- The meeting has served to get a stronger grip on the issues raised by the Ministry, which wants to award the works “as soon as possible, as soon as the transfer of the land is available”
- It has been agreed to hold a new meeting in the coming weeks to develop the plan of action
The meeting held in Madrid between representatives of the Generalitat Valenciana, the City Council of Alicante and those responsible for the heritage area of ADIF has enabled progress on the content of the agreement that will establish the basis for the implementation of the works of the future intermodal station of TRAM d’Alacant, although there are issues that remain unresolved.
This business meeting was attended by the regional secretary of Infrastructure and Transport, Vicente Dómine, the manager of Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana (FGV), Alfonso Novo, the councilman of Mobility, Carlos de Juan and the director of Heritage, Alfredo Cabello.
Vicente Dómine emphasised “we are working to achieve the best conditions to carry out the great project that involves the construction of the Intermodal station, the real heart of transport in Alicante, for what is now the fourth province of Spain in terms of mobility and a major tourist and industrial hub”.
The regional secretary explained that the three administrations have agreed to a new meeting, to be held in early December “to continue making progress in the project”, and he stressed that the parties wish to award the works “as soon as possible and as soon as the transfer of the land is available”.
The regional secretary emphasised “we want to project a great unique interchange with the joint work of the three public administrations, reopening a new stage of collaboration totally different from the one that existed until now to achieve this objective, which is to achieve one of the great transport hubs of Spain, since Alicante represents 4% of the national population, with 3.5 million people in summer and transport characteristics subject to the needs of residents and tourists”.
He also expressed that the Generalitat and the City Council of Alicante give the project “great importance”, as evidenced by “the budget of 130 million euros that will be allocated for the coast and the metropolitan area to have a direct high-speed connection with the TRAM – and in the future with the Mediterranean Corridor -, which connects the two Marinas, the Vinalopó, and the suburban trains of Alicante and Murcia, which must be improved, including the airport station.
Claims on the protocol
Following their claims on the draft protocol, the Generalitat de Catalunya’s representatives have sent ADIF their proposals regarding the content of the agreement. Among other issues, they have demanded to establish a specific term for the transfer of the land and to dispose of it, without the need to make a financial consideration in favour of the State. The Generalitat has also informed ADIF of the need not to make this agreement conditional on future urban planning decisions, which must be independent of the execution of the large interchange.
Finally, the Generalitat has shown its determination to technically and legally guarantee the project, which is undoubtedly of state and regional priority interest.
Vicente Dómine added that the three institutions involved – Central Government, Generalitat and Alicante City Council – “must work in the same direction so that this agreement regulates the bases for the construction of a large intermodal station that connects the metropolitan area of Alicante with the coast and the high-speed rail network”.
