The Costa del Sol railway is a proposed railway line in

Andalucia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, to link Málaga with

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the reg ...

and

Estepona Estepona () is a town and municipality in the comarca of the Costa del Sol, southern Spain. It is located in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its district covers an area of 137 square kilometers in a fertile ...

on the Costa del Sol.

History

Marbella is the most populous municipality in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

without a railway station in its territory, and is the only Spanish city of over 100,000 inhabitants not served by rail. In 1975, the

Cercanías Málaga Cercanías Málaga is a commuter rail service between central Málaga, Spain, and towns in the province. The network consists of of track, with two lines and 24 stations in operation. The trains are powered by overhead lines and run on broad ...

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...

line opened, linking Málaga to Fuengirola. After its opening, an extension to Marbella was proposed. Planned since the 1990s, plans to build the line had never materialised, despite the extension has been described as "urgent". In 2004, a study into building the rail line was produced, with a proposed completion date of 2012, which was cancelled following the

2008–2014 Spanish financial crisis The 2008–2014 Spanish financial crisis, also known as the Great Recession in Spain or the Great Spanish Depression, began in 2008 during the world financial crisis of 2007–08. In 2012, it made Spain a late participant in the European sovere ...

. In January 2018 a new study was produced, estimating the cost of the project to be between €2 and €3.8 billion. The Málaga branch of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gove ...

announced support in February 2018 for the Costa del Sol railway to extend westward from Estepona to the existing

Algeciras railway station Algeciras railway station is the southernmost rail station on the Spanish rail network and on the European mainland, and serves the town of Algeciras, Andalusia. Information Algeciras station is located at the end of the Algeciras-Bobadilla rail ...

and eastwards from Málaga to

Nerja Nerja () is a municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is part of the comarca of La Axarquía. It is on the country's southern Mediterranean coast, about 50 ...

Route

In the 2018 study, three possible route alignments were determined. Due to passing through many built-up areas, a significant portion of the line would be built underground. The route of the line would roughly follow either the

Autovía A-7 The Autovía A-7 (also called ''Autovia del Mediterráneo'') is a Spanish autovía (toll-free limited-access highway) which starts in La Jonquera, near the French frontier and ends in Algeciras. It was finally finished in late 2015 upon complet ...

or the

Autopista AP-7 The ''Autopista AP-7'' (also called ''Autopista del Mediterráneo'') ( ca, Autopista de la Mediterrània) is a Spanish autopista (controlled-access highway). It runs along the Mediterranean coast of Spain. AP-7 has two different sections (911+ ...

. Originally conceived as an extension of the Cercanías line from Fuengirola, in 2020 Málaga mayor Francisco de la Torre stated that an entirely new line linking Málaga to Marbella was required for capacity reasons. Members of Parliament in the ''

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

'' of Axarquía requested in 2018 that the

Junta de Andalucia The Regional Government of Andalusia ( es, Junta de Andalucía) is the government of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Regional Government and the Government Council. The 2011 budget was 31. ...

not "forget" the region, and provide a rail connection between Nerja and Málaga via Torrox and

Vélez-Málaga Vélez-Málaga () is a municipality and the capital of the Axarquía comarca in the province of Málaga, in the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. It is the most important city in the comarca. Locally it is referred to as Vélez. Vélez ...

. Political pressure has continued, particularly in Marbella, including a suggestion to set up a Municipal Commission

References

{{reflist Province of Málaga Proposed railway lines in Spain Rail transport in Andalusia

History

Route

See also

References