Junta de Andalucía signals the start of works on new underground section of Malaga metro

The construction of the new section of Malaga's metro to the Civil Hospital is officially under way. The President of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, took part in the symbolic groundbreaking ceremony today, Wednesday 14 February, on the second level of the platform at Guadalmedina station, opposite El Corte Inglés. This is the point where the wall will be demolished in approximately three years' time to connect the existing tracks with the new ones for the passage of metro trains to the north of Malaga.

Work on this first section will entail the occupation of the roundabout where the monument to the Jesuit priest Tiburcio Arnáiz is located, between El Corte Inglés and the Santander bank, to take Calle Hilera to the junction with Santa Elena, where the first stop (Hilera) will be located.

During his speech, the president answered several questions from journalists, businessmen and technicians present in the Guadalmedina station. Moreno announced that the second section, the Eugenio Gross section, will be put out to tender after the end of the first trimestre, possibly in June. Therefore, it is likely that the start of work on this busy street in Malaga will take place at the end of 2024 or at the beginning of 2025. This is where La Trinidad station will be located.

The final section of the project corresponds to Calle Blas de Lezo, up to the final stop, at the rear of the Hospital Civil (the station will be named after the hospital). There will be three access points, to connect directly with the future Regional Hospital. Overlapping the execution on the three fronts is essential for the tunnel to be ready in December 2027, as agreed with the concessionary company, Metro de Malaga.

Juanma Moreno also pledged that the contract for the new public hospital, which will be the largest in the Andalucía region, will be awarded this year; and the work on both connected infrastructures will run simultaneously.

"The metro and the hospital are two mega-projects that we are implementing at the same time. We are starting the countdown to complete the Malaga metro and with a great health facility, which fulfils a historical debt with a province that has grown by more than half a million inhabitants," the Andalusian president said.

The metro line extension to the north, of 1.8 kilometres, will have a global cost (infrastructure and superstructure civil works) of 220 million euros. Moreno highlighted that the route, 100 per cent underground, has been agreed with the city council and with representatives of the three districts through which it runs, which forms the fourth most populated neighbourhood in the city, with more than 60,000 registered inhabitants. and "with residents eager to use the subway."

When this phase is completed, the total investment in the Malaga metro by the Junta will have amounted to more than 900 million euros, which makes it, together with the Seville metro, the most expensive transport investment the Junta de Andalucía has faced. "It is very expensive, but it is worth it; It is a substantial advance for sustainable mobility," said Moreno.

The Malaga metro is the one that is growing the fastest, with 140 per cent more passengers after arriving in the city centre (13.6 million in 2023, and there will be more than 14 million when it reaches its first full year, at the end of March). With the extension to Eugenio Gross, it is estimated to reach 21 million passengers, of which 3.5-4 million will come from the new extension with the current scenario, even before the new mega hospital opens its doors.

This construction work will continue for at least three years. "I ask the public for their patience, collaboration and understanding; They are complex works and will cause some inconvenience, but we are determined to disturb the local residents as little as possible," said Moreno. He pointed out that technical inspections are being carried out on the homes near the route to guarantee their safety.

In a political dig, the regional president said “we are very far from the delays and usual disputes” in the previous administrations; "Now we listen to the local residents and businesses". For this reason, he called on the rest of the authorities to "keep pace with the growth rate of Malaga, which has to be prepared for the challenges of the present and the future, also with the support of the central government and city council."