ARCHIVED - First AVE high-speed trains in Murcia delayed until at least 2022

Major upgrading completed at Murcia station and to start soon in Cartagena

Coinciding with the official presentation this week of the newly upgraded facilities at the Estación del Carmen, the main railway station in the city of Murcia, Francisco Jiménez, the central government delegate to the Region of Murcia, confirmed that the arrival of the first AVE high-speed network trains in the regional capital has suffered a further delay.

The latest setback is that the project to create underground access into the city needs to be modified due to the discovery of hydro-carbon deposits in the ground, and that the new projected date for work to be completed is to be 15 months after the rail infrastructures management company Adif approves the revisions. In other words, the line will not be complete until at least the summer of 2021, after which it will be necessary to carry out tests, obtain certifications and permits and gather together all of the other paperwork needed for the first passenger services to be operated.

Taking all of this into account, it will be at least 2022 before it is possible to catch an AVE train in Murcia, although Sr Jiménez also added that the “technical complexity” of the project still makes it impossible to estimate an exact date.

The upgrading of the station in Murcia has required an investment of almost 5 million euros and has been undertaken despite the fact that when the underground line comes into operation the historic building will become redundant as part of the rail network. At that point the existing station will be put to “other uses” which have not yet become clear.

Meanwhile, the project for a similar upgrading of the railway station in Cartagena has been submitted by Adif to the Town Hall with a budget of almost 6 million euros. The passenger terminal building is to be given a complete make-over, new shelters are to be installed on the platforms complete with solar panels and various other improvements are planned, with the works contract scheduled to be awarded this autumn. At the same time various tradition elements such as the vaulted roof and the modernist lamps are to be maintained, while the glass and tiling in the façade are to be restored to prime condition.

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