The Government revives the major railway project for inland Catalonia

BarcelonaOn Tuesday, the Catalan government dusted off one of the long-standing projects that has been stalled for years. The Consell Executiu (the Catalan government's executive body) gave a boost to the Eix Transversal Ferroviari de Catalunya (Cross-Sector Railway of Catalonia), the major railway project for inland Catalonia that aims to connect Lleida and Girona without passing through Barcelona, ​​a project that had been shelved for over fifteen years. Now, the government has tasked Infraestructuras Ferroviarias de Catalunya (Ifercat) with updating the technical studies that were carried out at the time, with the goal of reactivating the project.

The objective, therefore, is to update a plan that, according to the infrastructure plan for 2050 The plan recently presented by the government of Salvador Illa would connect Alguaire Airport with Girona Airport, passing through Lleida, Mollerussa, Tàrrega, Cervera, Igualada, Manresa, Vic, and Santa Coloma de Farners. The network, which the government intends to be suitable for both passengers and freight, would represent a revolution in rail connectivity between medium-sized cities and in freight transport, as it would bypass the already congested Barcelona metropolitan area. The Catalan government aims to have the studies updated by 2028 so that construction projects can begin between that year and the next, with completion expected by 2030. From then on, if all goes well and budget is available, the works could be put out to tender and construction could begin. The update of the technical studies—which will address issues such as passenger and freight demand, the compatibility of freight and high-speed traffic, the creation of logistics terminals, and possible route alternatives—will cost €5.46 million. With the reactivation of this project, the Catalan government is taking action after the Ministry of Transport proposed the creation of a new corridor last November. high speed which would directly connect Lleida with Barcelona through the center of the country, bypassing the Camp de Tarragona region. This plan raised concerns within the Catalan government because its route could partially overlap with the planned transversal rail line—which has had land reserved for over a decade—potentially creating route conflicts and impacting future rail development in Catalonia. Given this scenario, the Catalan government and the Ministry of Transport have launched a joint working group to analyze the compatibility of both projects. The Catalan government will need to push for two key areas: first, that the direct high-speed connection between Barcelona and Lleida also offer regional service, connecting medium-sized inland municipalities at speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour; and second, that the network also accommodate freight traffic, not just passenger service.

Among the aspects that the Catalan government and the ministry should also address is the financing of a major project that, when it was designed more than fifteen years ago, required an investment exceeding 10 billion euros. Recalculating the cost of the infrastructure is another task of the studies that must now update the project.

The risk of collapse of the Mediterranean Corridor

Isla's government considers the transversal rail axis an essential infrastructure for the movement of goods in the country, as it would allow for the creation of a new central corridor that would decongest corridors such as the Penedès-Vallès corridor and thus avoid freight blockages, such as the one created by the recent accident in the Ruby tunnelThis strategy is considered a priority now that the Mediterranean Corridor is nearing completion—the entire connection is expected to be finished by 2027—and the Ebro Corridor between Tarragona, Lleida, and Zaragoza is also being modernized. These two projects should significantly increase the volume of freight trains in areas such as Tarragona, Penedès, and Vallès. Government sources indicate that this increase in volume could lead to some congestion in the Tarragona area, and that the transversal rail axis should help prevent this. These same sources emphasize that it is a key infrastructure for breaking the radial pattern of the Catalan network and boosting areas of inland Catalonia such as Lleida, the Conca d'Òdena, and Central Catalonia. In fact, the network would allow these areas to compete with the logistics facilities proliferating in Aragon by offering territory with rail service in which to grow.