SPAIN: Euskal Trenbide Sarea awarded a consortium of Ferrovial, Amenabar and Exbasa a €27·5m contract on October 23 for construction of the 0·8 km Uribarri section of Bilbao Metro Line 3. On November 12, a contract worth €30·8m was awarded to UTE Sacyr, Cavosa Obras y Proyectos and Altuna y Uria for the Txurdinaga – Casco Viejo section.
Work has already started on the Etxebarri – Txurdinaga segment of the 5·9 km route. Once completed, Line 3 will run from Etxebarri to Matiko with seven stations, including an interchange with lines 1 and 2 at Casco Viejo; the project will cost around €185m.
On October 19, Basque Transport Minister Iñaki Arriola and the mayors of Bilbao and Sondika marked the start of work on a tunnel between Bilbao city centre and the airport. Th e 1·9 km double-track bore will link Matiko with the existing EuskoTren line in Sondika, enabling trains to run faster than on the existing sharply-curved single-track alignment.
