The Provincial Council of Alicante has unanimously approved a motion of support for the AVE high-speed train service to continue to stop in Elche and Orihuela.
The motion had been put to the vote by the PSOE, after there were calls recently for the newly inaugurated service from Madrid to Murcia to avoid Elche and Orihuela, so as to speed up the journey time.
It was however pointed out that it was the Partido Popular (PP) calling for the trains to avoid towns currently run by the PSOE.
The motion of support pointed out that there was no economic or social justification to “marginalise” these towns my eliminating the stops, and that maintaining them is “clearly in the interests of the citizens of the province of Alicante.”
The motion had the approval of all political groups, including the PP, although they did submit an amendment to which the Council is urged to demand that the Government of Spain maintain the intermediate stops of Orihuela, Elche, Alicante and Villena on the line of the Madrid-Murcia AVE to “support rail mobility and social cohesion” in the province.
The approved motion also calls for an increase in the frequency of the service.
