ETS to start the resurfacing work of the General Álava-Independencia section
• The project, costing €418,225, involves removing 32 manholes along the tramway line in order to reduce the noise impact caused by road traffic
• Between 10 August and 1 September, both inclusive, the tramway will not run between the Parlamento and Angulema stops
• Euskotren, whose summer timetable will come into force on 10 August, will run its usual services on the other lines
On Saturday 10 August, Euskal Trenbide Sarea — acting on behalf of the Basque Government's Ministry of Sustainable Mobility — will start on the work to resurface and remove the manholes on the track pavement shared by the tramway and vehicles along the Independencia and General Álava streets in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
From Saturday until Sunday 1 September, both inclusive, the streets affected by the works will need to be closed to the tramway and road traffic (access will be allowed to garages). During that period, Euskotren will run its usual service throughout the network, except in the section between the Parlamento and Angulema stations.
The work included in this project — which has a budget of €418,225.73 (not including VAT and a 3-month implementation period — is already underway, as the manholes have been cleaned in recent weeks, along with moving cabling, sampling and other essential preliminary tasks prior to closing the streets for 3 weeks.
The adopted solution aims to lower the noise impact of the vehicles along the shared section by means of replacing the current road surface with 10 cm of bituminous concrete, removing 32 manholes and rebuilding a further 114. Fewer manholes will cut future maintenance by 50%.
Since it came into service in 2008, the track pavement along the General Álava and Independencia streets has required numerous interventions, both to repair manholes and to replace the road surface. The wear and tear have been caused by the constant flow of buses and delivery lorries along the shared section used by the trams to Ibaiondo or Abetxuko.
The last major overhaul was in 2016. Numerous jobs have since been carried out to maintain and rebuild manholes, but upgrading the shared track pavement again has been deemed to be necessary as the last major overhaul was over seven years ago.
Tramway summer timetable from 10 August
On Saturday 10 August, the summer timetable for the Euskotren tram service in Vitoria-Gasteiz will come into force, with trams running every 20 minutes on each branch line.
Furthermore, due to the works between the Parlamento and Angulema stops, the service will run in both directions on the following sections:
• Ibaiondo-Parlamento.
• Angulema-Salburua.
• Abetxuko-Parlamento.
• Angulema-Unibertsitatea.
Euskotren recommends that passengers planning to travel by tram check the times in advance using the official APP or the search engine on www.euskotren.eus. Further information is also available by calling 944 333 333.