Figueres will no longer have a train station in the city center.

GironaStep forward by relocate the train station from the center of Figueres, where commuter and medium-distance trains arrive, to the current location of the high-speed line, on the border with Vilafant. This Monday, the Department of Territory and the Ministry of Transport, together with the city councils of Figueres and Vilafant and Adif, signed the protocol formalizing the agreement for the new infrastructure, which was already agreed upon last February within the framework of the State-Generalitat Bilateral Infrastructure Commission. The project envisions unifying high-speed, commuter, and medium-distance services into a single intermodal station, thus allowing for the dismantling of the tracks that currently cross the city center. The signed protocol is the preliminary step to formalizing the financing agreement and the tendering of the works, scheduled for this fall, with a total investment of over €150 million.

With this project, the commuter train station, which handles approximately one million passengers annually, will be decommissioned, and all activity will be relocated to the west of the municipality, near the currently most disadvantaged neighborhoods, considerably further from the city center. The new area will become the main connection hub for the Alt Empordà region, as a bus station is also planned, along with access improvements, including the widening of the N-II highway and a new exit to the AP-7. A railway extension will also be necessary to connect the new commuter train stop to the current network, skirting the city center.

Figueres City Council, which has been investing in this infrastructure for over twenty years, has welcomed this "historic" agreement and is working to approve the relevant modifications to the POUM (National Urban Development Plan) to redevelop the entire northwest area of the city: "We're not just talking about moving the station; we're talking about the entire city, which would be impossible without this project. Figueres can't waste any more time," insisted Mayor Jordi Masquef. Regional Minister for Territory, Sílvia Paneque, stressed that "the project will contribute to a more efficient, orderly, and sustainable territorial structure for the city and the region."

Residents and environmentalists call for a more economical and sustainable alternative.

Despite institutional understanding, the project is generating controversy among some residents, to the point that it has given rise to the platform "Defendemos el Tren en el Empordà" (We Defend the Train in the Empordà), which has the support of environmentalists IAEDEN-Salvem l'Empordà and the Association for the Promotion of Public Transport (PTP). Critics consider the project "pharaonic," excessively expensive, and detrimental to users, because access to Vilafant station is complicated and the works require major interventions, such as drilling into the Sant Ferran mountain to provide the commuter rail line that must connect to the route that runs from Girona to Portbou. "Vilafant is a dead end; it's 1,600 meters from the center, more than twice as far as the current station. Most people will arrive by car. A large parking lot will be needed, and it's far from the neighborhoods," complains Pep Gou, spokesperson for the platform.

Despite opposing the relocation, the platform also opposes maintaining the current station in the city center. It is located next to the historic center, surrounded by housing, and has multiple level crossings that, especially in summer, cause a lot of traffic jams for cars traveling toward the coast. Instead, they propose burying the tracks underground, keeping the station but eliminating its level crossings: "We propose a trench burial like the one in Vic, which allows cars to pass overhead, is much cheaper, faster to execute, and has less impact on the landscape and agriculture than the project in Vilafant," they argue. Likewise, residents opposed to the relocation fear that with the disappearance of the station from the city center, the freed-up land will fuel speculation: "The area behind the station is prime for building; some owners have already bought land and are waiting to build on it," Gou concludes.