Spanish Government delays arrival of train to Barcelona Airport?s new terminal
Arguing budgetary reasons, the Spanish Ministry of Public Works has decided to delay the arrival of the railroad to the T1 Terminal by an entire year. It was announced today that Catalonia has become the Autonomous Community most affected by budget cuts.
Madrid (CNA).- The Spanish Minister for Public Works, José Blanco, has announced today that the arrival of the short-distance train to the new airport terminal that was inaugurated last year will be delayed by at least one year. This connection is strategic for Barcelona’s airport and the entire metropolitan area. Blanco has confirmed this news in the Spanish Parliament, where he was asked about the details of his Ministry’s plan to cut investment in public works throughout Spain. Catalonia has been the community most affected by the budget cuts. The construction of 5 new roads have been cancelled and many will be delayed, which can result in the final cancellation of the project by the contracting company.
The connection with the short-distance train to the T1 Terminal has a budget of 300 million euros and the project was launched last November. When it is built, it will connect all of the Barcelona airport terminals with the short-distance train network of Barcelona’s metropolitan area.
The project includes a two-directional railroad, an underground station at Terminal 2 and a final station in the new and large Terminal 1. In total, the line will be 4,495 metres long and will go underground for most of its trajectory.
This change of plans will also affect El Prat city centre’s intermodal station. The initial plans were that the trains would arrive at the T1 terminal once the intermodal station of El Prat was ready in 2013. Currently, passengers arrive with by train to the old T2 terminal and then must take a 15-minute-ride bus to the T1 terminal.