Vélez-Málaga Tram
|
CAF Urbos 2 in Malaga in 2007 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Tranvía de Vélez-Málaga |
| Locale | Vélez-Málaga, Spain |
| Transit type | Tram |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | 11 October 2006 |
| Ended operation | 4 June 2012 |
The Vélez-Málaga Tram (Spanish: Tranvía de Vélez-Málaga) was operating between October 2006 and June 2012 connecting the Spanish town Vélez-Málaga with the coastal town Torre del Mar. It is the first modern low-floor tramway system service that has been taken out of service.
History
Construction began in 2003, with the service opening on 11 October 2006.[1]
The tram line was not connected through to the city center of Vélez-Málaga – passengers had to switch in the outskirts to a bus line. At the same time, the direct bus service from Torre del Mar to the city center of Vélez-Málaga was kept. As a consequence the ridership fell from 890,000 passengers in 2007 to 676,000 in 2011.
Construction on an extension of 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) (from the northern terminus, Parque Jurado Lorca station, to Esplanada de la Estaciónto in the Vélez-Málaga city center) began during 2008, but upon its completion the tram operator took its chance to ask for a higher support from the city treasury for the operational costs of the system. The city officials declined, and so the extension was never put in to service – and with the elections in 2011 the Partido Popular came into power which chose to decline paying for the costs of the tramway system.
Closure of the system was achieved on 4 June 2012 with an initially temporary shutdown of the tram line. The line has not operated since June 2012.[2]
Services on the line were operated by three Urbos 2 trams. These were transferred to the light rail network in Sydney, Australia,[3] entering service in March 2014. Following the introduction of new Urbos 3 trams in Sydney, the leased trams will be returned to Spain.[4]
References
- ↑ "El primer tranvía moderno andaluz entra en servicio en Vélez-Málaga". El País (in Spanish). 12 October 2006.
- ↑ "Velez-Malaga tram sank into oblivion". EuroweeklyNews. EuroweeklyOnline. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
- ↑ Cabezas, Eugenio (9 July 2013). "El tranvía de Vélez inicia su viaje a Sidney". SUR.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ↑ "First new light rail vehicle on the tracks as customer trips pass 1.5 million". Transport for NSW. Retrieved 23 July 2014.