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| Cercanías Alicante | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
 Cercanías train inSan Vicent Centre | |||
| Overview | |||
| Owner | Renfe | ||
| Locale | Alicante,Murcia,Elche | ||
| Transit type | Commuter rail | ||
| Number of lines | 3 | ||
| Number of stations | 26 | ||
| Annual ridership | 3,730,000(2017)[1] | ||
| Operation | |||
| Operator(s) | Cercanías | ||
| Technical | |||
| System length | 202 km (126 mi) | ||
| |||
Cercanías Murcia/Alicante is acommuter rail service (cercanías) in the provinces ofAlicante andMurcia. The line connectsAlicante andMurcia withSan Vicente del Raspeig,Elche,Orihuela,Totana,Lorca, andÁguilas. It runs through 200 km of railways with a total of 26 stations.
Thecercanías consists of three lines. Line C-1 connectsAlicante andMurcia by 1 or 2 trains per hour. Line C-2 connectsMurcia andÁguilas. Line C-3 connectsAlicante andSan Vicente del Raspeig with about eight trains per day.
| Line | Route | Distance |
|---|---|---|
 | Alicante - Elche - Murcia del Carmen | 76 km |
 | Murcia del Carmen - Lorca - Águilas | 117 km |
 | Alicante - University of Alicante - San Vicente Centre | 8 km |
The railroad linking the cities ofAlicante andMurcia was built in 1885. It passesElche through a tunnel of 4 km in length, which was built in 1970s, eliminating over twenty level crossings in the city,[2] and includes 2 underground stops Elche-Carrús/Elx-Carrús and Elche-Parque/Elx-Parc. The average travel time between Alicante and Murcia is 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Since June 15, 2008 trains no longer stop at Beniaján, Torreagüera, and Los Ramos-Alquerías.
| Line C-1 Cercanías Murcia/Alicante | |
|---|---|---|
| Murcia del Carmen | Beniel |Orihuela |Callosa de Segura |Albatera-Catral |Crevillente/Crevillent |Elche-Carrús/Elx-Carrús |Elche-Parque/Elx-Parc | Torrellano | San Gabriel/Sant Gabriel |Alicante | ||
One train per hour circulates on line C-2 betweenMurcia andLorca, with only three daily trains running toÁguilas. The average travel time between Murcia and Lorca is 50 minutes and 1 hour 50 minutes between Murcia and Águilas.
| Line C-2 Cercanías Murcia/Alicante | |
|---|---|---|
| Murcia del Carmen | Alcantarilla-Los Romanos | Librilla | Alhama de Murcia |Totana | La Hoya |Lorca-San Diego |Lorca-Sutullena | Puerto Lumbreras | Almendricos | Pulpí | Jaravía | Águilas-El Labradorcico |Águilas | ||
The railroad betweenMadrid andAlicante was built in the nineteenth century, but it was not used for local traffic until 2007 when line C-3 was opened. The line is 8 km long and it takes about 12 minutes to get fromAlicante toSan Vicente del Raspeig.
| Line C-3 Cercanías Murcia/Alicante | |
|---|---|---|
| Alicante |University of Alicante |San Vicente Centre | ||
The new terminal ofAlicante–Elche Airport was built with space allocated for a railway station and anAlicante Tram stop.In 2019, the Generalitat Valenciana granted €50,000 towards a feasibility study in connecting Alicante Airport to the rail network.[3] The same year, theMinistry of Development put out to tender the contract to build the airport rail link.[4]
TheTren de la Costa proposes a new rail line linking Valencia toAlicante via coastal towns as an extension ofCercanías Valencia's C-1, into which a study was produced in 2016.[5]
A 27.3 km (17.0 mi) branch line fromSan Isidro–Albatera–Catral station toTorrevieja was formerly in operation from 1884 to 1986.[6]
Since the 1990s reopening of the line has been proposed, as since the line's closure the town has become an important tourist destination.[7]
In 2020, the University of Alicante proposed a branch from a new location –Orihuela – to Torrevieja serving stations atBigastro-Jacarilla andSan Miguel de Salinas.[8] The cost of the line was estimated to be between €210 and €270 million for a single-track line capable of speeds of 200 km/h (120 mph), with ridership of 1.1 million expected annually.
Line C-3 is due to expand from Sant Vicente Centre using the existing line toMadrid as far as Villena, with the potential to add 2,000 daily rail passengers to the network.[9]
The existing rail line fromMurcia toCartagena is currently only served by Renfe Media Distancia services, and a Cercanías service has been proposed to enhance service frequency.[10]
Proposals exist to link the future Elche–MatolaAVE station (part of theMadrid–Levante high-speed rail network) to the Cercanías network by way of a new 4 km (2.5 mi) line south of Elche, at a projected cost of €32 million.[11] This would allow services through Elche city centre to terminate at the AVE station.
