As the journey of the high speed train between Madrid and Alicante trundles on, not without the occasional problem, reports are still looking favourable for the service, which is reporting near 100% capacity on many days, even during the anticipated quieter times, with an estimated increase of 1,100,000 passengers now expected to use the service in the first year. Still continuing the momentum for development, the government has this week announced that the old lines between Alicante and Barcelona will be adapted to high speed use by 2016, with a reduction in journey times such as Alicante to Valencia in less than one hour, the fastest time currently being 90 minutes.
The Director General of railways, Miguel Pozo, made the announcement during a visit to Alicante, detailing how the planned proposals for the “Mediterranean Corridor” were progressing well, with Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante and Cartagena all ultimately being linked by a high speed service.
Despite the bold announcement, the Director was unable to provide and firm dates, nor any budgets for the work, but he did state that a variety of budgets are available from the European Union, with 21 billion euro potentially available for a variety of projects.
Pozo did say that the “spectacular” launch of the Alicante to Madrid service has exceeded all the expectations, and the Ministry estimates that over the next twelve months, the trains will have transported 2 million passengers, an increase of 1,100,000 of the 900,000 who used the line before the service speed was increased.
Pozo also confirmed that the speed between Alicante and Albacete will be increased between now and the end of the year, reducing the journey time even further, shaving another 10 minutes off the journey, meaning the Madrid to Alicante trip will then take 2 hours and 20 minutes, which is 50 minutes faster than previously.
A working group was set up to analyse the service, which now estimates that the growth will be some 150,000 passengers each month, with the economic impact thought to be in the region of 70 million euro per year for business, especially in the vicinity of the station.
Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/39829/
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