Spain's transport minister promises to make Costa del Sol train happen

Spain's minister for transport, Óscar Puente, had already shown signs of his enthusiasm via social media for a trainline to run along the Costa del Sol, following the transport meeting in Malaga on 28 November. He has now been explicit about his commitment in the Congreso de los Diputados, the lower house in the Spanish parliament.

"This government has started to study the Costa del Sol train and I am going to reiterate what I said the other day on social media: we are not only going to carry out the study, but we are going to build the line," said the minister. "This government is going to make the Costa del Sol train a reality, and this minister is not known for making smoke and mirrors announcements; if we say that we are going to do it, Andalusians can believe it," he said.

On a political note, Puente added: "That is, if they trust us to do it, because the one that will certainly not do it is a PP government, which for many years did absolutely nothing. "We are finally working on the Costa del Sol train, and this should be welcomed by the PP, because we have the mayor of Malaga (Francisco de la Torre) and the mayor of Marbella (Ángeles Muñoz) and many mayors of that area (all of them are from the PP) demanding this train for a long time".

During the minister's appearance on the management of the Dana and the criticisms of the Popular Party for the "railway chaos" in Valencia and other parts of the country, the minister listed the projects in which his department is currently immersed, among which he placed special emphasis on the Costa del Sol railway.

The first serious attempt in history was that of the Junta de Andalucía, which in March 2009 awarded the contract for what could have been the first section of the Costa del Sol railway corridor between Las Lagunas and La Cala de Mijas. The four-kilometre route was divided into two tunnels.

At that time an agreement signed in 2004 between the Andalusian and central governments was in place, through which the then Junta de Andalucía was to be in charge of building the track between Fuengirola and Estepona (53.2 kilometres long and with an estimated demand of 100 million passengers per year). On the section between Malaga city and Fuengirola, the Ministry of Public Work was responsible for modernising the existing platform. The latter made considerable progress, but fell short.

At the state level, we have to go back to the times of the minister Íñigo de la Serna (PP) to find one of the few precedents of such a strong and relevant commitment. In January 2018, the minister for public works came to Marbella to present a study for an extension of the C1 (Málaga-Fuengirola) commuter line to Marbella and Estepona.

At that time, the ministry's civil servants considered two possible routes, with an investment of between 2,370 and 3,850 million euros, but only for a train like the current one and limited to that route, not from Nerja to Algeciras, which is what is being proposed now. Moreover, under his mandate, the feasibility study was launched, but the project was halted due to the lack of budgets and the change of government.

Now, the context is different. From initial misgivings, the minister has moved on to fully support the initiative, which he has already vehemently defended on two occasions in the space of a few days. "I am sure that this infrastructure is possible and will be a reality sooner rather than later", he said on X after the meeting on 28 November.

The general secretary for sustainable transport, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, promised at the end of last month in Malaga to put out to tender a feasibility study for the Nerja to Algeciras railway before the end of the year. He also asked citizens for "patience", adding, "These projects are slow, but the important thing is to start after 30 years of waiting. Once again, it will be a socialist government that will do it, like all the major infrastructures in the province."

Paradoxically, almost at the same time, in other public forums, prominent Andalusian leaders were criticising the government for its inaction regarding the coastal railway. This was the case of the president of the Andalusian regional government, Juanma Moreno, who cited this project as one of the examples of what he considers "mistreatment" of the central government towards the region of Andalucía.

Meanwhile, in Madrid, the president of the provincial Diputación de Málaga, Francis Salado, appealed to the unity of all the mayors of the Costa del Sol and Campo de Gibraltar, the two provincial councils and the Junta to legitimise the need for the coastal train between Nerja and Algeciras. The president assured that this investment "will be paid off in five or six years, due to the savings it will generate" in income for families and companies, in safety and accidents, and in time and emissions.