Alicante port to gain standard gauge link

The Port of Alicante on Spain’s Mediterranean coast. The tender would extend standard gauge access to the port. Photo: Kallerna, Wikimedia Commons.

SPAIN: Adif, Spain’s infrastructure manager, has launched a tender to extend 1435 mm standard gauge to the Port of Alicante, integrating it into the Mediterranean Corridor.

The contract notice was published on Feb. 26 and covers works on the La Encina–Alicante section as part of Spain’s eastern corridor upgrade programme.

If implemented, the works would provide the port with direct access to the 1435 mm network, giving it the same gauge access as other Mediterranean Corridor ports.

Currently Iberian broad gauge

Freight services at Alicante currently operate on Iberian broad gauge. The tender covers track and related works required to introduce the new gauge on the approach to the port.

The La Encina–Alicante section forms part of the Mediterranean Corridor, one of Spain’s main TEN-T routes linking the French border with ports and industrial centres along the eastern seaboard.

Adif has not yet confirmed a completion date, but the works form part of the phased standard-gauge rollout along the Mediterranean Corridor.

Barcelona and Valencia already have standard-gauge access. Extending the network to Alicante will place it on the same corridor.