The monitoring commission for the institutional protocol on the arrival of High-Speed Rail in Bilbao has approved an addendum. This promotes a provisional surface entry solution into the city, which will allow for an earlier launch of the new Bilbao Abando station. This solution, enabling high-speed rail to reach Bilbao's city center, is fully compatible with a future underground station.

All institutions present at the Commission's meeting, held today in Bilbao, agreed that this is the most technically feasible and appropriate solution to accelerate the arrival of high-speed rail in the city. They emphasized that it is fully compatible with the construction of a definitive underground station in Bilbao, an objective still included in the protocol addendum approved this Monday.

Specifically, the addendum to the protocol indicates that, following the relocation and construction of Bilbao's maintenance base to the railway domain of Lapatza, in Basauri, approximately 40,000 square meters of surface area will be freed up at Abando station. This will facilitate the earlier arrival of high-speed services to Bilbao-Abando.

Furthermore, the text states that the launch of the provisional station will be combined with the execution of technical works, already tendered, to ensure that high-speed trains can eventually reach Bilbao Abando station via an underground tunnel. To promote maximum operational coordination within their respective competencies, two technical working groups will be created: one for the new Bilbao Abando station and another to work on the Basauri site, where the maintenance base currently located in Bilbao will be installed.

Additionally, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia has requested to join the protocol and its monitoring commission, aiming to further strengthen inter-institutional collaboration.