Ministry rejects double track for Teruel-Sagunto rail line despite Aragón's protests
Spain's Transport Ministry has decided the Teruel-Sagunto rail section will keep a single conventional track instead of the electrified double track Aragón requested, limiting freight capacity toward the Port of Valencia via Sagunto.
The Ministry, led by Óscar Puente, opened the section's study for public review. It is part of the Cantabrian-Mediterranean Corridor (Corredor Cantábrico-Mediterráneo), a rail axis linking northern Spain -Santander, Bilbao, Pamplona, Logroño- with Valencia through Zaragoza and Teruel, aiming for a Bilbao-Valencia journey of under four hours. The cost of an electrified double track, over €3.7 billion, led the ministry to choose a single conventional track instead, arguing current demand does not justify the extra investment. Aragón's regional government called the decision a "historic error" and said it will file formal objections demanding high-performance rail, as originally planned back in 2004. Aragón's director general of Transport, David Sánchez Fraile, warned that a single track creates a bottleneck for freight heading to the Port of Valencia -Spain's largest port and one of Europe's biggest, handling over 80 million tonnes of cargo in 2024. Aragón argues that without a double track, the corridor won't be competitive for freight or passengers, and that the decision also hurts Teruel's regional development. According to Valencia Plaza, with additional background from Wikipedia.