Green light for the new train station that will transform Figueres

GironaFigueres has two train stations in its municipal area. The station where commuter and medium-distance trains arrive, close to the city centre, with the tracks visible next to the houses, and with several level crossings enabled for cars that want to cross it. And the high-speed station, to the west of the municipality, further out, next to Vilafant, where only fast trains arrive along a route that borders the urban area. They are two different destinations within the railway network and are not connected to each other. However, the City Council of the Empordà capital has been working for some time to unify them in a single intermodal station in Vilafant, which would unify high-speed and commuter trains in the same infrastructure. The change of location would also allow the train tracks to be removed from the centre of Figueres, a recurring demand of many Figueres residents.

To begin to promote this great urban transformation, in 2023, under the mandate of the four-party government led by Esquerra, the Figueres council approved a modification of the POUM in the affected areas. Since then, with Jordi Masquef, from Junts, as mayor, the project has continued ahead with a specific commissioner, who has organized numerous meetings with the Generalitat de Catalunya, the State and Adif. This February, within the CBilateral omission of State-Generalitat Infrastructures, the administrations have finally agreed to give the green light to the new intermodal station, and have committed to allocate a budget and to put the works out to tender in the coming years. However, the details of the investment, which could be around 300 million euros, have not yet been specified. Neither have the deadlines, although it is expected that the first action plan will be put out to public tender within 2 years.

No more level crossings and a new connection pole

By moving the current station in the centre of Figueres next to the Vilafant station, commuter and medium-distance trains would enter and leave the town on a new route parallel to the high-speed line. In this way, the railway line that currently runs through the city would be eliminated, with its respective level crossings that, especially in summer, cause many traffic problems for all the people of Figueres who want to travel by car to the coast. "Eliminating the level crossings is a historical demand of the city, which dates back to the 1970s, so we are very pleased that steps are being taken to resolve the railway issue in Figueres," says the mayor, Jordi Masquef.

The new Figueres-Vilafant intermodal station will also completely change the urban landscape in the west of the city, as it will become the main hub for connections in Alt Empordà. In addition to a much larger train stop, there are also plans to improve road connections, with a northern bypass and a new exit from the AP-7, as well as a new bus station. "We will connect all the towns in Alt Empordà with the high-speed line. Anyone who wants to go to Madrid will no longer need to go to Girona, they can come by bus or conventional train to Figueres from Llançà, Colera, Portbou or Cervera and then take the AVE," explains the mayor.

Masquef also points out that this new major infrastructure in the west of Figueres will also serve to dignify the poorest neighbourhoods near the station: "The concept of center It is very subjective, the station will be a 12-minute walk from the Town Hall and very close to a radius of highly populated neighbourhoods, the most disadvantaged, which we now have the opportunity to transform."

The CUP and Defendemos el Tren prefer to bury the tracks

However, the project also creates reluctance in some political and social sectors of the municipality. Both the CUP in Figueres and the Defendemos el Tren en el Empordà platform are more in favour of allocating resources to carry out works to bury the tracks, keeping the station in the centre, instead of unifying them in Vilafant: "We want a trench-like burying, like in Vic, which would be much faster and would have no impact on the landscape or on agricultural land," argues Pep Gou, spokesperson for the platform. Furthermore, regarding the bilateral agreement with the State, these opposing voices consider that it does not specify any firm commitment and conditions the entire project to state agreements and budgets, with an uncertain future.