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Work began on the Mediterranean Rail Freight Corridor in June 2018 and when it’s completed the train line will cross four Spanish regions – Murcia, Andalucia, Valencia and Catalonia – traversing Europe from west to east and running all the way to Hungary.

 

Progress on the high-speed rail line has been swift in the Region of Murcia and Spain’s infrastructure manager Adif expects the Nonduermas-Sangonera, Sangonera-Alhama de Murcia and Totana-Lorca sections of the Murcia-Almería line to be built next year.

 

However, only 13% of the Andalucian section between Vera and Pulpí has been completed to date, so it’s unlikely the high speed connection between Murcia and Almería will be up and running before 2026.

 

Since its inception, Spain has allocated more than 4.4 billion euros to the development of the Mediterranean Corridor, 103 million of which is being spent on the Nonduermas-Sangonera la Seca section. This part of the track is 8.9 kilometres long and will travel under a 960-metre tunnel as the trains pass through the southern area of Alcantarilla.

 

This part of the railway line will provide far better connections for the residents of Alcantarilla and the use of the tunnel should reduce the noise and environmental impact of the AVE, according to Adif.

 

Here, a commuter station is currently being built at the fork in the existing Murcia-Chinchilla train line but because this section of the track is “very urban”, extensive works have had to be carried out on electrical, phone and waste services.

 

The route between Sangonera la Seca and Totana consists of 24 kilometres, 10 of which 10 have been built since 2012, while the remaining 14 are under construction. The total budget for this section of the AVE is 138 million euros. The future station for their stretch will be situated in Alhama de Murcia.

 

At a cost of 70 million, the rail link between Totana and Lorca will run for 13 kilometres, 5.5 kilometres of which have been in place since 2012, between the Lebor Alto district and La Hoya. The remaining 6.5 kilometres, currently under construction, will travel on to Lorca.

 

The Murcia-Almería High Speed ​​Line will have 9 sections in total in the Region of Murcia. Six of them are under construction: the underground of the Carmen and Barriomar stations and the Nonduermas-Sangonera, Sangonera-Totana, Totana-Totana, Totana-Lorca and Lorca-Pulpí sections. The other three are in the project drafting phase: the new Totana station, the integration of the railway in Lorca and the Pulpí-Águilas branch.

 

 

Images: Adif