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The plan for a coastal train line along the length of the Costa del Sol in Malaga province is picking up pace, although only on paper for the moment. The biddng process competition to shape the first feasibility study for the much-demanded rail corridor opened on 31 December 2024. The deadline was 10 February and now Spain's Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility will start studying the bids.
A total of 15 companies have submitted their applications for this technical report. The document that the winning company will be responsible for will have to determine to what extent it is feasible to build the coastal train between Nerja and Algeciras and which sections are to be prioritised.
At the moment, it is estimated that the lucrative contract, with an 18-month deadline, will be worth 1.2 million euros. This has attracted the interest of both national and international companies. Among the former are consultancy firms from Malaga, Valencia, Vizcaya, Pontevedra and Madrid. Seven of the bids have been submitted in a joint venture (UTE).
The pace at which the ministry is advancing the tendering process is clearly above the normal for this type of initiative. At the first mobility meeting with the Junta de Andalucía, the Malaga provincial authority and the coastal town councils on 28 November, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, former general secretary for sustainable mobility and current president of Renfe, announced that the tendering process will take place before the end of the year.
The last BOE, Spain's official state gazette, of 2024 (number 315, 31 December 2024, page 75125) published the tender offer "for the drafting of the feasibility study of the Costa del Sol rail corridor". Although the overall deadline is 18 months, the drafting is divided into phases, which is an important aspect for what it implies for the medium-term timetable.
On 5 March, the envelope with the economic offer will be opened. Then, the Ministry will have three months to study the bids and choose the winning studio, which will have to start work in June at the latest.
According to the "estimated timetable" published in the BOE, the first main result of the feasibility study will be produced in the final part of Phase I. The "initial study of alternatives" will be known in January 2026.
The mention of "alternatives" refers to the route - that is, where it will physically run from and to, and in what form. Will the line run from Nerja to Malaga and from there to Marbella, Estepona and Algeciras? Also, what format of train and service: a stopping commuter service (Cercanías) or a high-performance service or a mix of both? The scheduling of this part of the overall project coincides with the announcement made in December by transport minister Óscar Puente, when he said: "In a year's time we hope to have the coastal train route clearly set out." The initial idea of the ministerial tech team is to take the line, wherever possible, through the "affected area" of the A-7 motorway, which is a reserved space on both sides of the dual carriageway .
According to the aforementioned work plans, the first phase consists of the collection of data to define the current status of the network, which could be affected by the new rail link. The technical background and studies previously carried out will be compiled, as well as all the basic starting data (infrastructure, demand, cartography, geology and geotechnics, planning, environment, etc.). At the end of this, general (re-) conditioning and carrying capacity plans (for train type and passenger numbers) will be provided, culminating in a report summarising the alternatives.
This is a historic step, as it marks the first time that the possibility of connecting the entire Costa del Sol by rail in the future is being considered - not only the Malaga section, which is the largest, but also the Campo de Gibraltar. Moreover, this will be done in a legally valid format, allowing further progress, as this is the first mandatory administrative step for any infrastructure project to move forward. "The scope of the feasibility study will be expected to comply with Article 5.3 of the railway sector act," the specifications state.
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