Tarragona Railway Chaos

File: tgn_rail_map2.png (285KB, 1228x618px) Image search: [Google]

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Although the HSR station outside the city was kinda bearable, since it's only used for HS trains to Madrid and Barcelona, the problems began with the new HS line along the coast (currently, the existing line is one of the most heavily used in all of Spain). This new line is to join the existing high speed line at its current station. This would mean that all long distance services would now stop at this far-out station, while the centrail station would see regional, commuter and freight trains. Tarragona would thus be the only main city along the mediterranean corridor without long distance trains stopping within the city proper.

Pic related is the scheme projected by the government. The line along the coast, which was upgraded to semi-HS in the 1980's would be converted to std gauge so as to join with the existing HSR line. The central station would get combined std and iberian gauge, but only to allow freight trains to pass through. There will be no flying junction for trains coming from the south along the coast, so from the station Cambrils Nord to the branch toward the Tarragona central station there would be essentially a single track for those trains.

For once, the central government isn't the only one that's to blame. This whole story has to do also with the old line which, just south of Tarragona, passes throuh many cities which have grown a lot in recent years due to tourism, and it runs right through the very middle. Spaniards being the train lovers that they are, obviously started crying out on how terrible and dangerous this line is. Ironically, it is also the only regional line in all of Spain which actually makes money. Not just that, they also insisted on getting actual HS trains, and not just semi-HS trains like they've had for decades now running on iberian gauge at 200km/h. Well, they got everything they wanted.

And now that the closure of the stations Salou and Cambrils nears, suddenly they've noticed their fuckup, because they didn't think that people actually use the fucking train because it's right in the middle of the city.

File: tgn_rail_map3.png (840KB, 888x530px) Image search: [Google]

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However, not all is lost. There is a proposal that would offer a quick but effective fix to this. It's not perfect but it could work.
The idea would be to use the multiple gauge in the Tarragona central station to allow high speed trains to stop there. For this it would be necessary to build a flying junction where the line to the central station branches off the HS main line. And then another branch between the central station and the HS line to Barcelona.

File: tgn_rail_map4.png (730KB, 1222x614px) Image search: [Google]

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The old line which is to be closed was supposed to be turned into a tram-train, which makes much more sense than to just close it down. However, citizens and politicians haven't really given much attention to this, at least up until the actual closure of the line seemed imminent.

>Spain can't into public transport

Shocked etc.

El que faltava, en Ricard Tramvia aquí