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Date Published: 26/07/2021

ARCHIVED - Political fur flies over temporary closure of Águilas to Murcia local railway service

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The work to improve the Commuter Network of Murcia will take a minimum of three years

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Political fur flies over temporary closure of Águilas to Murcia local railway service

The regional government of Murcia voiced its “frontal rejection” on Sunday, July 25 of plans to close the railway line between Murcia and Águilas in the autumn for at least three years. The Minister of Development and Infrastructure, Jose Ramon Diez de Revenga, of the PP, has labelled the move “unacceptable” and demanded that the Ministry of Transport comes up with an alternative solution. The expansive work will take place as part of the government’s plan to install a high-speed service between Murcia and Almeria.

As well as disrupting the Murcia to Águilas service, the Minister has warned that the temporary closure will also cut the Region’s connection with Madrid and prevent the departure of goods from the post of Cartagena to central Spain.

For their part, the regional government of Águilas has accused the PP of standing in the way of progress, having for years been in power without investing in the Railway Commuter Rail Network of Murcia. The PSOE mayoress of Águilas insisted that the disruption is a small price to pay for what will be a twenty-first century Commuter Network in three short years, a project with millions of euros of investment.

An unprecedented job of this magnitude is bound to cause some inconvenience, the secretary general of the PSOE of Águilas, Mari Carmen Moreno continued, and it would not be possible to complete it in such a short amount of time without temporarily suspending the commuter line.

The proposed improvements to the line will reduce the time between Murcia and Águilas by almost 30 minutes and give the town an important link into the high speed rail service, she said.

Buses will provide temporary cover on the route while the works are underway.

In Totana, however, further along the line, the mayor is far from happy and has attacked the decision.

Mayor Juan José Canovas said the plan was “nonsense” and pointed out that the municipal Plenary has already unanimously approved a motion by Ganar Totana-IU to defend the maintenance of the Cercanías rail services and continue to provide these public services.

He pointed out that the citizen mobilizations in 1985 prevented the closure of this infrastructure 35 years ago, and highlighted that the recent neighborhood demonstrations have resulted in the modification of the route of the AVE in order to avoid the forced expropriation of homes near to the existing station.

Protestors have been out on the streets in the municipality already, demonstrating against the closure, and on Wednesday evening the mayor is urging residents to participate in an official protest against the closure in the municipality, starting at 19:00.