The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has commissioned the joint venture EI Antequera-Granada-Almería, led by TYPSA, with the contract to carry out a feasibility study and three informative studies with which to provide a comprehensive response to railway connectivity between Antequera, Granada and Almería.
In this study, the itinerary will be analysed with the aim of improving the functionality of the section, both for passenger and freight traffic, so as to establish a homogeneous standard gauge railway line between the three cities. The section will continue the Mediterranean Corridor, allowing the connection, through Murcia, with the rest of the corridor.
The Antequera-Granada-Almería line does not currently have a homogeneous configuration, since, between Antequera and Granada, some sections consist of a double track with standard gauge, other single-track sections of standard gauge and two sections (Loja and entrance to Granada) have a single track and a third lane (standard gauge and Iberian gauge on the same route). Furthermore, between Granada and Almería, the current configuration is a single track in Iberian gauge.
Current situation
For this reason, the actions that will be carried out along the section have been divided into three independent informative studies, one for each of the subsections identified: section 1: Antequera-Granada, section 2: Granada arterial railway network, and section 3: Granada-Almería.
The feasibility study and the informative studies encompass two fundamental works to integrate the section into the Mediterranean Corridor, which must be coordinated with each other.
Current planned situation
On the one hand, there is the definition of the actions already outlined in the functional study of the Granada-Almería section to connect both Andalusian capitals in standard European gauge, through which the joint section will be integrated into the Mediterranean Corridor. This reduces travel times between Almería and Granada, making them more competitive, and making it possible to connect Almería and Seville in less than three and a half hours by rail, thanks to other actions that are being carried out in parallel. All of this must be carried out in a manner compatible with the works planned by Adif in the drafting of the renovation projects for the Granada-Almería section.
On the other hand, the actions necessary to allow freight trains to pass through Granada and along the Granada-Antequera section will be analysed, guaranteeing the circulation of this type of train between Antequera and Almería and its continuity with the Mediterranean Corridor. The possible solutions that will be analysed in this informative study include the Moreda bypass in Granada.
The contract has an execution period of 36 months, including public information work, environmental processing, etc., which must be carried out until the final approval of the informative studies.
In accordance with the law on the railway sector, within the framework of this service contract, a unique feasibility study will be carried out that will analyse all three sections and will provide a coherent and comprehensive answer to all railway issues on the Antequera-Granada-Almería axis, which will transform and form the backbone of Andalusian railway mobility.
The three informative studies will define the geometric, functional and operational aspects, so as to constitute a standard width homogeneous line, compatible with the rest of the Mediterranean Corridor and, by extension, with the trans-European corridor.
