Pedro Rodrigues (Reporter)
A CONTROVERSIAL high speed railway testing track has suffered a setback after being omitted from budget plans.
The project, near Antequera, which has been criticised by environmentalists as it would damage a large area of valuable farmland, known as ‘the vega’, would see trains being tested at speeds of up to 520kph.
But the majority of the €86m budget allocated to rail network firm Adif for next year will be spent on finishing the Bobadilla to Granada high speed line.
Other infrastructure projects which have received funding include the second runway at Malaga Airport (€37.7 million) and a south airport access road (€4.8 million).
Meanwhile, general road maintenance has accounted for €6.6 million of the central government’s budget allocation for schemes in Andalucia.
Madrid will invest a total of €188.5 million in the region in 2014, nearly €100 million less than 2013.
The figure is almost a tenth of the €1.2 billion that was allocated in 2008, before the financial crisis took hold.
The test track was due to become operational in 2015 but now faces an uncertain future.
