On Monday, the Balearic government's ministry of mobility announced that there will be three feasibility studies for extending the current rail network in Mallorca.
The minister, Josep Marí, held a meeting with the mayors of Arta, Manacor, Sant Llorenç and Son Servera at which the reopening of the Arta-Manacor line was discussed, as also was a connection to Cala Millor. He explained that 1,091,923 euros are to be spent on the feasibility studies, one of which will be the reopening plus the Cala Millor connection.
The other two are an extension from Palma to Llucmajor and Campos and from Sa Pobla to Alcudia. The feasibility studies will be put out to tender. Once awarded, the studies will take six months for the Alcudia and Campos projects and four months for the line in the east of Mallorca. In terms of feasibility, the main issue with the latter is the connection to Cala Millor; the Arta-Manacor line (the route) does in effect already exist.
Marí said that the government is committed to quality public transport and sustainable mobility. In recent years, it has made improvements to the rail infrastructure through electrification and service enhancements. He will this week also be meeting the mayors of Campos and Llucmajor and of Alcudia and Sa Pobla.
A reopening of the Arta-Manacor line was halted by the Partido Popular government of José Ramón Bauzá. This was on cost grounds at a time of financial crisis austerity measures. Both this project and the extension to Alcudia did at one point have Madrid funding. Where the Alcudia line was concerned, it was in any event shelved because agreement couldn't be reached on the route from Sa Pobla.