PP in Malaga calls for province's rail services to be improved and the coastal train project to be reactivated

The Partido Popular political party in Malaga has criticised Spain's national government for cutting back local and medium-distance train services and “abandoning” the project to extend the railway service from the provincial capital as far as Marbella or Estepona.

The party’s general secretary, Patricia Navarro, called on Monday for Pedro Sánchez and his government to use the EU funds for economic recovery to reactivate the coastal train project and improve mobility on the Costa del Sol, pointing out that this is also the most sustainable form of transport.

She reminded the government that this project was deemed necessary 20 years ago, and that in 2017 the PP carried out a “rigorous” study to see which route would be best for the coastal railway service. She also said that on 28 July, the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, told the government that this project should be a priority.

Navarro also referred to cutbacks to the service in the Serranía de Ronda and the local services from Malaga to Álora and Fuengirola, and the frequency of high-speed AVE connections with Madrid, which she said was inadequate, and called for them to be improved.