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Date Published: 29/07/2021

ARCHIVED - Works begins on the AVE rail line in Alhama de Murcia with inevitable disruption

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The overall project in the Region of Murcia will take up to three years to complete

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Works begins on the AVE rail line in Alhama de Murcia with inevitable disruption

Image of the location of the planned work

The hotly debated works on the AVE commuter network in Murcia have begun this week with the demolition of old buildings in Alhama. For the duration of the work, several roads that cross the future rail network will be affected and officials have asked motorists and pedestrians to approach the following zones with extreme caution:

- Road RM-E10

- Old road of Cartagena

- Road to La Ceña

- Vereda Venta de los Rafaeles

- Camino Hondo

- Camino de Las Viñas

The project, which will necessitate the temporary closure of parts of the line in order to install a high-speed service between Murcia and Almeria, has been met with strenuous objections by the regional government of the Region, who have labelled the disruption to the rail service as “unacceptable”. In Totana, the Mayor is also far from happy and even encouraged residents to participate in an official protest against the closure in the municipality on Wednesday.

On the other hand, the Councillor for Urban Planning, Antonio José Caja, insisted that the new railway network is going to be an important boost in the modernization of commuter rail, with the high-speed connections that train users have been demanding for a long time. He added that the work will not only comprise an AVE service from Murcia to Lorca and Almeria but will also advance travel to Andalucia, Valencia and Catalonia.

In addition, those responsible for the project have reassured customers that RENFE will provide coaches on all the usual routes while the rail lines are closed.

An unprecedented job of this magnitude is bound to cause some inconvenience, the secretary general of the PSOE of Águilas, Mari Carmen Moreno said this week, 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.

ADIF has itself said this week that it would be impossible to carry out the work required without closing the existing line, as the infrastructure already in place is part of the new structure.

In Totana residents have protested for months about the planned expropriations of residential properties required in order to build alternative infrastructure, and were also out on the streets protesting last night about the temporary line closure.

Unfortunately, something, somewhere has to give in order for the new infrastructure to be constructed, and the closure of the existing line is the preferred option.