Over year ago a private company won a contract from the Central Government to draw up a viability study for the Loja-Guadix railway line, worth 979,194 euros. So far, nothing.

The companies, TPF Getinsa Euroestudios and Subterra Ingeniería joined for the duration of this contract and their task is to find the best route, find out where to put intermediate stops and estimate passenger and goods traffic and then lastly, a economic viability report.

Now, they should have come up with the first part (route) by July, but they didn’t. So, the Amigos del Ferrocarril Comarca de Baza wanted to see how it was going by accessing the Government’s ‘Transparency’ webpage. Spooked, perhaps, the Dirección General de Planificación de La Red Ferroviaria said that, “owing to certain hitches in the compilation of the necessary information there is a delay. However, it is hoped that they will make up this lost time.”

Not impressed, the Spokesman for the Amigos del Ferrocarril Comarca de Baza, Antonio Francisco Martínez, warned that if they did not get their finger out then they would lose the opportunity of obtaining a grant from the European Union – they have until 2024.

The cost of laying the 160 kilometres of track will cost around 800-million euros but the Central Government won’t be able to find that much on its own; hence the necessity of an EU grant.

The old line to Guadix was shut down in 1984, but this will be reutilised if the viability reports are completed in time.

(News: Guadix, Montes Orientales, Granada, Andalucia)