This is how the underground station in the center of Figueres would be (which the institutions have unanimously rejected)

GironaA year ago, the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Ministry of Transport, the City Council of Figueres and Adif seal the agreement to move the Figueres train station from the center, currently the commuter and medium-distance services arrive at the high-speed train station site, next to Vilafant. The plan, with a total investment exceeding 150 million euros, foresees the construction of a railway bypass and the unification of all train services on the outskirts, to the northwest of the city, in a single intermodal station. This will allow the dismantling of the tracks that cross the urban center at ground level, which cause mobility problems due to level crossings and disturbances to nearby houses. The project's drafting has already been awarded and work is progressing according to the planned schedule.

However, despite the firm commitment of the administrations, voices against the transfer are not giving up. Grouped under the platform Defensem el Tren de l'Empordà (Let's Defend the Empordà Train), they state that, instead of dismantling, the most viable solution is to maintain the conventional medium-distance and commuter train line and bury the conflict points. Hand in hand with architects and urban planners, the entity has presented three studies prepared between 2008 and 2012 that, on paper, support the technical and economic viability of this alternative. These include a study commissioned by the City Council to an engineering firm in 2008, a second one prepared by the Generalitat in 2012, and a third from the Ministry of Development, also from 2012, which had not been made public until now.

This last report proposed as the preferred alternative the open trench of the current line for a stretch of about 1,500 meters, between Riumors street and Cabanes street, keeping the Rodalies station of Figueres independent from the high-speed station in Vilafant. With an estimated cost of around 52 million euros (not taking into account price inflation), the proposal allowed for the elimination of level crossings, the reduction of the barrier effect of the railway, and left open the possibility of a future integral covering of the railway corridor within a broader urban integration strategy.

The contrary examples of Vic and Salou

One of the defenders of this option is the architect Xavier Ludevid, president of the Group of Architects in Public Administration Service and manager of Urban Planning for the Figueres City Council between 2008 and 2015, during the terms of mayors Santi Vila and Marta Felip, both from Convergència. According to Ludevid, concentrating all rail services in Vilafant goes against the logic of the future of mobility in the European Union. "No city in the world, with two fingers of forehead, eliminates any station. On the contrary, cities compete to have more stations," he affirms.

The members of the neighborhood platform, integrated within the Catalan association Promoció del Transport Públic (PTP), express themselves in the same vein: "The train must be as close as possible to where people are going and coming from," defends Arnau Comajoan, an engineer and member of PTP. He continues: "We recognize that there is a problem, but the solution should not be to remove the tracks. There are alternatives such as tunneling." PTP gives the example of the Vic city center station, tunneled in the 2000s, or "failed" projects like the new station in Salou, moved to Port Aventura, which has lost more than 300,000 users in recent years. In this case, the Figueres-Vilafant station is about a 20-minute walk from the center.

"Better to throw away 5 million than 200"

Beyond the arguments for user convenience, voices against the new macro-station in Vilafant also appeal to price: "Someone has to justify why, in front of an investment of 60 million euros with which you solve the level crossing problem and keep two stations that provide better coverage to the city, they spend 200," argues Ludevid. That's why architects ask for the current planning to be reversed even though it is already in the drafting process: "All this is paper. Paper is cheap. As long as the works have not been executed, there is still room to rethink the action. The agreement is changed, the tender and the drafting of the projects are changed for another. It has happened many times, it is better to throw 5 million in the trash than 200," concludes Ludevid.

On this matter, the Figueres City Council, led by Jordi Masquef, of Junts, who became a councilor when Ludevid resigned, considers that the debate is closed and that the project is unmovable, as it is signed and in the drafting phase. The issue generates consensus in the consistory, because out of the 21 councilors, only the CUP member is opposed. The Generalitat, the ministry, and Adif also do not want to hear about changing plans.

Furthermore, the idea of the macro-station in Vilafant is not new, as it began to take shape during the term of the socialist Joan Armangué, who was mayor from 1995 to 2007. “In 2002 we closed the agreement, which ended up leading to an informative study in 2007 that serves as the basis for the current project,” recalls the former mayor. The arguments in favor then are the same as today: “It will allow an urban transformation both to the east and to the west. To the east, the barrier of the railway tracks will be eliminated and the city can be reconnected in two sections that are currently not connected. And to the west, the most needy neighborhoods will be improved; the 1,500-meter promenade to the station will be very pleasant”.

Indeed, the new station will be accompanied by an urbanistic transformation in the northwestern neighborhoods ofl Culubret and Sant Joan, very humble and with significant coexistence problems. The urban changes in this area will be financed with 25 million euros from the Generalitat's Neighborhood Plan, which will allow redesigning the streets, improving access, and inaugurating new educational, sports, and social facilities to promote the participation and well-being of vulnerable families.