Railway Trip To Malaga

Enjoyable Ride on the Costa del Sol Coastal Railway

The Costa del Sol coastal railway runs from the city of Malaga down the coast through Torremolinos, Benalmadena and terminates at Fuengirola. My husband and I recently went for a return journey from Carvaial (Two stops out of Fuengirola to Malaga City.

The line serves a very busy built up costal area including commercial developments, holiday complexes and housing. Carvaial station like those on the rest of the line as been modernized and is kept in good condition. You buy your tickets from a machine that is multi lingual and easy to use. The fares are cheap and there is a train every half hour throughout the day.

The line itself is electrified and serves some 22 stations and is extremely busy. You can get many good views from the train including sea view. It is nice to see a different view of the Costa del Sol than the one you get used to from a car. As you travel into the City of Malaga you can see evidence of work on the new Malaga Metro You can also see the new high speed line and old line from the north trailing in on the left hand side. The new standard gauge high speed line is served by AVE trains to Madrid and Barcelona. The old line has a local service to Alora.

The newly rebuilt main station in Malaga is an impressive complex with many shops and entertainment venues. The railway facilities are first class and give passengers a very favorable impression of Malaga. We spent an hour looking round the station and had nice tapas at one of the many eating establishments in the new station. Our train on the return journey was packed with people standing. At each station those passengers who left were replaces by more who joined the train. It was only when we reached Benalmadena that everyone found a seat.

The old EMUs on the line are due to be replaced later in the year by new citidas units. Plans to extend the line are in hand to extend the line in the short term to San Pedro de la Alcantara and eventually all the way to Algeciras. I would recommend that anyone visiting the Costa del Sol make at least one journey on the line for the views and that it is quite possible to organize a number of days out to various places served by the line as a very cheap alternative to using a car in what is at times an extremely congested road network.

See also www.andaluciandreams.blogspot.com