SUR coastal train campaign
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There has been a small piece of positive news this week for users of the overcrowded C-1 railway line from Malaga to Fuengirola. But it will take some time before becoming reality.
Spain's minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has announced that a key section of the track will be made two-way, "to be able to get [the service] frequency down to less than 15 minutes. It is impossible on a single track".
Currently much of the line, which is reportedly the most used local rail service in Spain, is only single track. This means train frequencies need to be restricted to every 20 minutes as the trains need to cross at the points where track is double, slowing everything down.
However the transport ministry plan is only in its first stage. A 1.3-million-euro contract has been put out to tender to draw up the technical study for how to widen the line and make it double track on a key stretch of 2.8km between the underground airport station and Campo Benítez, which is just beyond Plaza Mayor station towards La Colina.
The study alone will take three years, so no solution is imminent. The construction will be complex as it will involve crossing a main road and widening the route through the built-up San Julián area as well as a replacement station at Plaza Mayor.
Once the 2.8km stretch is completed it will mean there will be a continuous double track for 12.7 kilometres from Malaga's María Zambrano station to La Colina. And 20 kilometres overall, most of the route, will be two track.
This is the second time that a similar project has been undertaken. In the early 2000s some stretches of line were made double track. But demand has continued to rise, meaning more frequent services are needed. Last year a record 16 million people used the service.
As usual, the administrator of railway infrastructures (Adif) will be in charge of carrying out the works. The drafting of the project will be carried out in two stages: drafting of the study of alternatives and the construction project and support to the contract management during the works.
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