With an investment of only 15,72 million euros, the demand of the line has been increased sixfold and the capacity has been doubled.
Before the year ends, investments will be tendered amount to 65 million euros in this line.
The PAV president shown confident that the European Commission approve next day 22 the amendments presented, and the layout is included in the European priority networks.
Valencia/ Zaragoza, 15th of November 2018. – Aurelio Martínez, president of the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV), has participated this morning in the auditorium of the University of Zaragoza in the day “Railway section Zaragoza- Teruel- Sagunto- Valencia of the Cantabrian- Mediterranean corridor”. The meeting has been organized by the Aragonese Council of chambers and the Official College of industrial engineers of Aragón and La Rioja, in order to claim this infrastructure. Also, the day as served to expose the reasons why the railway section should be included in the CEF regulations of the European Union.
During his presentation, entitled The Cantabrian- Mediterranean corridor, a big opportunity, the president of the PAV shown satisfied with the response that has generated in the business the improvement of this line. In particular, Aurelio Martínez explained that with an investment of just 15,72 million euros, the demand of the line has been increased six fold and the capacity has been doubled from 42 weekly grooves that could bid on 2016 to 84 grooves offer today.
Aurelio Martínez, also deepened in how the investments have been distributed until the moment. From the 15,72 million euros, 8,83 have been destined to the removal of temporary speed limits. This action has allowed reducing the travel time and increasing security and reliability of the infrastructure. Equally, 5,32 million euros have been invested in the installation of the ground train, what permits availability of schedules during the 24 hours of the day, and consequently, a reduction of the transport costs. 1,57 million euros have been invested in the increasement of the load-carrying capacity in the section Segunt- Teruel to suppress the limitation of load per axle and allow convoys up to 22,5 tons/axle to circulate. Before ending the year, ADIF plans to tender for improvements in this line for value of 65 million euros.
The president of the PAV also has advanced the total investment figures that are expected to be made on the line. In this way, between 2017 and 2023, year in which is expected the actuations to be ended, Adif will invest a total of 387 million euros. From this ones, 83,8 million euros will be destined to the infrastructure and railway; 266,2 million euros will be invested in energetic actuations and 36,8 million euros for control and managing of the traffic.
Aurelio Martínez, has also taken advantage of his presence in the auditorium of the University of Zaragoza to highlight the comparative tort which, in terms of investment, exist between the northern and the southern section of the Cantabrian- Mediterranean corridor. “While in the section between Zaragoza and the Cantabric there are planned investments of more than 12.700 million euros, in the section between Zaragoza and Sagunto these investments are only limited to 387 million euros. We are talking about a 33 to 1 relation. This infrastructure isn’t an exclusive problem of the province of Teruel, it’s a need for the Valencian Community, Aragon and Spain altogether” has explained.
Trans-European transport networks
However, the PAV president shown confident in the work carried out jointly between the Minister of public works, José Luis Ábalos, the president of Aragon, Javier Lambán, the president of the Valencian Community, Ximo Puig; the Valencian MEPs Inmaculada Rodríguez Piñero and Inés Alaya and all the parliamentary groups with representation in Brussels for the European Commission to include the Valencia- Zaragoza line in the priority transport networks. ” I am confident that the day 22 amendments than permit restore the connection between Valencia and Zaragoza get approved”, has explained.
“We are fully convinced of the strategic importance of the Cantabrian-Mediterranen corridor has in its entirety, because it covers an extension of more than 106.000 km2, with a population bigger than 10 million habitants and that represent more of the 21% of the national GDP. In fact, today the interregional flows between the Valencian Community, Aragon, Cantabria, La Rioja and Pais Vasco represent around 10 million tonnes that are annually transported by the road, and that a good part of them could be made by rail” recalled Martínez.
The PAV president has concluded his speech recalling the importance of giving a double platform to this line, especially in those sections with lengths around 30 kilometers and gradients up to 24 MIL. On the same way, he has recalled that the growth of the demand should allow the gradual replacement of the layout by a double way platform that, a in a medium term, the journey between Zaragoza and Valencia won’t last more than two hours and a half. “I’m convinced that we’ll get it, but we have to start to construct future over this railway axis to generate wealth and to be a place for companies to settle” he concluded.