1 minute read
TRAIN STRAIN OUR VIEW
IT seems quite incredible that with the Costa del Sol being such a major tourist attraction there is no way to travel by train from Fuengirola to anywhere along the western coast.
As Spain takes advantage of so much European Funding and is expected to persuade travellers to move out of their cars and use public transport as much as possible there is just no way of catching a train.
There are more and more relatively low cost connections from Malaga City to Cordoba, Madrid and Sevilla, as well as Granada, but apart from a short route to VelezMalaga nothing east to Axarquia and of course nothing past Fuengirola heading west.
For decades there have been calls to at least extend the suburban rail link to Marbella, if not Estepona, but it seems unlikely that this will ever happen.
The problems of course are threefold, firstly the cost, secondly the need to take over huge amounts of land currently in private hands and thirdly the time it would take to complete such an operation.
Good news for taxi drivers, the ubiquitous private hire companies and car rentals, but this is not going to help reduce pollution or the number of vehicles currently clogging up the main roads and making parking an often impossible task made worse by those who park on pavements or double park.
There are of course bus services, but they can be quite a slog for even the most hardened holidaymaker, often laden down with baggage and maybe a baby carriage and young child.
The same need exists across much of the nation but it’s probably too late to do anything about it.
