A push for the Mediterranean Railway Corridor
The Catalan Government hopes that the Mediterranean Corridor, which is planned to unite northern and southern Europe, will pass through Catalonia, along the Mediterranean shore and not through the centre of Spain.
Berlin (ACN).- This Tuesday in Berlin, the Catalan Government’s delegate to Germany, Martí Estruch, relayed the government’s position on the Mediterranean Corridor to the vice-president of the European Commission and the European Commissioner for Transport, Siim Kallas. Estruch expressed the Catalan Government’s support for the Ferrmed project, a plan that will unite northern and southern Europe with a railway, possibly passing through Catalonia. The Spanish Government has still not decided what route the railway will run through the state. Estruch and Kallas met with the general secretary of Ferrmed, Joan Amorós, at the Fira Inno Trans 2010 in Berlin.
While the Catalan Government is defending a railway connection with France through Portbou, the other option would pass through Madrid and Aragon into the middle of the Pyrenees.
Estruch told Kallas that the Mediterranean Corridor is “of vital importance for the Catalan economy” because it permits “communication between the great infrastructures in the country and the rest of Europe”, such as Barcelona harbour.
Ferrmed is a lobbying association that is working to promote the importance of the railway for European entities and the affected countries. It is currently supported by more than 100 businesses and institutions from places such as Catalonia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Spain.