Historic meeting looms to discuss prospect of extending the Costa del Sol train line

Ignacio Lillo

Malaga

Tuesday, 16 July 2024, 11:16

Spain's central government will meet with provincial officials tomorrow (Wednesday 17 July) to discuss the prospect of extending the Malaga - Fuengirola coastal train line further along the western strip of the Costa del Sol to Marbella, Estepona and even beyond. Mayors from the eastern section of the province's coast have also been invited.

The meeting in Malaga will be historic for several reasons. Firstly, as it is the only one to which representatives of all the administrations involved in the search for solutions to the issue have been invited. The meeting will be chaired by secretary of state for transport José Antonio Santano, with the Junta de Andalucía, Diputación de Málaga and mayors of all the municipalities of the Costa del Sol, both western and eastern, as well as four from the Campo de Gibraltar (Cadiz) invited to attend.

The road to reach this point has been complex. The need for this working group was pointed out in a study by consultancy firm ARCS commissioned by Malaga city council and the provincial council, sponsored by Unicaja, which was presented in January. This served as the basis for demands to extend the coastal train line, especially from respective mayors.

Costa del Sol train petition

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A mediation was also carried out by secretary general of the PSOE of Malaga, Dani Pérez, before the ministry of transport. SUR also launched a petition for the extension of the train line along the Costa del Sol. The campaign - For a train for the Costa del Sol - launched on 10 June, just after the European elections, has already reached 27,000 signatures, and continues to grow. In these past months, the government has been changing its position, from initial rejection of minister Óscar Puente to the recent summoning of this meeting.

This Wednesday's meeting at the sub-delegation must serve to reach political agreements that will translate into concrete advances in the railway project, and to improve transport along the western coastal strip of the Costa del Sol.

A good outcome from the meeting would be a commitment to initiate demand studies for a potential railway extension to Marbella, Estepona and the Campo de Gibraltar, on the western side, and to Nerja on the eastern side. Answers will need to be provided on scarce road capacity and demands of the mayors and Partido Popular for a toll reduction on the AP-7 motorway to reduce traffic until the railway project is undertaken.

It comes after Spain's transport minister Óscar Puente announced on Sunday that from this Tuesday 16 July until 15 October the Alicante ring road will be completely free to travel on, which was a similar demand to the motorway in Malaga.

For the Partido Popular and the mayors of the western Costa del Sol, the high price of the motorway is a key factor; while Malaga mayor Francisco de la Torre, is more in favour of a completely new train line and not extending the current Cercanías commuter line.

It will be up to the national ministry of transport to make a move, as so far the only proposal to improve transport along the coast is a commitment to double a section of the C1 and improve the frequency of trains from 20 to 15 minutes.