Massive concentrations in four autonomous communities to recover railway communications along the Silver Route

David Vigario Merida

Merida

Updated Sunday, January 21, 2024-20:01

Thousands of people in four autonomous communities (

Andalusia

,

Extremadura

,

Castilla y León

and

Asturias

) in twelve cities have called out this Sunday for an improvement in railway communications and for the reopening of connections along the

Silver Route

, a route that was closed. 40 years ago.

Specifically, the

Astorga

and

Plasencia

section was deactivated in 1985 for travelers and in 1996 for goods, which has since prevented the connection of these four regions by train.

In all cities there has been massive monitoring and a joint statement has been read in which the Government is asked to request the European Union to "include the Ruta de la Plata corridor in the

Expanded Basic Network of the Atlantic Corridor

of the RTE- "European T" given the urgency of the upcoming approval of the new European Regulation for the development of the Trans-European Transport Network.

The towns that have joined the demands have been

Gijón,

Astorga,

Zamora,

Plasencia,

Cáceres, Mérida, Almendralejo, Zafra, Huelva, Seville

and

Cádiz

.

Concentration in Plasencia (Cáceres) to demand the reopening of the railway connection between Plasencia and AstorgaEFE

In Salamanca, for example, where the concentration has been massive, the president of the Junta de Castilla y León,

Alfonso Fernández Mañueco

, has participated, pointing out that "it is urgent more than ever to increase frequencies with Madrid, but also to complete the connection of the train with Portugal and to bet on the Silver Route and the Atlantic Corridor".

The day before the protest , the Minister of Transport,

Óscar Puente

, published a video message on Twitter addressed to the Salamancan protesters, pointing out that "the demonstration is not necessary, since the solution is very close in time."

In this sense, the rector of the University of Salamanca,

Ricardo Rivero

, has stated that "when leftovers are offered, after so many demands, it sounds like an insult", while he has emphasized the damage caused by the lack of connections. railways to attract students and organize conferences in the capital of Salamanca.

During the week, Puente himself had indicated that the feasibility study of the Ruta de la Plata train recovery project entailed "starting from scratch" in order to make a "purely rational" decision in statements that have raised many controversies among the organizers of the event - most of them social platforms that demand the improvement of communications - who called them a "hoax."

ESTREMADURA

In Extremadura,

Juan José Hernández Ramírez

, a member of the Ruta de la Plata Western Corridor, has pointed out at the Mérida train station that "it is about changing the political will of the Government of not serving the Spanish west", which represents almost the fourth part of the territory in Spain.

Hernández has asked the Government "not to deceive us anymore" and that the feasibility study commissioned by the Ministry of Transport "is not to waste time."

With this joint demonstration in these four autonomous communities, the aim is to claim the Silver Route "with a single voice", something that is not only a right, "but something tremendously important to structure Spain, the Spanish west and connect it with Europe", he said. added

Antonio García Salas

, also a member of the Western Corridor.

In Plasencia,

Juan Carlos López

, spokesperson for the

Milana Bonita

platform , has indicated that the main objective of the event has been "to shake the bells a little so that politicians, of all colors, begin to move a little to achieve the reopening of the Silver Route rail corridor long before 2050."

The joint manifesto also requested that the respective presidents of the Autonomous Communities of Andalusia, Extremadura, Castilla y León, Asturias and also Galicia, in a joint action, carry out a "public demonstration of express demand for the inclusion of the Silver Route in the Expanded Basic Network of the RTE-T", and transmit it to the Government of Spain.

Furthermore, they have urged all the representatives of the different parties of the aforementioned Communities in the Congress of Deputies to promote a "Non-Law Proposition, in which the Government is requested to make the aforementioned request to the European Community", and to enable the necessary funds so that, in parallel to the recently commissioned Feasibility Study, "the Informative Study of those sections that have already seen railway circulation suppressed" begins.

Finally, they have demanded that the Parliament's Transport Commission establish a monitoring team for the "Reopening of the Silver Route" project, which reports on the status of the project to the Civil Society groups that demand it. , at least quarterly.

This is the second time in recent months that this type of concentration has taken place after those held on November 4 "given the little interest that the Government continues to show in this axis of structuring of the Western Peninsula," according to the organizers.