A brand new high-speed AVE train station for Lugo¡­ that can¡¯t be used

Back in Spain¡¯s boom times, when housing developments and industrial parks were being planned all over the country, the O P¨¢ramo municipality in Lugo (Galicia), which counts on fewer than 1,500 residents, was given the great news that Spain¡¯s high-speed AVE rail network would be coming to town. With the Popular Party (PP) in government, the Public Works Ministry decided in 2002 to build a new train station in O P¨¢ramo as part of the promised line between Ourense and Lugo, the first station in the town¡¯s history, replacing the one in neighboring A Pobra de San Xiao, in L¨¢ncara.

There¡¯s not a soul here who takes the train O P¨¢ramo Major Rodr¨ªguez Liz

The site chosen for the new station was Mosc¨¢n, the home village of PP mayor?of O P¨¢ramo, Gumersindo Rodr¨ªguez Liz. In 2006, the ministry granted funding to build the tracks and station.

But the AVE dream has since turned into a nightmare. The station and tracks are complete but there is no train service. Spanish state-owned railway operator Renfe told EL PA?S that no one can get on or off at the station. Official sources from Renfe explain that the old station at A Pobra de San Xiao was closed in 2002 because there were not enough passengers to make it viable. ¡°If there were no passengers before when the station was in town, there are even fewer now that it is far from here,¡± explained the train authority.

What¡¯s more there is still no high-speed line between Lugo and Ourense. But even if this does come to fruition, the station at O P¨¢ramo will be of little use, given it is only 15 kilometers away from Lugo.

¡°There¡¯s not a soul here who takes the train,¡± admitted the mayor of O P¨¢ramo, Rodr¨ªguez Liz, who says he understands Renfe¡¯s decision not to extend its high-speed service: ¡°Businesses have to keep profitability in mind.¡± But the mayor is optimistic the new station could one day be put to use. ¡°At the time, the infrastructure works gave life to these places. Who knows? Perhaps they will not do so again in the future. We have to give it time,¡± he says.

The 12 months it took to complete the works is arguably a short period when compared to the still-incomplete AVE line between Lugo and Ourense. The plan to join the two regional capitals, now connected by a train that takes nearly two hours to travel the 100-kilometer distance, has not gone further than the drawing board.

The government of PP Prime Minister Jos¨¦ Mar¨ªa Aznar promised the high-speed line in compensation for the damage down by the Prestige tanker oil spill ¨C Spain¡¯s biggest environmental catastrophe. And in 2009, the premier of Galicia, Alberto N¨²?ez Feij¨®o, said he would oversee the works himself from the regional government if the Socialist Party government of Jos¨¦ Luis Rodr¨ªguez Zapatero did not give them the green light.

The station and tracks are complete but there is no train service

But with no AVE service in sight, the €90 million invested by the Public Works Ministry in the seven kilometers of train tracks and O P¨¢ramo train station have only served to improve the sluggish train service that runs between Lugo and Ourense.

According to Adif, which manages Spain¡¯s rail infrastructure, 14 rail crossings have been removed and the station in Mosc¨¢n is now only being used to store train traffic devices. ¡°The operator is responsible for possible train service stoppages to passengers,¡± said Renfe. When asked how much money was spent on the station with passengers, Adif said it wasn¡¯t possible to ¡°individualize¡± the amount and claimed the details were in its ¡°single contract.¡±

English version by Melissa Kitson.