Spanish government steps up pace for Costa del Sol train project: these are the main deadlines

Ignacio Lillo

Malaga

Friday, 10 January 2025, 12:42

The ministry of transport in Madrid is rushing ahead with the coastal train for Malaga and Campo de Gibraltar. The last BOE (official state gazette) of the year just ended (number 315, 31 December 2024, page 75125) published the tender offer "for the drafting of the feasibility study of the Costa del Sol rail corridor".

The contract will have a base budget of 1.2 million euros, and a term of 18 months. That 18-month period is divided into stages, which is an important issue because of what it implies for the medium-term timetable.

The next milestone will take just over a month. Consultancy firms interested in winning this lucrative contract will have until 3pm on 10 February to present their budgets and possible improvements. Then, on 5 March, the envelope containing the financial offer will be opened. From then on there will be only three months to study the bids submitted and choose the winning firm, which will have to start work in June at the latest.

This appears on the last page of the specifications, in the "estimated timetable" for the whole job, where the ministry's technical specialists have laid out three main phases. According to this timetable the first key milestone of the feasibility study will take place in the final part of phase I and whereby, in January 2026 (exactly one year away), the "initial study of alternatives" will be known.

The mention of "alternatives" refers to the route - that is, where it will physically run from and to, and in what form. Will the line run from Nerja to Malaga and from there to Marbella, Estepona and Algeciras? Also, what format of train and service: a stopping service (Cercanías) or a high-performance service or a mix of both? The scheduling of this part of the overall project coincides with the announcement made in December by transport minister Óscar Puente, when he said: "In a year's time we hope to have the coastal train route clearly set out." The initial idea of the ministerial tech team is to take the line, wherever possible, through the "affected area" of the A-7, which is a reserved space on both sides of the dual carriageway .

According to the aforementioned work plans, the first phase consists of the collection of data to define the current status of the network, which could be affected by the new rail link. The technical background and studies previously carried out will be compiled, as well as all the basic starting data (infrastructure, demand, cartography, geology and geotechnics, planning, environment, etc.). At the end of this, general (re-)conditioning and carrying capacity plans (for train type and passenger numbers) will be provided, culminating in a report summarising the alternatives.

The second phase includes a more detailed analysis of the alternatives in the different sections into which the action has been divided (five in total). It will also look in depth at each area and the operating scenarios of the proposed alternatives, as well as travel times, demand and cost-effectiveness. Phase III includes quality control and supporting formalities, and will be carried out in parallel to the previous two phases. The feasibility study should be ready for final approval in November 2026, with a document listing all conclusions and a summary formatted for public presentation.

The specifications make a very clear premise: the basis of all the work is to propose "one or several lines of exclusively passenger traffic, as an extension of the current Malaga-Fuengirola line, and/or additional variants to it. That is to say, the consultants will take as a starting point the so-called section 1, which is the only one where there is already a railway service (the C1 suburban line), on which they will analyse both the possibilities of improving its current capacity, with new double-tracking and other variants such as double-decker carriages, then "some alternative route for a new line in standard gauge (high-performance)), with the possibility of connecting to the high-speed line" from Malaga to Cordoba.

From this first stretch of line - which is also where demand is concentrated - there will be two branches: firstly, the Western Costa del Sol, limited to the east by the city and as far as the Campo de Gibraltar and the Bay of Algeciras. Secondly, the Eastern Costa del Sol between Malaga city and Nerja. Although it will be the feasibility study that will really show up the difficulties, the ministry's engineers are already indicating the stretch most likely to be tricky for this project, which is how to have the train cross Malaga city.

The challenge faced with the city is the need to connect "the last stops of the existing railway network, the stations of María Zambrano or Centro Alameda, yet to be determined, with the east of the city, passing through the city centre and Plaza de la Marina." With the train needing to cross the city centre from west to east, a tunnel is very likely.

Furthermore, many other unknowns remain to be determined, such as the design of the new lines for speed. The specifications allow for the study of layout solutions according to different ranges of speeds, again depending on the conclusions of the study of alternatives, other constraints and demand. However, except in very justified cases due to physical circumstances, it will almost always have to run on a double-track line.