The 6 lies and doubtful truths of the TRAM between Dénia and Alacant
The celebration period for recovering a service that was withdrawn to Dénia has already passed, so it is time to stop to assess whether what was promised has really been obtained. And the truth is that in many aspects the TRAM does not meet the expectations that the managers themselves had created.
In some matters the TRAM is better than it seems. It is a comfortable, silent, rattle-free and relatively fast means of transport between stations in the Marina Alta. However, in most aspects it falls far short of expectations, which suggests that it may not have been worth the investment.
After verifying it first hand, we collect here all those falsehoods that have been told, and are being told, about traveling by TRAM from Dénia to Alicante, as well as some supposed truth that is hard to believe.
Lie: the service is the backbone of the Marina Alta
TRAM Line 9 has eight stops in the Marina Alta. Four of them belong to Dénia (counting La Xara). The other four are in Gata, Teulada, Benissa and Calp. That of the 33 municipalities that the region has, the train only reaches five is not a backbone, it is taking advantage of the passage of the track to the place where you want to go, in this case the capital of the Marina Alta. There are 28 municipalities in the region that do not have this "trenet", as the president of the Generalitat called it.
In other words, of the 184.000 inhabitants in the Marina Alta, more than 86.000 residents do not have a train service.
Lie: the buses have run out
As this newspaper published yesterday, passengers on TRAM Line 9 continue to depend on buses to complete their journey. In this aspect it remains the same since 2016, only changing the section.
Not much has been publicized, but between the Benidorm Intermodal stop and the Benidorm stop, some works are being carried out that prevent the use of the road, so passengers must get on a bus that connects the stations every hour. These jobs will last a few weeks, although some users of the service assume that they will not end until Easter.
Lie: the TRAM will have two transfers in 2023
Taking into account the previous point, it makes little sense to say that the journey would be made with two transfers, since there are three counting the Benidorm bus. The authorities asked for patience because during 2023 we would have an extra transfer to get to Alacant, the provisional one from Teulada. Normal operation is with a single transfer at the Benidorm station, from Line 9 to 1, which will be maintained. Now, we have the one from the Benidorm station and the one from Teulada, but also another one, the bus one.
Lie: in Teulada the train awaits you on the track to make the transfer without wasting time
In order to compensate for the transfer that takes place in Teulada while the work on the bridges between the municipality and Benidorm is finished, the councilor Rebeca Torró promised that she would not lose a minute at the Teuladina stop because the other train would be waiting in the same way to arrive It would be to go down from one to go up to the other. This is respected in the trips at the beginning of the morning, but we have been able to verify that as the day progresses they become uncoordinated, especially when you go to Dénia, and even causing delays with respect to the official departure time.
Lie: the duration of the journey is 181 minutes (three hours)
The duration of the trip from Dénia to Alacant is far from the three hours promised in the official announcements. According to the website, they should reach the provincial capital from Dénia after a 181-minute journey. However, we have verified that the journey lasts three and a half hours due, among other things, to the bus transfer between Benidorm and Benidorm Intermodal. In addition, this can be delayed even more due to the lack of coordination between the bus and the arrivals and departures of the train, since only one leaves every hour, causing the next train that leaves a few minutes later to continue the route to be lost.
Dubious truth: the Teulada transhipment will be eliminated this year
Torró also affirmed that the Teulada transshipment would only be in operation during this 2023, while the works on the bridges between that town and Benidorm lasted. They are expected to end this year, but it does not look like they will end in the coming months. They are still in a very early state, so it would be a very pleasant surprise if construction was completed this year.
