For several years we in Ronda have been speculating about the eventual arrival of the AVE, Spain’s version of a high speed train capable of flitting between cities at 350km per hour. Local government and the Junta de Andalucía have promised the rail from Algeciras to Antequera, with a convenient stop in Ronda would be completed by 2013.
A new report throws considerable doubt on the idea, in fact Ronda may not see the AVE at all.
Despite a 176 million Euro upgrade of the line from Ronda to Algeciras in preparation of the electrification of the line, no date has been set on when Ronda would be connected by AVE, and final approval of the line has not been approved, with three competing routes near Ronda still under investigation.
However, Ronda Today has learned that in fact the Plan de Infraestructuras para la Sostenibilidad del Transporte de Andalucía (PISTA) excludes the AVE from Ronda, and instead the city of the Tajo is more likely to receive the altas prestaciones (high performance) trains which have a maximum speed of 250kmh, and do not require the exacting standards of high speed line that the AVE does.
Prelimanary plans to connect Málaga and the Costa del Sol are considered more advanced than AVE plans for Antequera-Ronda-Algeciras, though preliminary plans are just the first of many approval stages and this does not necessarily mean that the projected Marbella AVE will actually get the go ahead given that new track would need to be built.
Furthermore, plans are underway to connect Algeciras by AVE to Cadíz, and from there to Sevilla, Córdoba, and Madrid, thus bypassing Ronda altogether. The Sevilla-Cadíz AVE line is under construction, projected to be complete by 2012, the 200th anniversary of the first Spanish constitution. The provincial government of Cadíz and Ayuntamiento of Algeciras are understood to favour a spur on the Sevilla-Cadíz line, and are campaigning to see the Algeciras-Cadíz line built and operational by 2025 or 2030, whereas the altas prestaciones upgrade for Ronda may not occur until after 2020.
Currenty the AVE is under construction throughout Spain, and Ronda’s nearest station is Antequera-Santa Ana which is expected to be the main central Andalucía hub for Málaga and Granada. A new line currently under construction from Barcelona to Murcia will probably also extend to Almería, whilst another line from Sevilla to Huelva has also received a commitment to transit into the Algarve in Portugal.
Taken together, the likelihood of Ronda being part of the AVE network any time soon looks increasingly unlikely, and may not happen at all.
I’ve been living in this lovely area of Western Andalucia for the last 20 years or so and dedicate most of my time to the running of English language tourist information websites for the towns of Cádiz, Ronda, Grazalema, the famous or infamous Caminito del Rey, and also Wildside Holidays, which promotes sustainable and eco-friendly businesses running wildlife and walking holidays in Spain. My articles contain affiliate links that will help you reserve a hotel, bus, train or activity in the area. You don’t pay more, but by using them you do support this website. Thankyou!
Thank you Ray, that is one of the best comments we could have ever hoped to get from a reader, and with such detail, you’ve helped to flesh out the issue. Thank you.
AVE for Ronda?
Rumours abound as to where and when the proposed rail route between La Indiana and Santa Ana (Antequera) will be constructed. On various websites information is posted by a few contributors who possess technical knowledge and are close to discussions within ADIF, which is responsible for the principal railway routes in Spain. The line between La Indiana and Algeciras is being modernised mainly to enhance freight traffic movements. A high-speed passenger train link between Algeciras and Madrid is a priority within the Ministerio de Fomento PEIT programme, because Algeciras will continue to be without a national airport. The intention is to reduce the rail travel time between Algeciras and Madrid to under 4 hours, and 3 hours 40 minutes is presently envisaged. This has never assumed that passenger trains will travel at more than 250 kph on the route to Santa Ana, and rarely do AVE trains go above that speed to Madrid, given the topography and signalling. The Talgo trains intended to pass through La Indiana are capable of moving on two widths of track (a 3-rail track has been laid south-west of La Indiana) and they tilt to enable higher speeds on curved track.
The PISTA infrastructure plans for Andalucia exclude the modernisation of the Algeciras route because it is an ADIF project (the AVE route now under construction between Sevilla and Santa Ana is a PISTA project and its continuation to Granada is an ADIF project). The proposed new passnger train route between Algeciras and Cadiz is a hope of the province of Cadiz and not of ADIF. It is highly unlikely this route would attract funding from either the government of Andalucia or the EU Commission but may do so for a freight route when the tunnel/bridge connection to Morocco starts – funded by the EU.
Given the Madrid government expenditure cutbacks announced on 12 May certain rail infrastructure projects are to be delayed for 18 months other than the AVE route to Valencia. It is unlikely that completion of the modernision of the track to Algeciras will be delayed for long because it is designated at EU level as a major freight link to a new rail/road terminal in Perpignan and possibly extended to one in Luxembourg. The port of Algeciras is to receive 800 million euros to update it and it is to become the second major European port after Rotterdam. In addition there is private capital funding. Improved sidings for freight trains to move frequently along the single-track section between Ronda and San Pablo de Buceite are being constructed at Arriate, La Indiana, Benaojan, etc. Below San Pablo the track will be doubled and partly re-routed to allow speeds of 160 kph. The entire route is to be electrified. Many freight trains per day moving in each direction are envisaged. The signalling system being installed (ERMTS) is the most modern in the world. ADIF and Talgo are using the modernisation as a local learning curve to win contracts in many countries in Asia where the topography is technically demanding.
As for mention of the three routes between La Indiana and Santa Ana now under consideration, I have heard that there are up to five! The residents of El Llano de la Cruz, one imagines, hope that the route will be either through the valley east of the ridge of Ronda la Vieja or west of it. Such routes involve gradients of 4%, on the technical margin for AVE passenger trains and impossible for modern freight trains (ADIF does not plan any AVE routes with a gradient of more than 2.5%). Both those routes would involve considerable tunnelling as well as embankment construction, whilst a Llano route (the shortest of all) would involve a gradient of less than 2% throughout and one tunnel under the Sierra de las Salinas to east of Setenil. Such a route would enable fast local passenger transport between Setenil and Alcala del Valle to Ronda and in the other direction to Malaga, Sevilla, Granada etc. Tunnelling is not rocket science and relatively inexpensive because it does not involve lengthy public enquiries and land purchase ´agreements´.
Readers interested might wish to check periodically the following relevant websites:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=779080
http://www.fomento.es/mfom/lang_castellano/
Ray Ward
Ronda