The Provincial Council of Bizkaia entrusts the Government with the possibility of connecting the subway under the Bilbao estuary
- Together with the tunnel project for vehicles to connect the two banks of the Bilbao estuary, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia also announced in 2022 a shuttle train that would connect Areeta with Sestao. The Deputy for Infrastructure and Territorial Development, Carlos Alzaga, said that the responsibility for implementing the project now rests with the Basque Railway Network (ETS), dependent on the Basque Government. The platform against the project under the river denounces that "greenwashing has been only a maneuver to hide the true nature of the project".
Using the tunnel under the Bilbao estuary built by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the project of the shuttle train that would connect the stops of Las Arenas and Sestao Metro Bilbao under the estuary has been suspended for the time being. The Provincial Council has now transferred responsibility for the implementation of the project to the subordinate body of the Basque Government, ETS, responsible for railway infrastructure. This was confirmed at noon by Carlos Alzaga, Provincial Deputy for Infrastructure and Territorial Development, in response to a question asked by EH Bila. This shuttle would reduce the current route from 25 minutes to 4 minutes, avoiding the encirclement of San Ignacio.
The deputy announced that, although adjustments will be maintained in the draft of the river tunnel to incorporate it into the railway route in the future, "the railway tunnel is about to be designed and belongs to the ETS". Thus, the Provincial Council discerns the responsibility for the automatic train that would run under the estuary between Areeta and Sestao.
The shuttle train was announced in 2022 by the then General Manager, Unai Rementeria, as part of the multimodal tunnel project under the estuary. So, in addition to presenting infographics, they also talked about an investment of 85 million euros. However, almost three years later, due to the lack of concrete progress and the public results of the feasibility study commissioned by the Bizkaia Transport Consortium in 2023, uncertainty has arisen about the future of this strategic railway link for sustainable mobility in the metropolitan area of Bilbao.
"The Greenwashing Maneuver"
The Subfluvial EZ platform, which has repeatedly condemned the Ria Tunnel project, has denounced that the railway project "has been only a greenwashing maneuver to hide the true nature of the project". It is regrettable that, in the midst of the climate emergency, the Provincial Council intends to promote a project of more than 500 million that will encourage the use of private cars.
For this reason, the platform strongly denounces the "manoeuvre" and asks the Diputación to abandon the project, while demanding that it dedicate the money to promote public transport.
