A high-speed rail service running direct from Almeria to the French border will be ready by 2027, the government has announced.
Transport Minister Oscar Puente said passengers will be able to ride a high-speed train from the Andalucian province to the French border by 2027 without passing through Madrid or changing trains.
Speaking at the Viaducto de los Feos construction site on the future Murcia–Almeria AVE line, Puente admitted some ‘non-essential’ works will still lag behind.
Chief among them is the Valencia through tunnel, redesigned to avoid cutting through farmland, a change that will push up costs and extend the timetable.
Until that tunnel is ready, Valencia’s station will remain a ‘dead end’, forcing services to restart from Castellon after a temporary halt.
Once operational, Puente says, the tunnel will slash travel times, cut inconvenience and smooth operations.
The minister stressed he dislikes making predictions, calling it ‘almost a guarantee of being wrong,’ but said any delay beyond 2027 would be minimal.
‘For infrastructure of this scale, that’s practically tomorrow,’ he told reporters. ‘The wait has been long – but there’s almost no time left.’
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
