UNIVERSITY TO PALMA RAIL LINK UNVEILED

THE university rail link will be up and running by the end of 2005, according to the Balearic Transport Minister, Francesc Quetglas, who unveiled the project yesterday. The train will run from Palma's main public transport terminal in the Plaza d'España but not only will it be linked to the Inca rail service, rail services will also coincide with the Soller train timetable, offering an alternative means of transport for university students from the Soller area. The university link will also stop at Son Oliva, Son Hugo, Son Pardo, Son Castelló and Son Sardina.
Son Olivar will actually be where the university link will split from the Inca line and run alongside the Soller track to the university along the Soller road. SFM Majorca Railway Company boss José Antonio Santos explained yesterday that between Son Oliva and the Avenidas, the track will run underground and then along a deep trench to Son Hugo. The minister for transport agreed that this is probably the most ambitious railway project to date and will cost 45 million euros, but experts forecast that the university rail link will carry 5.460 passengers per day in each direction, an average of 853 passengers per hour and many will be making more than one trip out to the campus. The rail link will also be serving the somewhat isolated “sleeper towns” of Son Espanyol, Son Sardina and Son Fortesa. The local government considers the project vital and is therefore prepared to assume total costs, as it did for the Manacor line which opened on Monday. “Remember that the PP government (Madrid) does not collaborate with the Balearic government, “Quetglas said, “we're going to have to wait until 2004 when Zapateros (leader of the socialist opposition in Spain) is elected president,” he added. Balearic president, Francesc Antich, who also attended the presentation, confirmed that work on the project will start in April next year. “The university rail link meets two of the government's primary targets, improving access to the university while boosting public transport and bringing the community closer together,” Antich said. The university has been pushing for a rail link for years, at present it is served by just a single bus route, hence traffic along the Soller road as far as the university is always heavy and the stretch of road has become an accident black spot. Outgoing university dean Llorenc Huguet said that the project is a “dream come true,” adding that the train has other advantages “time spent on the train can be spent reading books,” he joked.