Page charges against the Puente project to extend the AVE through Toledo and calls it ‘scalextric’

The president of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Pagereiterated this Friday his opposition to the project formulated by the Ministry of Transport to resolve the extension of the Madrid-Toledo high-speed line towards Talavera and Extremadura. with a bridge over the Tagus River. The Castilian-Manchego president criticized that “some engineers who are committed not only to building bridges, but in making a ‘scalextric’which also surely the people of Toledo would name it “bridge”.

From his point of view, this ‘scalextric’ can only affect “a lot” the proximity of “hundreds and hundreds” of citizens to their homes, but also heritage, archeology or the visual impact “in a city that is protected”. “There are engineers who are dedicated to making what is easy very difficult,” said García-Page, for whom “it is essential that the AVE comes, but it has to come with the best possible project,” he exclaimed.

The Community Board of Castilla-La Mancha, governed by the PSOE, has years showing opposition to the project that the Central Executive has now approvedof the same political color, to expand the high-speed train to the west of the peninsula through a bridge or viaduct that will allow the difference in elevation in Toledo to be bridged.

Proposal for a railway viaduct over the Tagus River.

The Government of Castilla-La Mancha speaks of a “roller coaster”

On December 18, after a private meeting between the Ministry and the Board, the Minister of Development of Castilla-La Mancha, Nacho Hernando, described it as “a Port Aventura with a huge roller coaster“to the project designed by Óscar Puente’s office at the height of the Toledo municipal stadium, known as ‘Salto del Caballo’, and its surroundings. Hernando defined it as “a monster with an outrage“the fact that the Ministry’s approach resolves the difficult terrain of Toledo with a succession of viaducts and tunnels.

The regional Executive considers that the viaduct designed by Transport to save the Tagus riverbed “collides with all” urban protectionsheritage and cultural heritage of the municipality and UNESCO, which has classified Toledo as a World Heritage city. To resolve this dispute, the Ministry proposed lower the level eight metersbut according to Hernando, “with everything and that, including the catenary, they fail to comply with the Special Plan for the Protection of the Historic Center of Toledo.” Also, as he revealed, it could go to the extreme of “establishing restrictions on the flow of the Tagus River in case there were any floods, so that the bridge would not be washed away.”

Differences from Talavera

The spokesperson also acknowledged that the Ministry had not invited the Page Executive to the meeting he held with the mayor of ToledoCarlos Velázquez (PP) two weeks ago, a different attitude from that shown in Talavera de la Reina, a city that demanded burial and where a railway integration was agreed that does not move the train underground, but that facilitates permeability on both sides of the tracks. Then it was the Secretary of State for Transportation, José Antonio Santano, who met with the councilor of Talavera, José Julian Gregorio, to announce the final plan and the green light for the informative study of the Talavera-Oropesa section.

“The City Council and the Board defended not the wall but the goods. We have been listened to when we have raised things with reason, in a scientific and rigorous manner. And why not in Toledo?Why in Toledo we are excluded from a meeting “What worries us about the fact that this line is proposed for zone zero of protection of humanity’s heritage?” Hernando asked himself.

Proposal for a railway viaduct in the area of Salto del Caballo, in Toledo.

The former mayor of Toledo puts herself in profile

The person who was present at that meeting was the former mayor of Toledo and current delegate of the Government in Castilla-La Mancha, Miracles Toulonwhich during his mandate also opposed to the project finally approved by Puente’s cabinet. In 2023, the former councilor demanded that the Madrid-Lisbon line be routed outside the city, maintaining the current Santa Bárbara station for Avant trains, and building a new one seven kilometers from the centerin the Benquerencia industrial estate, so that trains continuing or coming from Talavera, Extremadura and Portugal could run.

“The Madrid-Lisbon AVE will stop in Toledo, it has never been considered that it will not stop. The Santa Bárbara station is not touched,” he stated then, after which he claimed “close this issue to activate the entire administrative part“of this project, a process already started “years ago”

Puente’s unexpected support: The current mayor, from the PP

The current mayor of Toledo, Carlos Velazquez (PP), despite its ideological discrepancies, has been the great support that Puente has added to carry out the viaduct over the Tagus. The councilor pointed out last week that the city cannot pass up the “historic opportunity” that being part of the Madrid-Lisbon line would mean, recognizing that the project, “like it more or less, it is something that has to take a backseat“.

“We are talking about an action as relevant as a new high-speed line between two countries. Toledo does not have to miss that opportunity. Taking these circumstances into account, I believe that talking about likes or dislikes, whether we like it more or less, has to take a backseat,” claimed the councilor, who has assured that his government team “wants to have that AVE , but that does not imply damage to the visual protection cone” of the Historic Center of Toledo.

To resolve this issue, he has relied on the public information procedure to improve the Ministry’s proposal, he said he was “available to bring positions closer” between the Ministry and the Regional Government to reach a final consensus. Along the same lines, he demanded “that the appropriate arrangements be made with the Ministry of Culture so that there is no problem with any type of declaration.”

“It seems that the issues relating to the bridge over the Tagus River adjacent to the Azarquiel bridge could, with all reservations, be solved. Not so with the exit through the Salto del Caballo part and its incorporation with the Pinedo part and subsequent overpass on the A-42,” the mayor then specified, adding that the elevated viaduct proposed by Transportes generates “doubts “for its visual impact.