming a reality after the town hall earmarked money in its budget for the major infrastructure project.
The town hall gave the green light in a council meeting to a credit supplement of 23 million euros, money with which it intends to use on a series of projects for the municipality in the coming months. Of this money, 200,000 euros was set aside for the drafting of a project to build the Nueva Torrequebrada train station.
This news follows several years of campaigning by residents in the area for the station to be built in a bid to be better connected with Malaga city, other neighbouring municipalities and Benalmádena town centre itself.
Once the money is available, the project will be drawn up and presented to state railway infrastructure operator Adif and the national ministry of transport. There has been no budget allocation from the state as town hall already assumed that if it wants to build another train station, it will have to pay for it. Councillor José Luis Bergillos estimated the work could cost three million euros.
"The design is very clear because it is set by Adif. It has to have a platform, ticket machines and a shelter. It would be at the exit of the Torrequebrada tunnel and before the entrance to the bridge and would be located on Adif land, on the edge of the railway line," the councillor added.
However, there are doubts about the location of the parking area. Another of the requirements set by Adif to give the go-ahead for the station is that it must have an adjoining parking space. A few years ago, it was even decided which would be the most suitable land, specifically a municipal plot which has the disadvantage of being considered a green area in the general urban development plan (PGOU), which would imply a change of use. This is a long and complex process that "could take several years", Bergillos said.
The town hall is now proposing another plot of land, "only ten metres away" from the previous one, which is also municipally-owned and which would have a capacity for some 70 vehicles. "We have asked for a meeting with the newhead of Adif and the minister to present this parking option to them. We have not yet received a reply, but we hope that there will be no problem. It is a piece of land next to the other one," Bergillos said.
The neighbourhood of Nueva Torrequebrada, in Benalmádena Costa, is expanding and currently has more than 5,000 homes built and as many families living in privileged surroundings facing the sea, but far from any population centre. Located between Benalmádena and Fuengirola, most people who live in Nueva Torrequebrada have to commute every day to the neighbouring municipalities or to Malaga city for work.
Although there is a bus line that connects the area, the residents' association has been calling for more than a decade for another public transport alternative, such as the train. The Cercanías line C1 runs through this residential development, linking Malaga city with Fuengirola. The creation of a new stop at Nueva Torrequebrada would solve the mobility problems of many residents in the area and would considerably reduce traffic on the roads.
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