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On a day like today, 30 July 2014, a reduced version of lines 1 and 2 of the Malaga metro came into service from the Martín Carpena sports area, at the end of the Carretera de Cádiz, passing through the El Perchel interchange (next to the city's María Zambrano railway station) to Teatinos and to the university. It was a PSOE socialist president, Susana Díaz, and an IU councillor, Elena Cortés, who cut the first ribbon in a political scenario in the Junta de Andalucía that has changed radically since then.
This was a first stage, in which it had a limited capacity to attract passengers, but it served to familiarise many Malagueños with the new means of transport and its benefits. So much so that, from being a problem for many, the social perception of the underground changed completely, to the point that the residents of Carretera de Cádiz, Cruz del Humilladero and Teatinos began to claim that it was necessary to get to the centre quickly.
The change of government, with the PP at the helm, gave renewed impetus to the pending works to cross Callejones del Perchel and the Avenida de Andalucía to the Alameda principal. But they had to wait almost nine years, with a long delay due to the discovery of important archaeological remains and other changes to the project, until 27 March 2023. On that day, the President of the Andalusian government, Juanma Moreno, together with the former minister of public works, Marifrán Carazo (current mayor of Granada) inaugurated the Guadalmedina (next to El Corte Inglés) and Atarazanas (next to the Casa del Guardia) stations.
That was the definitive leap forward for the Malaga metro, since being in the historic city centre allowed the number of users to double month after month. In fact, last June it was still growing in double digits, a unique case in comparison with the rest of the metropolitan systems in Spain: 1,382,240 passengers, almost 24 per cent more than the previous year, according to the data provided by the ministry of public works of the regional authority.
This means that in six months it has already reached almost nine million passengers, and if they continue at this rate for the rest of the year, they could reach 18 million in December. This would be much more than a new record in the still short history of this infrastructure: this is the volume that almost two decades ago the projections of the concessionaire, Metro de Málaga, set as a feasible objective when the trains reached the centre. This gives an idea of the extent to which the regional government's commitment has been a success.
In this decade some 70 million passengers have used this infrastructure at some point in time, although most of them are regular users, who use it every day to commute to and from university and their jobs.
Now, the current councillor of public works, Rocío Díaz, is in charge of the project for the extension of the branch line. This 1.8-kilometre extension had already been agreed with the concessionary company even before the inauguration of the first phase, replacing the complex route to the Plaza de La Marina and La Malagueta. Although it was significantly delayed due to the controversial initial decision to take it on the surface along Eugenio Gross and Blas de Lezo, something that neither a large part of the local residents nor the mayor, Francisco de la Torre, liked.
The arrival of the PP turned the project around, deciding that it would go 100 per cent underground. And this year work has finally begun on the first section, next to El Corte Inglés and in Calle Hilera. A few days ago the second part was put out to tender, corresponding to Santa Elena and Eugenio Gross; and there is still a third, along Blas de Lezo to the corner of Arroyo de los Ángeles.
At this stage, it is unlikely that the commitment signed by the Junta with the concessionaire to hand over this branch line for operation by the end of 2027 can be fulfilled, but the construction of the three sections will run almost in parallel, with the aim of not moving too far away from that date. According to calculations, the extension of line 2 will have a capacity of up to four million passengers.
This will lead to a horizon of 21 to 22 million, with which the economic-financial stability of the infrastructure is considered to be guaranteed, between the public contributions and the payment made by the users, which is now supported by strong subsidies from the state and the Junta for the promotion of public transport.
But the Malaga metro will not stop there. The minister of public works has already stated on several occasions the government's commitment that, once the civil works have been completed, the tracks will continue to move on to other neighbourhoods, providing the capital of the Costa del Sol with the public transport system demanded by a population of 600,000 inhabitants.
To this end, the bases for a tender are being finalised, whereby an independent consultancy firm will be commissioned to study the three alternatives that are seen as the most likely to become the next station: continuing from the centre towards Ciudad Jardín, to the north; from the extension of the campus and the depot (Los Asperones) to the Andalucía technology park and Campanillas; or from the centre towards the east, El Palo and Rincón de la Victoria.
But this decision will take at least two years to come, as this is the estimated time needed to draw up the report with all the potentialities of each of the alternatives in terms of passenger capacity, in relation to the cost of the work and the expected benefits.
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