Murcia–Almería high-speed rail line


The Murcia–Almería high-speed rail line is an under-construction railway in the Region of Murcia and Andalusia in Spain.

History

Murcia and Almería were once linked by rail from Lorca to Guadix via Baza, however this line closed in 1985. When the AVE high speed rail network opened in 1992, it continued to expand, with the Madrid–Levante high-speed rail network reaching Alicante railway station in 2013, and will reach Murcia del Carmen railway station in 2021. A continuation from Murcia to Almería was proposed, and construction of the new high-speed line began in 2010, but was suspended due to political disagreements. In 2017 the Spanish government announced that work would restart in 2019, to be completed by 2023.

Route

The line will serve as a continuation of the Madrid–Levante high-speed rail network at Murcia, serving stations at Lorca and Vera before terminating in Almería. It will include two standard-gauge high-speed tracks for passenger trains with a maximum speed of and a parallel 1668 mm Iberian gauge track for freight. The trip from Murcia to Almería is expected to take 1 hour 5 minutes, and 3.5 hours to Madrid, compared to the current six hours taken using the existing Linares Baeza–Almería railway.