Free train on Sundays
A contract to build the new intermodal station for Alicante for €100 million will be put out to tender ‘early next year’, according to the regional government
TRAVEL on the TRAM train services in Alicante and Castellón provinces, and the Metrovalencia tube and train services in the regional capital will be free on Sundays for the next three months.
The measure was announced by regional president Ximo Puig last week, as part of his government’s efforts to compensate families for rising inflation. It complements those already introduced, which have reduced ticket prices for the TRAM d’Alacant and Valencia metropolitan transport service by 50%.
A contract to build the new intermodal station for Alicante for €100 million will be put out to tender by the regional government early next year.
The job includes connecting Luceros TRAM station with the ADIF-Renfe railway station – where the high-speed train (AVE) also stops – and the contract is scheduled to be awarded during the first half of 2023 so that work can begin before the end of it. The objective is to make it easier to change between modes of
transport in the city and enable the planned expansion of the network in Alicante and its metropolitan area, explained regional president Ximo Puig at Luceros station last week.
The end result will provide the city with the sort of modern public transport system that a Mediteranean capital should have, he said, noting
that the new project has been allocated almost triple the budget of the original amount planned in 2003, so that it could incorporate more ambitious connections.
Although the regional government railways company (FGV) has already finished the basic design of the station and access tunnel from Avenida Salamanca,
this still has to be agreed by the state rail and high-speed train infrastructure agencies (ADIF and AVANT), as well as city hall.
Approval is also required from the regional rail safety agency before the contract is put out to tender.
The job is eligible for financing from the EU Fefer programme. The new station will have four tracks and two central platforms, considerably increasing the area planned in the 2007 project, which only had three tracks.
This will enable trams and trains to pass through more frequently and therefore meet the needs of the expansion plan.
It will be completely underground and will not affect the ADIF railway station car park, with the principal hall on an intermediate floor connecting to the platforms below.
The expansion of the tram will connect the south-east of the city with the neighbourhoods of La Florida, Ciudad de Asís and San FernandoPrincesa Mercedes.
This new line was presented last summer and is estimated will cost €35m.
Furthermore, another line is planned from the new station along the south of the Gran Vía, via San Blas industrial estate, Los Ángeles, San Agustín, Tómbola and Divina Pastora to the existing tram stop at Ciudad Jardín, at an estimated cost of €40m.