Granada has become, de facto, the absolute nothing for rail communications between the south of the peninsula and the rest of Spain and Europe. On The commission from ADIF of the project to adapt the Algeciras-Córdoba-Zaragoza road to turn it into a railway highway, means in practice making the Mediterranean Corridor through Granada unnecessary.
The decision of successive governments, of both colors, that the double track only reaches Almería (between Murcia and this city it is built only in some sections); ADIF’s decision, officially confirmed by the company to Radio Granada, to adapt the Granada-Almería route to the international gauge on the current platform and with a single track; and the insurmountable (short-term) obstacle that Loja (and its 27 km of traditional route) now represents for the high-speed line between Antequera and Granada confirms the black hole in which Granada becomes from the railway point of view.
Although the Mediterranean Corridor plans, in theory, do not change, in practice, ADIF, the Ministry of Transport and the Government go to bet decisively on the Central Corridor to deliver goods from Algeciras.
Precisely from Algeciras the Mediterranean Corridor starts to Almería, passing through Granada, but the Antequera-Granada-Almería section is such an important obstacle that in practice the commitment to the Central Corridor as a highway for the exit of goods from Algeciras deepens the railway marginalization of the southeast peninsular.
The hole in the southeast of the peninsula
Although in theory ADIF’s order for the ‘rail highway’ through Madrid and Zaragoza does not have to affect future plans for the Mediterranean Corridor through Granada, The decision is in practice a lunge for goods in Eastern Andalusia.
Granada, by way of events, is very close to being isolated from the merchandise map of the southeast of the peninsula after confirming the slowness of all the actions between Antequera and Granada, advanced by Radio Granada, and now confirming the Tender for more than seven million euros for two contracts to adjust the gauge on the route between Algeciras, Córdoba and Zaragoza for future freight traffic on this so-called “Railroad Highway”.
On this line, special trains will transport complete trucks on board and hence more space is needed on both sides of the track and for this, clearance adaptation tasks must be carried out, especially in tunnels and viaducts. This project means that the Algeciras transport will arrive in Madrid and Barcelona through Córdoba, and the Central Corridor wins the game.
Granada remains in a very delicate position because this point will no longer be necessary, neither for the traffic from Algeciras nor for that of Almería, since the latter will leave through the Levante. This Central Corridor project is key for Córdoba to become a first-rate logistics hub in the south of the Peninsula.
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