Walter Finch
SPAIN’S fabled costa train from Nerja to Algeciras is starting to become a more concrete reality – and it may come to Gibraltar.
Long considered another wishful infrastructure pipe dream, La Linea Mayor Juan Franco has been campaigning to get a stop included in his own town as the project finally takes shape.
Madrid has stated that La Linea will only qualify for a stop on the line if there’s ‘enough demand’, with Franco quick to point out that ‘between the two towns we have a population of over 100,000 residents’.
While still at a preliminary stage, the railway is envisioned to have six stops: Nerja (22,000 residents), Malaga (580,000), Fuengirola (85,000), Marbella (160,000), Estepona (70,000) and Algeciras (120,000).
As such, a stop in La Linea would serve more people than half of those – if the Spanish authorities are willing to include the population of Gibraltar in their calculations.
But how might a train line just across the border impact Gibraltar?
“While clearly a Spanish undertaking, such a train line would be a fantastic opportunity for the Rock,” Eran Shay, Board Director of the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses, told the Olive Press.
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“There are a number of ways it would benefit our economy, not just in speeding up supply chains and wait times but boosting exports.
“On top of that, the increased mobility on the Spanish side of the border would expand the range employers in Gibraltar would have to hire workers, making it more attractive for both.”
Shay suggests the authorities could put on a shuttle bus from the station to the border, further easing the way for commuters, shoppers and tourists to come to Gibraltar.
The leg between Estepona and Algeciras is forecast to see up to 4.9 million passengers yearly, with potentially 1.5 million stopping in La Linea – or 4,110 a day.
At an estimated cost of €10 million to €20 million per kilometre to build, the final outlay to cover the 50km train line could come to between €500 million to €1 billion.
Some estimates have predicted Gibraltar could see €50 to €100 million in indirect economic gains plus a further 500 to 1,000 new jobs, but at this juncture these are little more than guesses.
“It’s difficult to quantify the economic impact of the train without knowing more about train numbers and times, the proportion of passenger to freight, et cetera,” Shay continued.
“But I really cannot see any negatives impacts for Gibraltar.”
With around four out of every five of the 1.2 million tourists who visit the Rock annually entering from Spain, the boost to tourism from a train to La Linea – or even Algeciras – is obvious.
“If you’ve got a mass transit system that can bring people down down from the coast cheaper and faster than the current options, that could be very advantageous to Gibraltar, and La Linea,” Edward Macquistan of the Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce noted to this newspaper.
But might the station be positioned inconveniently far from the Gibraltar border?
“For them to claim it’s a La Linea stop I think it would have to be somewhere in the centre of the town and there’s plenty of space, depending on the route they take,” Macquistan argued.
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“If you look at the history, wherever a railway is built you have more people who can get to and from their place of work without having to use either personal transport, that’s got to be beneficial for jobs.”
Even the environmental lobby would be in favour, seeing as the train would cut the number of cars on the already-over-clogged coastal roads in Malaga and Cadiz.
“I think most people would support it,” Macquistan concluded. “The only problem I can see is that there will be a very long use on the project.”
He warned not to expect it within the next 10 years. The project is still in the feasibility stage with funding yet to be secured, and the leg to Algeciras will likely be the last phase to start construction.
Despite these funding issues, there is clear demand for the overall project, which is likely to see 60 million annual trips and unlock huge economic benefits.
Coupled with an eventual treaty with Spain and the EU, a train line to La Linea could be transformational for Gibraltar in the long term.
