The lack of rail links between Spain and Portugal returns to the negotiating table between the Spanish Ministry of Transport and the Portuguese Ministry of Infrastructure this September. A surprising deficit, in the eyes of Brussels, that the Spanish side intends to begin to alleviate with the recovery of the rail service between Madrid and Lisbon, suspended due to the outbreak of the pandemic. The premise of the Ministry he leads Rachel Sanchez is that travel times must be improved, for which the border crossing should be made through Badajoz.
But beyond this service, which until 2020 shared Renfe and Comboios of PortugalAt the heart of the matter is determining how the two countries should be linked at high speed in the next ten years.
From Transport it defends itself the connection of the capitals also through Badajozputting into value the millionaire investments to build the high-speed line to Extremadura (at the moment more than 1,200 million) and the reduction of the Madrid-Badajoz route in 51 minutes.
Adif has enabled the line segment between Plasencia and the city of Badajoz (150 kilometres), now working on the sections that go from the aforementioned Plasencia to Madrid. The Portuguese reaction, taking advantage of this milestone, has been to reinforce its service between the Entroncamento junction (one hour from Lisbon) and Badajoz, in what would be an approximate solution to cross-border travel, but with two transfers and times close to nine hours travel at best. No more signal from Portugal in favor of this international high-speed line planned more than 20 years ago.
Spain and Portugal are the only neighboring countries of the EU without rail connection between their capitals despite the high flow of passenger and merchandise transport between the two countries, either by road or by plane. For this reason, multiply the community pressure in favor of European gauge rail. The Portuguese Ministry of Infrastructure, however, has spent years defending high-speed passage through the north as a priority, creating an Atlantic route between Lisbon, Porto and Galiciawhich reaches the most populated and industrialized regions of its territory before 2030. The investment will not be less than 5.5 billion on the Portuguese side, where investment agility is urgently needed in Spain. Adif has already allocated some 35 million in a link that it describes as strategic to give continuity to the Atlantic Railway Axis towards Portugal.
The other connection that the Portuguese side has been willing to discuss in recent years is the passage through Salamanca to Medina del Campo, and from there to Madrid and to the French border through Irun. In this sense, Adif argues that the 25 Kv electrification (system used in Portugal) of the Madrid-Segovia-Medina del Campo high-speed section, where the trains continue their itinerary to Fuentes de Oñoro, passing through Salamanca, is nearing completion. .
Therefore, two almost opposite strategies are expected and Spain assert your efforts to serve the connections preferred by Portugal. The meeting will come at a time when the two countries go hand in hand with the EU, especially in terms of energy policy.
Without underestimating the interest of the railway bridge between Galicia and Portugal, Extremadura also has a lot at stake in a possible high-performance connection with Lisbon and with the port of sinesthe latter for the movement of goods.
work to do
The Portuguese Minister of Infrastructures, Peter Nuno Santosdescribed in June as “incomprehensible” the deficit of railway connection of his country with Spain in an interview granted to The country. Given this, the business group Corredor del Sudoeste Ibérico defends the Spanish plan and believes that a high-performance direct connection between the two capitals is feasible in 2026. Before that, the route that goes from Évora to Elvas and that connects with Caía and Badajoz should be completed. Portugal will also have to undertake improvements to the Lisbon-Évora line, and Spain should complete the Plasencia-Talayuela, Talavera de la Reina-Oropesa sections, and improve the conventional line from Madrid to the aforementioned Talavera.
The Talayuela-Plasencia section (68.6 kilometres) has all its subsections completed, in progress or in the contracting phase, while the Madrid-Oropesa segment (200 kilometres) is in the informative study phase.
All this, without forgetting a future Sines-Huelva-Seville line that will continue the Mediterranean Corridor towards the Portuguese port; and the Aveiro-Madrid lines through the Fuentes de Oñoro-Salamanca connection, and the Faro-Huelva line in the south.
As in the energy market, the two countries have a lot to negotiate and the European Union urges agreements.
Cooperation promises
Three connections. Adif and Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) reached an agreement in June to promote cross-border connections and allow interoperability. Coordinated work is contemplated in the steps Tui- Valença, Fuentes de Oñoro-Vilar Formoso and Badajoz-Elvas.
Madrid’s favourite. The Mérida-Évora section is part of the Trans-European Network with a cross-border dimension recognized by the EC (Execution Decision of the Commission C 2356 of 04/24/2018). This segment is divided into seven activities: five are from Portugal and two from Spain (commissioning of the Plasencia-Badajoz and its electrification).
Suspended services. Spain and Portugal have canceled the Sud Express night train (Lisbon-Hendaya via Salamanca, Valladolid and Vitoria) and the Lusitania (Lisbon-Madrid also via Salamanca) since March 2020. Before the summer, Renfe proposed to Comboios de Portugal to start a Madrid-Lisbon daytime service through Badajoz, but the Spanish company lacks approvals for its rolling stock.
Better. Conventional lines are operating between Porto and Vigo and, through the center, between Entroncamento and Badajoz. The improvement of the first is on the Portuguese agenda.
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