Yzabelle Bostyn
MALAGA could have double decker trains to ‘cope with growing demand’ after the mayor’s unique suggestion.
The mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre has proposed the Cercanias line between Malaga and Fuengirola should have double decker trains to help increase capacity.
According to the State Secretary for Transport, the idea could soon become a reality, as the trains are already under construction.
“It’s an option, but it requires trains we just don’t have yet. Renfe has bought a historic 400 trains and they will arrive by the end of 2025. Among them are double decker trains. We need to have patience,” said the secretary, Jose Antonio Santano.
They have a capacity of 950 per train, including WiFi and spaces for bikes.
The contract to supply them is under Alstom and Stadler.
It follows the first official step towards the long awaited Costa del Sol train last week, when a viability study was requested.
The cercanias line is one of the most profitable in the country but falls short for locals.
When comparing it to other major cities, the lines 70km amounts to just 4km per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 13km in Sevilla, 12km in Valencia, 8km in Barcelona and 6km in Madrid.
Malaga also falls short in its coverage, with the line reaching just 57% of locals compared to Madrid’s 91%, Barcelona’s 89%, Valencia’s 60% and Sevilla’s 67%.
The data on daily services per inhabitant, this time provided by the National Association of Urban and Metropolitan Transport (ATUC), are not flattering either.
The C1 and C2 add up to 112 daily services, which gives an average of 6.7 circulations per 100,000 inhabitants.
In comparison, Madrid has 20.9 circulations; Bilbao, 23.3 services; Barcelona, 52.1; Valencia, 40.6; Asturias, 17.5 trains, and Alicante, 26.4 circulations, all in figures much higher than Malaga.
In the last pre-pandemic year, the annual passenger volume of the Malaga Cercanias line totalled 11.8 million passengers.
Sevilla had 7.7 million more despite having 3 more lines. Valencia, with 4 more lines, was only 5 million passengers ahead of Malaga.
Logically, Madrid (253 million) and Barcelona (119) lead the statistics by a long way.
Last year, Malaga’s Cercanias (suburban trains) shot up to over 16 million.
Malaga has the highest revenue per passenger in relation to the length of the available network after Barcelona and Madrid, and is almost three times in demand compared to Valencia and more than six times in comparison to Sevilla.
The average revenue per passenger in Malaga is also 33% higher than the Spanish average.
What means soon? A recent report from the Deutsche Bundesbahn (German Railway) complains, that so many new local trains which had been ordered long ago, are still not delivered or show unacceptable quality. Most of those complaints target Alstom and Stadler.
Spanish Talgo was even not able to make an offer which meets the order criteria.