Cercanías Málaga is a

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

service between central

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and towns in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

. The network consists of of track, with two lines and 23 stations in operation. The trains are powered by

overhead lines An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union ...

and run on broad Iberian gauge track.

History

In 1908, the first line of the Ferrocarriles Suburbanos de Málaga opened; a

metre-gauge Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...

rail network connecting Málaga to Vélez-Málaga. This line was later extended to Ventas de Zafarraya, along with lines to Coín and

Fuengirola Fuengirola () is a city on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is located on the central coast of the province and integrated into the region of the Costa del Sol and the Com ...

. The lines closed in stages between 1960 and 1968. Part of the corridor to Fuengirola was rebuilt to 1668 mm Iberian gauge, with some sections placed underground including a re-routing of the line through

Málaga Airport Málaga–Costa del Sol Airport is the fourth busiest airport in Spain after Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, Madrid–Barajas, Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport, Barcelona–El Prat and Palma de Mallorca Airport, Palma d ...

, branded as Cercanías Málaga, and opened in 1975.

Lines and stations

The busiest stations on the network in 2018 were Málaga-Centro Alameda with 1,525,000 passengers, Fuengirola (1,408,000), Málaga María Zambrano (1,375,000), Arroyo de la Miel (1,293,000) and Torremolinos (1,109,000).

Line C-1 Malaga - Airport - Fuengirola

Line C-1 runs along the

Costa del Sol The Costa del Sol (; literally "Coast of the Sun") is a region in the south of Spain in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, comprising the coastal towns and communities along the coastline of the Province of ...

. Services were half-hourly, but since 22 September 2011 the frequency has been increased to every 20 minutes. There are long-standing plans to extend this line to Estepona to the west, and to Nerja in the east, but current stations are: * Centro-Alameda connecting to Metro de Málaga * María Zambrano connecting to Madrid–Málaga high-speed rail line/ Metro de Málaga * Victoria Kent (''see'' Victoria Kent) * Guadalhorce * Aeropuerto with eventual connection to Metro de Málaga * San Julián (canceled) * Plaza Mayor * Los Álamos * La Colina * Torremolinos * Montemar-Alto * El Pinillo * Benalmádena-Arroyo de la Miel * Torremuelle * Carvajal * Torreblanca * Los Boliches *

Line C-2 Málaga - Álora

Line C-2 runs inland from Málaga to Álora. The stations are: * Centro-Alameda * María Zambrano * Victoria Kent * Los Prados * Campanillas * Cártama * Aljaima * Pizarra * Álora

Future expansion

The Costa del Sol railway extension of the C-1 service from its current Fuengirola terminus to

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 re ...

and Estepona is planned. In January 2018 three possible route alignments were determined, costing between €2 billion and €3.8 billion.

Network Map

References

Malaga Málaga 1975 establishments in Spain {{Spain-rail-transport-stub