No 907 Monday 21st - Sunday 27th February 2022
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Keeping people safe and informed for over 18 years - The Costa Blanca’s oldest ‘FREE’ English language newspaper
TORREVIEJA is one of the four main cities on the peninsula that, despite having more than 80,000 inhabitants and even quintupling it's population in the summer, does not have a rail connection: neither AVE high speed, nor Cercanías commuter, nor metro nor tram.
WAITING FOR A TRAIN FOR 52 YEARS
These Mediterranean towns share the same grievance with National Government, that their large populations, both during the summer and the winter, are not served by any sort type of rail connection, despite the profitability that the service would have. Torrevieja did have a passenger train until 1970 when, due to poor profitability, the branch connecting it with the line between Murcia and Alicante was suspended. The freight line that collected salt from the salt flats also
stopped operating in 1986 and the tracks were soon dismantled. That route ran parallel to the natural park of Las Lagunas de la Mata, a route that could no longer be used because today it would not be able to achieve the necessary environmental permits. In the event of a new connection, a new station would also be necessary (the old one was attached to the lagoon), although this is neither the only nor the most important problem. The mayor of Torrevieja, Eduardo Dolón (PP), has again confirmed that a study has already been carried out, with the participation of the municipalities of Torrevieja, Orihuela and the University of Alicante (UA), that includes three alternatives for a new route, in a project that would cost around 270 million euros.
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