Informative studies of the network of the Region of Pamplona and high speed Zaragoza-Castejn
(29/03/2023)
The objective of the informative study of the Pamplona railway network, which includes the new station, is threefold. Firstly, developing the section of the Campanas-Zuasti high-speed line, within the Zaragoza-Pamplona-Y Vasca corridor. Secondly, to guarantee the connections in standard gauge and Iberian gauge to the freight traffic production centers in the Pamplona area: Noain terminal and Lanbaden industrial estate.
And, thirdly, configuring the new railway network in the Pamplona region, forming a single corridor for the high-speed line and the conventional line, as well as the new Pamplona station, which makes it possible to eliminate the ‘rail loop’.
Alternatives
In the study, six alternatives have been analysed, which respond to the combination of two layout alternatives for the section Campanas-new Pamplona station (2 and 3) with three other functional variations on a single layout, between the new station and Zuasti (A, B and C). Alternative 1 was discarded in previous phases of the study.
Alternatives 2 and 3 are differentiated by their route between Campanas and the Pamplona station. Thus, the layout of alternative 2 runs through the vicinity of the towns of Beriáin, Salinas de Pamplona and Esquíroz, very close to the Noáin airport. Meanwhile, the layout of alternative 3 proposes a new corridor further away from the main population centers, bordering Salinas de Pamplona and Esquíroz on the west, to then access the new Pamplona station from Cizur Menor.
The functional alternatives A, B and C differ by the number and width of tracks between the Pamplona station and Zuasti. Thus, alternative A contemplates a standard route and an Iberian route; B, two standard routes and one Iberian route; and the C, a standard and a mixed.
The layout alternatives come together at the new Pamplona station, a fixed point of passage, located in the strip that was reserved in the Urban Planning instruments of the city of Pamplona for the station, at the southern end of the municipal area of Pamplona, adjoining with that of Cizur, following an alignment substantially parallel to the AP-15.
Finally, the study proposes the so-called ‘Alternative 3’, in which a configuration with three tracks is chosen, two of standard gauge and one of Iberian gauge for the Pamplona and Zuasti section. The approximate cost of this alternative is around 490 million euros (VAT included).
New station in Pamplona and the Zaragoza-Castejón line
Likewise, this study proposes the design of the new Pamplona station, which will have seven tracks, four of which will be exclusively standard gauge. The station is located on a slab 205 meters long and 67 meters wide, in an area where the line is depressed between 12 and 14 meters from the natural terrain. This provision is functionally adequate, is consistent with the criteria of the Supra-municipal Incidence Sector Plan and is compatible with an extension of coverage, in accordance with what is determined in the detailed urban planning of the area.
Regardless of the previous study, in the same Zaragoza-Pamplona-Y Vasca corridor, the ‘Informative study of the new Zaragoza-Castejón high-speed line’ has been carried out. The informative study is proposed for a high-speed line suitable for mixed traffic, passenger and freight, and includes connections with the Madrid-Barcelona high-speed line (both directions); and connections with the Castejón-Pamplona and Castejón-Logroño lines; connections with the logistics centers of the area (Zaragoza-Plaza, Grisén and Stellantis Zaragoza).
This action allows a reduction in travel times of around thirty minutes which, together with the works in progress between Castejón and Pamplona, will mean a Zaragoza-Pamplona travel time of one hour. It is estimated that the cost of the proposed alternatives is between 1,253 and 1,447 million euros.
Intermediate stop in the Tudela region
The informative study establishes a single intermediate stop in the Comarca de Tudela, in which a new high-speed station is planned. For the passage of the line through the town, two alternatives are defined, both outside the urban area, without the informative study opting to propose any of them.
In this context, the Ministry and the Government of Navarra have also agreed to study the future implementation of the conventional network together with high-speed, taking into account all the existing technical and functional conditions.
In the next few days, once all the details of the documents of both studies have been completed, the period of public information and hearing of both informative studies will begin, with the publication in the BOE of the corresponding announcement. This procedure will be carried out both for the purposes provided for in the rail sector law and for the purposes included in the environmental impact assessment procedure, so that observations can be made on the overall conception of the route and on the environmental impact.
Once the period has ended, the allegations and reports received have been analyzed, the pertinent modifications have been made and the public information file and hearing approved, the documentation will be sent to the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge to obtain the Environmental Impact Statement, which It must be obtained prior to the definitive approval of the studies.