The informative commission of the Territory and Urban Quality of the City Council of Dénia to be held Tuesday, December 17, will study and submit to the ordinary Plenary Session of December 23 the municipal allegations to the declaration of environmental impact of the “Cullera-Gandia-Oliva- railroad project” Denia. "
In 2016, the General Subdirectorate of Railway Planning of the Ministry of Development submitted the informative study of the Valencia-Alicante railway line (Tren de la Costa) to public information. The report concluded that the execution of the train as a whole is not socioeconomically profitable, mainly due to the low potential demand of travelers.
Three years later, the City Council of Dénia has received an official letter from the Ministry of Development in which the position of the session is requested in relation to the declaration of environmental impact, with a period of submission of allegations of 30 days.
In view of the documentation, the City Council opposes the alleged low profitability of the train based on the study commissioned at the University of Alicante for the drafting of the General Plan, which also includes an estimate of the potential demand of passengers of the Train of the Coast in Denia
As explained by the Councilor for Territory and Urban Quality, Maria Josep Ripoll, “The report of the Universitat d'Alacant appreciated that in the 2020 Horizon, in case a commuter service with Valencia was already operating, there would be about 520.000 passengers at the Dénia station. In addition, this figure is expected to increase annually based on population growth, reaching the 540.000 travelers on the 2030 Horizon; that is, figures that are above those of the Ministry of Development and dismantle the argument of lack of profitability ”.
In addition, the councilwoman has insisted that the train project "It cannot only be conditioned by economic criteria. The environmental criterion, at the present time, must also be a priority when betting on a means of transport that will significantly reduce the use of the car and CO2 emissions into the atmosphere".
The intermodal station, in the Plana area
Regarding the location of the station, the City Council opts for the Plana area, under the Pedrera, and manifests itself in favor of the 3C layout of the study of the Ministry of Development of the 2016, which would allow the construction of the Intermodal station in the place proposed by the General Structural Plan. The objective is the integration in a new intermodal station of the stations of the wide-gauge train, the FGV railway and the intercity buses, linking with the current FGV station by tram.
