Murcia–Almería high-speed rail line

Murcia and Almería were once linked by rail from Lorca to Guadix via Baza, however this line closed in 1985. When the AVE high speed rail network opened in 1992, it continued to expand, with the Madrid–Levante high-speed rail network reaching Alicante railway station in 2013, and Murcia del Carmen railway station in 2022.[3]

A continuation from Murcia to Almería railway station was proposed, and construction of the new high-speed line began in 2010,[4] but was suspended due to political disagreements. In 2017 the Spanish government announced that work would restart in 2019, to be completed by 2023.[1] The railway's estimated completion date has since been pushed to 2026.[5]

The line will serve as a continuation of the Madrid–Levante high-speed rail network at Murcia, serving stations at Lorca and Vera before terminating in Almería. It will include two standard-gauge high-speed tracks for passenger trains with a maximum speed of 300 km/h (190 mph) and a parallel 1668 mm Iberian gauge track for freight.[4] The trip from Murcia to Almería is expected to take 1 hour 5 minutes,[6] and 3.5 hours to Madrid, compared to the current six hours taken using the existing Linares Baeza–Almería railway.