THE ANDALUCÍA regional government has awarded a joint venture of Cosfesa, Modecar and Ortiz a €28·6m contract to undertake civil works on the first section of a 12 km light rail route serving Alcalá de Guadaíra on the southeastern outskirts of Sevilla. Work is due to begin during the last quarter of 2007 and take 24 months to complete.
The initial 3·3 km section runs through the town centre from Montecarmelo to Cabeza Hermosa, serving four intermediate stops. Park-and-ride facilities offering a total of 300 parking spaces are planned at each end of the route.
A total of 21 bids have been received for a contract worth up to €53m to build the next 5 km with two intermediate stops from Cabeza Hermosa to Parque Tecnológico II, which makes use of a disused railway alignment. The final section will take the double-track 1 435 mm gauge route across the Sevilla city boundary.
End-to-end journey time on the completed route will be 23 min.
