Euro Weekly News published a story a few days ago about overcrowding on the Cercanias between Fuengirola and Malaga. A report into the possibility of extending the line to run from Algeciras to Nerja has thrown up some interesting statistics, namely that the line transported 13.2 million passengers in 2023, and in the last quarter of 2022, reached an average of 80% occupancy, while at times, in the summer months, reached 117%, so significantly overcrowded.
Capacity can only be increased by investment in infrastructure – either increasing the length of double track sections of line or by investing in longer or double-decker trains.
For all of the angst about overcrowding, this is fundamentally a success story. People using the trains are not using their cars, and the Spanish government seems willing to make significant investment in future railway development – a very practical way of addressing, and adapting to, climate change.
Read the story in EuroWeeklyNews here.
Picture above: Cercanías Málaga in Benalmádena. De Hombre1896 – Trabajo propio, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36767090