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A demonstration organised by the Railway Defence Platform saw some 500 people gather on Thursday evening, August 19 outside the Renfe station in Águilas to demand the continuation of local trains while the underground work on an AVE in the Murcian areas of Lorca and Barriomar get underway. Adif intends to temporarily close the Cercanías line between Murcia, Lorca and Águilas and the Cartagena-Chinchilla line, while Renfe has already committed to providing bus services to cover these routes from November 20.

 

Residents in the affected areas are understandably frustrated about the disruption, which is estimated to last for at least three years, but the Councillor for Urban Planning, Antonio José Caja, has insisted that some level of interruption in services is inevitable with works of this magnitude, which will be of great benefit to the Region once completed. The work will not only comprise an AVE service from Murcia to Lorca and Almeria but will also better support travel between the communities of Andalucía, Valencia and Catalonia.

In addition, the improvements will reduce the travel time between Águilas and Murcia by almost 30 minutes.

 

A spokesperson for the Platform in Defence of the Railroad insisted that the line be kept open for the duration of the work, such as was done following similar protests in 1985. The alternative, he suggested, would be some 1,200,000 drivers taking to the roads in their cars since several of the proposed coach routes will take twice as long as the train.

 

Protestors pointed out that the closure of the Cercanías line will negatively affect Águilas in particular, and that alternative, less disruptive cuts to services are available. Adif has also been criticised for being more concerned about completing the work as quickly as possible rather than the well-being of rail users, as original proposals for the work submitted two years ago maintained that improvements would be compatible with rail traffic.

 

The next protest rally will be held in Librilla on September 2.

 

Images: MariCarmen Moreno Twitter