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In an increasingly complex job market, there are more and more people calling for earlier services and better timetables on Malaga's metro. The latest petition has come from a group of local residents who work in other Andalusian cities and who have recently experienced major changes with the 'early bird' train connection between the capital of the Costa del Sol, Cordoba and Seville.
At the end of April, Spain's state railway operator Renfe launched a new Avant service, designed for business people, workers and students who travel between the abovementioned three cities for work or academic reasons. It has been dubbed the 'early bird' train and it departs from Malaga's María Zambrano station at 6.35am, gets to Cordoba at 7.46am and finally arrives in Seville at 8.38am. The service runs from Monday to Friday.
As good as this sounds, the timetable imbalance now comes from the fact that these passengers cannot use the metro to get to the María Zambrano railway station, as would be expected, given that the first metro service rolls out at 6.30am. "Many of us workers are unable to use the metro because it is not possible to combine it with the train," said Francisco José Guzmán. "This timetable creates a mismatch between two transport services in our city. The first metro service must be adapted to this new reality and it should start operating at 6am."
For that reason, locals have launched a petition on the Change.org platform to collect signatures and demand improvements. "As a resident of Malaga who works in Cordoba, I face challenges getting to María Zambrano on time every day to catch the first train at 6.35am," said Concepción Martín, who started the campaign. "Malaga metro's late start forces me to use my car in an area where parking is scarce and expensive, when I should be able to travel in a sustainable and accessible way."
"This problem affects many workers in Malaga who start their working day before 7.00am, without access to early public transport." In addition, the metro timetable prevents connection with the first intercity trains from María Zambrano, "which forces more people to depend on the car".
As the body responsible for the metro, the Junta de Andalucía's ministry of public works (Fomento) has taken up the challenge. A spokesperson assured that "the viability of the timetable adaptation" requested by users will be analysed. That said, the department also calls on Spain's Ministry of Transport to ensure that the earlier start times of high-speed AVE and Avant services in Andalusian cities with metro systems "must be coordinated between both administrations, in the interest of optimal alignment and integration of both services".
"The intermodal public transport system requires synchronisation in terms of timetables and frequencies to provide the most efficient service to users. This planning is necessary to introduce changes in the metro timetables." Fomento says that the process is complex, because it requires alignment of "operational factors (maintenance tasks, among others) and the planning of work shifts".
In addition, the metro requires a "maintenance window" at night, between the closing and opening of the service. This time would be used for repairs to the infrastructure, systems and trains, in order to guarantee their safety and functionality. "For this operational reason, and in the interests of intermodality between the public transport services of different administrations, a loyal and effective dialogue is needed to be able to adapt the metro timetables in the event of a sudden change in the timetables of the services, especially when the new Avant or AVE trains are brought forward compared to the metro."
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