Spanish State Secretary for Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (MITMA), David Lucas, has presented an updated plan to develop Asturias and Cantabria Cercanías rail system.
The investment for this programme has been more than doubled, from EUR 1.1 billion to EUR 2.74 billion fulfilling the commitment of the government to improve Cercanías commuter rail services in both autonomous communities and carry out an update and follow-up of those plans.
The plan was announced during an event held in Oviedo, the capital of Principality of Asturias attended by the General Secretary for Infrastructure, Xavier Flores, the president of Adif, María Luisa Domínguez and the president of Renfe, Raül Blanco, as well as representatives of the regional governments.
Under the plan, through Adif, EUR 2.1 billion will be invested compared to the EUR 887.5 million expected, of which EUR 1.67 billion have been already invested in currently ongoing works and projects. 79% of the planned investments covers the renewal and improvement of the Asturias and Cantabria Cercanías networks including both Iberian gauge and metric gauge.
Launched activities include the rehabilitation and modernisation of 703 km tracks, improvement of security and telecommunication facilities on 453 km, track doubling works on more than 55 km as well as others for urban integration, improvement of station capacity and suppression of level crossings.
The works will improve the reliability of infrastructure and services, will increase the capacity and security and will contribute to a better integration in urban areas.
Through Renfe, EUR 76.8 million will be invested to improve the stations of the commuter rail systems of both regions and covers projects to facilitate accessibility, building renovation, new signage and furniture. Renfe will also introduce new trains and will modernise the existing fleet under a EUR 547.6 million investment.
The unveiled plan for Asturias provides solutions to upgrade the obsoleted infrastructure and subsystems, to relieve the congested traffic on some lines and to make stations more accessible and better integrated with the urban areas. Under the plan, Adif has already mobilised EUR 789 million to modernise and renew the tracks, interlocking systems, security installations and implemented electrification works. Tracks have been doubled on some sections, including at stations to provide increased capacity.
EUR 517.5 million has been the initial investment allocation, which has now increased to EUR 1.1 billion, of which EUR 493.2 million covers the projects for Iberian gauge network and EUR 636.2 million for metric gauge network.
In Asturias, 52 actions have been completed and another 35 main works are underway which include the comprehensive track renewal on the Gijón – Laviana rail section and the adaption of block systems on Pravia – Gijón section.
In addition, Renfe plans to invest EUR 47.8 million at stations and EUR 214.6 million to upgrade its train fleet by introducing 35 new trains of which seven are part of a signed contract and for 18 a tender procedure has been launched.
28 municipalities in Asturias are connected by the Cercanías system comprising 156 stations and 8 lines with both Iberian and metric gauges.
The plan for Cantabria’s suburban railway network includes the same works as in Asturias – track doubling, signalling system modernisation, improvement and increased accessibility at stations – and the traffic will be relieved by doubling the rail section between Torrelavega and Santander, including Santander bypass.
EUR 991 million is the envisaged investment for Cantabria Cercanías of which EUR 883 million has been invested by Adif, representing an increased budget from the initially EUR 370 million. The projects for Iberian-gauge lines benefit a EUR 364.4 million investment and EUR 626.6 million covers the investment for the metric gauge network.
According to MITMA, 29 main actions have been completed, including several track upgrades, modernisation of the overhead line at various locations, as well as improvement of accessibility at stations. Another 17 projects are underway, including several track duplication on Renedo – Guarnizo Astillero – Orejo and Muriedas – Santander sections, renewal of telecommunication, interlockings and security systems.
Works at stations will be performed by Renfe under EUR 29 million investment and EUR 232.7 million will be used to update and modernise the train fleet covering introducing of 21 metre-gauge trains and the modernisation of the existing trains.
23 municipalities in Cantabria are connected by a suburban rail network comprising 3 lines and 61 stations.
All these actions on Asturias and Cantabria Cercanías networks will be financed from Spain’s recovery and resilience plan, from the REACT-EU (recovery assistance for cohesion and the territories of Europe) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2021-2027.
MITMA also said that from August, passengers will be able to use a single ticket on both suburban rail networks after the technological systems are adapted. This is part of a plan to integrate the ticketing system for Asturias, Cantabria and Bilbao rail networks providing an integrated transport offer.
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