The European Union Supports Rail Connection To Be Finished in 2020 | The works of the Atlantic Corridor railway must be started before 2015 and completed in 2020, connecting central and northern Europe just like Trenitalia. The manager of the Public Ports of Andalucia, Michelangelo Paneque and the manager of Network Logistics of Andalucia, Ignacio Alvarez-Ossorio, have met on Thursday and Friday in Brussels with representatives of the General Directorate for Mobility European Commission to discuss this project.
Overall, the Trans-European Networks, including the basic network in the Atlantic and Mediterranean corridors must have completed their work in 2020. The global network and other rail lines should be finished in 2050. However, European leaders have informed during the meeting that during 2014 a program of work and investments for each corridor in which specific deadlines for all sections will be established will be developed.
The Atlantic Corridor, from the countries of northern and central Europe, arriving on the border of Irun from Paris to Madrid and from there goes to Lisbon on the one hand and on the other to Algeciras, passing Linares, Córdoba and Antequera. Andalucia’s eight provinces are connected to it through existing operational lines and included in the overall EU Network. However, the main bottleneck is the Algeciras-Bobadilla stretch.
The regional leaders have also asked the European Commission to promote the implementation by the Government of the Mediterranean Corridor, which from Eastern Europe passes through southern France and crosses the border to Girona, through Barcelona, ​​Valencia and Murcia where it is currently interrupted by advancing very slowly the works for its extension to AlmerÃa. Hence, unlike the Atlantic corridor, the Mediterranean is not operative in connectivity with the rest of his Andalucian track, which runs from Almeria to Huelva and Algeciras through Granada, Antequera and Seville.
Paneque explained to community leaders in Andalucia that he has reached an agreement with Antequera called to demand the urgent implementation of the Atlantic and Mediterranean corridors, and has been approved by the Andalucian Parliament unanimously by all political forces. Andalusia is the only port community in which they can converge the Atlantic and Mediterranean corridors, reaching the border with the African continent in the Bay of Algeciras port, the busiest in Spain and fifth in Europe, while the total ports of Andalucia account for almost 30% of all domestic trade traffic.