The Minister of Public Works, Íñigo de la Serna, explained yesterday in Congress that, of the 22,000 million euros of investment planned in the Mediterranean Corridor, works totaling some 14,000 million have already been carried out. De la Serna pointed out that to this figure we must add about 200 million investment in the connections between the ports and the railway corridor. The head of Development stressed that for the Government, the Mediterranean Corridor is “a political, economic and social priority.”
According to the minister, “the works that are being launched in an unprecedented boost demonstrate that action is being carried out in each and every one of the sections in a comprehensive way.” De la Serna recalled that the Mediterranean corridor is scheduled to reach Murcia in 2020 and Almería and Granada in 2023, a date similar to that contemplated for the Bobadilla-Algeciras section.
PREVIOUS VISIT
De la Serna already announced this summer in Castellón the construction of a new double-capacity international gauge railway platform between Valencia and Castellón with an estimated budget of 1,170 million and a start of work planned for 2019. With these actions, the times of savings would be two and a half hours between Castellón and Madrid and together with the tunnel through it would save one hour between Barcelona and Valencia and three hours between Barcelona and Alicante. The new announced international gauge platform will cover a section of 62 km. between Valencia and Castellón and will allow reaching a train speed of 350 kilometers per hour.
The minister also reviewed the actions carried out in the Mediterranean Corridor and the degree of execution of the works. He then assured that the network “contemplates an internal branch”, although it was still “a concept of debate at the summits of the Mediterranean”, but “it is contemplated by European regulations,” he explained. The head of the Ministry of Public Works will attend the 8th Business Conference of the Port of Castellón-Mediterranean today, to address before a specialized audience that exceeds 300 attendees the plans that his department has planned in the field of infrastructure to execute in the short and medium term.
SUPPORT
Likewise, the minister has recently given his support to the Mediterranean corridor before the Valencian businessmen gathered at Ifema, by ensuring its financing, both nationally and from European funds, for all the sections that must join the Algeciras European gauge railway until the French border, to allow the greater flow of travelers and merchandise. De la Serna considers this project as “the most important infrastructure” in planning, which will function as an economic engine in the coming decades.
In this way, the holder of Development is convinced of its relevance in each and every one of his public appearances, as is the case of the event organized by the Valencian Association of Entrepreneurs (AVE), an event held in Madrid, promoted especially by Vicente Boluda and Juan Roig, president and vice president, respectively, of AVE, which brought together a total of 1,500 businessmen in the capital of Spain, after taking a tour of different cities and territories that are awaiting the achievement of 100% of the infrastructure: a railway axis along the coast between Algeciras and the French double platform and international gauge border.
Valencian businessmen and the President of the Valencian Government, Ximo Puig, were able to display before the Minister of Public Works the importance of completing the infrastructure. For his part, the minister pointed out that “7.5 billion euros are missing from the nearly 22 billion that infrastructure costs, and we are going to fulfill all the established commitments because there is sufficient financing. At the moment we have already met each and every one, ”he explained. “There will not be a single meter of the Corridor without executing,” he said.
SOURCE: EL PERIÓDICO MEDITERRANEO.COM
