Spain delays Murcia–Almería high-speed line to 2027

The roughly 184 km new line links Murcia and Almería via Lorca and forms part of Spain's Mediterranean Corridor (Corredor Mediterráneo); total investment is about EUR 3.85 billion per the EU Regional Policy project database, including EUR 410.7 million in ERDF funding. Platform and civil works are well advanced (e.g. the Viator tunnel completed in 2025), and track-laying has been underway across the entire line since early 2026. The official target remains end of 2026, but more recent press coverage points to actual passenger service starting more realistically in 2027/2028. Update (7 Aug 2026): On the 65 km Murcia–Lorca-San Diego section (two tunnels, twelve viaducts) the trackbed works are practically finished and track laying is under way at several points; on 3 August 2026 the overhead line in the central Murcia station area went into service, and the Totana traction substation is structurally complete. First the Murcia del Carmen–Alcantarilla section is to be made available to operators for the Chinchilla–Cartagena line, followed by commissioning in standard gauge as far as Lorca-San Diego; Murcia would be the first Spanish region with a standard-gauge commuter network. For the 140 km Lorca–Almería section Adif AV had tendered the overhead line in October 2025 for €65.7 million, including 24 months of maintenance (LOK Report, 7 Aug 2026 and 23 Oct 2025).