The two municipalities do not agree on the use of the old railway line
The imminent dismantling of the old train tracks between Cieza and Calasparra, which ceased to be active after the Camarillas variant came into operation in March 2019, is generating controversy in both municipalities. The intention of the City Council of Cieza and the Autonomous Community is to build a greenway on this route for tourist use dedicated to the flowering of fruit trees, whose works are about to begin with a budget of around one million euros. The project entails the withdrawal of the tracks in this municipality and the interruption of a railway line that has been built for 150 years.
The Councilor for Tourism of Cieza, Antonio Moya, indicates that “if there is no train, our bet is on the new greenway.” However, in Calasparra, its council has decided not to remove the rails in its territory. A measure that seems to be of little use if those of Cieza are finally eliminated, since with this action the idea to which the municipalities of the Northwest aspired to remain united by rail with a suburb between Calasparra and Cieza will be truncated.
A motion in progress
The Municipal Group of Citizens raised a motion to the plenary session to prevent Adif from “eliminating an infrastructure with 150 years of existence, also preventing the possibility of giving it a new use as they have done from the Hellín City Council,” denounced the orange mayor Monica Garcia.
The councilor expressed her perplexity “by the change of direction of the Cieza government team, since in November 2020 it opposed the construction of a greenway on the current railway route, arguing then, in the words of the Councilor for Tourism, that Both the mayors of Cieza and Calasparra met with the Government delegate to recover the use of this infrastructure as a commuter train. However, she maintains, “far from what was expected, and at the slightest opportunity, the socialists have signed an agreement that compulsorily passes through the dismantling of the tracks.”
The ciezano government team says that, “if there is no train”, its commitment is for a tourist use of this infrastructure
In addition, and according to Ciudadanos, the dismantling of the roads “represents a breach of the Regional Agreement for Transport Infrastructure, which establishes in one of its headings ‘reinforce the Medium Distance services to Cieza-Calasparra-Hellín-Albacete, taking advantage of the line exists to give territorial cohesion and to structure mobility along its route by establishing passenger rail transport services that allow it to be configured as an alternative to the private vehicle’, a document that was approved a few weeks ago, and whose useful life has already It has ended in response to these facts, ”said the mayor.
Closed tight
The opposition in the Calasparra City Council considers that both the closure of the local railway station and the imminent dismantling of the tracks “represent a very important loss of public transport for Calasparra, for the Northwest region and for the geographical arc that It ranges from the Sierra de María to the foothills of the Sierra de Segura. He emphasizes that “its inhabitants habitually used the already closed railway station for their trips”.
In Calasparra, from the opposition they describe the dismantling of the lines as “a significant loss for public transport”
For Alonso Torrente, mayor of Calasparra Viva, this reality “reveals the constant lie in which the current Government delegate and former mayor Pepe Vélez immerses himself, who publicly promised that the station would never be closed nor would sleepers and rails be removed.”
For the independent spokesman, “the act represents a true betrayal of his people.” From the Calasparreño government team they indicated to LA VERDAD that their commitment is “the creation of a mixed greenway so that in the medium or long term a commuter train will be launched to Cieza.”
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