The Ministry can already put out to tender the only pending section in the 108 kilometres in the province, between Pulpí and Lorca, after the approval of the informative study of the integration of the Murcian city. Almost a decade has passed since the sections between Vera and Los Arejos were completed in 2012
The completion next month of the tiny Río Andarax-El Puche section of the high-speed line between Almería and Murcia will be a milestone for the province. Not because of its length, of just 1.6 kilometres, nor because of the compliance with the deadlines because the work has been eternalized more than a year late, not even because of the falling price because it became more expensive with an incomprehensible modification right after the discovery of a bag of rubble. Its significance lies in the fact that almost ten years have passed since a section of the AVE was completed in the province. Since December 2012, with the carrying out of load tests along 18.5 kilometres between Vera, Los Gallardos and Sorbas, there was no new route in this province, which has kept the meter at zero since then while lines and stations were inaugurated by half country. With its imminent completion, there will be almost 30 kilometres completed and 69 kilometres that remain in integrated works in the three sections currently underway. The mixed passenger and freight traffic line with Murcia covers almost 108 kilometres in the province and the rest until reaching 185 of its total extension in the neighbouring community.
The main pull of the AVE works corresponds to the mandate started in April 2009 by José Blanco as Minister of Public Works being the Almerian Jesús Miranda Hita undersecretary of State and one of the architects of the construction of the only 27.8 kilometres of the existing platform until work was resumed a decade later. When Pedro Sánchez came to the government, there were 2,113 days without AVE works and the count grew to 2,700. Another seven years without a single earth movement until work on the section between Pulpí and Vera was restarted at the end of 2019. Despite the zero kilometres during the Rajoy legislatures, the former popular minister of Development, Íñigo de la Serna, received exactly two years ago an award from the Provincial Council for drawing a multi-year investment schedule to complete the line before 2023. But neither the accounts nor the projects of the former mayor of Santander were adjusted to the reality of his stage, much less of the next one with the arrival of the socialist José Luis Ábalos that this Thursday was visiting Almería.
The Valencian minister already points to the 2025-26 horizon and does so based on the analysis of the evolution of the pending sections both for processing and for the works, including the delays so common in large works in the province. What is left for Almería to see the AVE circulate between its towns? Regardless of the second phase of urban integration of the railway, which will give continuity to the El Puche mini-underground, the sections completed will add up to almost 30 kilometres when the Andarax River is completed in the next few days. Previously, the platform infrastructures between Vera and Los Arejos were completed, which is structured in the sub-sections Vera-Los Gallardos, Los Gallardos-Sorbas, Sorbas-Barranco Los Gafarillos (the one with the longest tunnels in Andalusia) and Los Gafarillos-Los Arejos .
From there, the Pulpí-Vera, Los Arejos-Níjar and Níjar-Río Andarax sections are under execution with different completion periods, awarded for a total amount of 371.82 million euros. The Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda of Spain has tendered more than 1,288 million euros for the Almería-Murcia section since June 2018, which have resulted in 893.3 million in awards, being 655 the investment planned for this 2021, for what Almería keeps one of every three euros of the Mediterranean Corridor. The pending sections are the following:
Pulpí-Vera (under construction since April 2019, execution period of 30 months)
With a length of 25.7 kilometres, it crosses the municipalities of Pulpí, Cuevas and Vera. It includes the execution of 10 viaducts, 1 false tunnel of 290 meters, 10 overpasses and 5 multifunctional overpasses, in addition to a multitude of underpasses to give continuity to services, irrigation and traffic in the area. The works have an award budget of 146.64 million, started in April 2019 and have an execution period of 30 months. Drainage works and large underpasses are being carried out, for which reason reinforcement and concreting of lower slabs, walls, fins and upper slabs are being carried out. The clearing and cleaning of the platform have been carried out, and the clearing and filling of the railway platform and the service roads and roads has begun. Work is also carried out on the procedures for the replacement of affected risks, as well as other electrical and telephone services, supply and sanitation easements.
Los Arejos-Níjar (under construction since January 2020, execution period of 32 months)
The works of the Los Arejos-Níjar section, of 17.8 kilometres, were awarded for an amount of 118.52 million. In this section, which crosses the municipalities of Sorbas and Lucainena de las Torres, the construction of 10 viaducts, 11 underpasses, and 5 overpasses is planned. Drainage works and large underpasses are currently being carried out, for which reason reinforcement and concreting of lower slabs are being carried out, walls, fins and upper slabs. The clearing and cleaning of the platform have already been carried out, and the clearing and embankment work has begun on both the railway platform and the service roads and roads. The replacements of affected easements have also begun, as well as the procedures for the replacement of the affected electrical, telephone, supply and sanitation services.
Níjar-Río Andarax (under construction since February 2020, term of 32 months)
The 25.5-kilometer Níjar-Río Andarax section crosses the municipalities of Níjar, Viator, Huércal and Almería. The works were awarded for an amount of 106.65 million euros with an execution period of 32 months, beginning in February 2020. The section includes 16 viaducts, which represent a total length of 5.05 kilometres and a tunnel excavated using the method Belgian 878 m in length. In addition, to guarantee territorial permeability, 9 structures will be built for the passage of roads under the railway platform, 4 overpass structures on the railway platform and 58 transversal drainage work. Drainage works and large underpasses are being carried out, for which reason reinforcement and concreting of lower slabs, walls, fins and upper slabs are being carried out. The clearing and cleaning of the platform have already been carried out, and the clearing and filling of both the railway platform and the service roads and affected roads have begun. The replacement of affected easements has begun, as well as the procedures for the replacement of the affected electrical, telephone, supply and sanitation services. The foundations and abutment elevations of the Viaduct over the Rambla de Inox, the Hoya de la Gitana Viaduct, and the Viaduct over the Ramblas del Maltés are being executed.
After the approval of the informative study of Lorca, the main black point to date for the development of the Mediterranean Corridor, the Ministry is working on the tender file for the works of the Lorca-Pulpí section. This line is included in the General Interest Railway Network and includes stations in Murcia, Lorca, Vera and Almería and in the province of Almería, it will have a third of the single-track route, a low-cost version proposed by the then Minister of Development Ana Pastor when he ordered to review the construction projects to lower costs and speed up the arrival of the AVEwithout diminishing the possibilities of railway development in the province, both in terms of the transport of agri-food goods and of travellers and tourists. There is a double track platform to Pulpí, a single track between Pulpí and Vera (25.7 kilometres), again a double track between Vera and Los Arejos (27.8) and on the way to Níjar there is an initial section of double capacity being again one-way on its arrival to the capital (44 kilometres).
