Next big step in design for Costa del Sol coastal railway

Since June 3, the Ministry of Transport formalised the contract to create a plan which will visualize the much-anticipated coastal rail line.

The study, which has a budget of nearly a million Euros, is just getting started and will deliver a detailed project to build the rail link in the next 18 month.

The next step in this process is crucial because, despite the numerous technical analyses conducted over the last 20 years, none of them have advanced much beyond the initial discussions. Potential passenger demand is one of the key factors in determining future viability. Initial ministry data are highly positive. They estimate up to 60,000,000 annual trips for the entire route, Algeciras-Nerja and around 46,000,000 for the Malaga – Estepona segment alone. These figures need to be analyzed in more detail. According to initial estimates, geographic scope can be divided into four segments.

Malaga-Fuengirola: This segment has the highest commuter trips captured. This segment, which stretches 30 km and has an estimated population 818,867 could have 70,000 daily trips. That is 22 per cent of nearly 323,000 daily trips that exceed 5km in the region. This could mean 25.5 million annual train trips, an increase of 16 million from 2023.

Fuengirola-Estepona: There is no railway infrastructure along this 51-kilometre stretch. This could lead to an additional 55,615 commuter trips per day (20,3 million trips annually), or 16 percent of the total daily mobility in the area of 341,300 trips.

Nerja-Malaga: The 52-kilometre segment has a population (774,208) and is estimated to carry 26,763 daily trips or 18% out of the 150 523 daily trips in the area.

Estepona-Algeciras: This segment, which covers 50 km, has the lowest number of daily trips, at 13,387. That’s 12 percent of the 115 599 daily trips in the area.

Technical specifications for the tender will outline possible operational scenarios, based on service numbers and frequencies, travel time, and variations in demand. The operating costs, financial and socioeconomic profits will be also examined.

The study focuses on exploring alternative rail corridors that are technically feasible and compatible with a possible step-by-step deployment. The corridor has five segments, four of which are in the western region (Malaga – Fuengirola; Fuengirola – Marbella; Marbella – Estepona and Estepona – Algeciras); and one segment from Malaga to Nerja. A railway only runs between Malaga and Fuengirola, which could be used for a base if further improvements are made.

With any luck, we will soon see the long-awaited rail link, as well as the end of the political inflighting which has been associated with it.