AVE High Speed Train Murcia to Almeria

 undestand that the AVE route has now been approved and goes via Pulpi and Vera but I have been unable to find an English web page with the route

If any one has the details, please let me know 

It will be much appreciated

Brian

Is this what you want, Brian ?

http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/spain/spain1.html

from http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/spain/

Thanks

I have seen this site but I am looking for a more detailed route which show the track in relation to the various Towns and Villages en route 

Yes I thought it wasn't detailed enough for your needs but thought I'd post it anyway just in case you'd not seen it.

Eventually it may come here but as yet there is no link for the Murcia - Almeria section.

http://www.altavelocidad.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=6&Itemid=62#levante

If it is to follow the old line route it will probably branch off in Almendricos and join the existing Almeria - Granada line.  Sorry but cant be much more use than that.

The map on this web page is old so it may be out of date -

http://www.asafal.com/digistorico/especial_2.htm But it shows a completely different alignment (than the old line) for the route (so you can ignore my comment above).

If you do a search on the Spanish yahoo there were several press reports on the route in 2007.  As best as I can make out (as my Spanish is poor) there will be 2 AVE stations at Lorca and Vera between Murcia and Almeria.  Dont know if this means that there will be no regional services on the line or not.

Has anyone read anything re the cancellation of the upgrade of the line from Alicante to Murcia (to high speed operation).  I think that the AVE will still come to Murcia but it will be like British Rail from Alicante to Murcia and trundle slowly to its final destination.

Does anyone have any info on this? Thanks.

Stephen

As far as I know it is part of the regional budget and as the Spanish Prime Minister has bought a holiday home in Vera PLaya , to be cynical, I would be surprised if it did not go ahead

Also I think the AVE is part of a EU initiative for the main centres in the whole of EU to be connected by a high speed train  

I understand this project is definitely going ahead and that preparatory ground work has begun in places.

 

There is still some dispute over details of the project though, but I am sure these will be resolved.

 

The media has confused this project with another one, namely the re-opening of the old railway route from Almendricos. It is by no means clear whether this is really going ahead and if so when and who will pay. In my opinion this project is a bit of wishful thinking.

 

There is also some dispute over the routing of the high speed line in the Elx area. It seems the Madrid government want to see the high speed train use the existing line here meaning it will trundle at little above the speed of the current trains. This is in stark contrast to the plans they presented some five years ago. The local government is furious.

Just for clarification and in some sort of attempt to clarify (or confuse?) what is waht and what isn't.

As far as I am aware, the projects are the following

- Mediterranean arc, stretching from Barcelona to Alicante. Work on this began some 10 or more years ago and many sections are already in service. It was initially sold as a realignment of the old railway (which it is) but has since aquired the high-speed tag. The completed sections have already lead to a significant improvement in speeds but the maximum speed is still not being operated as they have yet to invest in a new signalling system. Further sections are in works and in some places work has yet to begin.

- Madrid to Valencia and Alicante high speed corridor. This line is currently under construction. The line forks at Alabacete with one arm going to valencia and the other to Alicante.

- Alicante - Murcia -Lorca - Almeria. This line should act as an extension to both of the above. Work is in progress in places but very much in a patchwork fashion. I feel this line is a bit of a "try to please everybody" approach. Besides the high speed trains, it will also be used by local services and freights, basically replacing chunks of the current rail system. This has led to some compromises which in turn have angered people.

- Murcia - Albacete, planned to avoid having to send high spped trains coming from the South on the detour via Alicante, this would basically replace the existing line via Chinchilla. This project is very much hyothetical at this stage and tends to come up at election times and be forgotten in between.

- classic network, in addition to these schemes, there are plans to invest in the classic netwok for the benefit of local services. These are confsuingly also called high speed lines, with the press and politicians thinking high speed and modern are synonymous. Most notably, projects under consideration are:

- local lines around Cartagena (I think this means the Los Nietos line) which would either be converted to normal gauge or converted to a tram

- the (Lorca) -Almendricos- Aguilas line which would be converted to standard gauge and electrified

- the (Lorca)- Almendricos - Baza line which would be reopened.

-various as yet undefined projects in the Murcia and Alicante metroplitan areas.

Most of the latter are highly speaculative at this point and some designed to placate or appease special interest groups rather than serving real improvements. Others do amke real sense. They may change or be dropped as time goes by.

http://www.laverdad.es/murcia/prensa/20071029/murcia/trenes-llegaran-region-20071029.html

Hope your Spanish is OK, check out this article re this discussion.

The european rail magazine that I subsribe to seems to suggest that the line from Alicante to Murcia will only be upgarded to 210kmh operation in some sections only, as you suggest a piecemeal approach and that the full highspeed ave at 300kmh will not happen.

Do you include the Murcia tram www.tranvimur.es as one of the undefined projects?