• A new building will be built for railway use that, together with the diversion of conventional roads and the adaptation of the station of metric width as provisional terminal (already tendered), will free up spaces to execute the rest of the planned works.
• It will house the dependencies that are now dispersed throughout the railway complex: offices, workshops, warehouses, Traffic Regulation Center or the training center.
• This fulfils the commitment established in the follow-up committee of the integration agreement: to tender this year all the works that are fully funded by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, through Adif.

The Council of Ministers has today authorized the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to tender for an estimated value of 27.2 million euros (VAT not included), through Adif, the construction of the new building of railway uses of the Santander station, a key action to advance the integration of the railway in the capital of Cantabria.

This fulfils the commitment established in the follow-up committee of the integration agreement signed by the Ministry, through Adif and Renfe, the Cantabrian Government and the City of Santander: which is to tender this year the diversion of the conventional roads and adaptation of the station of metric width as provisional terminal, works already tendered for 41.5 million euros; and these works of the property for railway uses.

All this will allow the start of the works in 2026 and release, once completed, the necessary spaces to execute the rest of the works contemplated in the agreement, enabling a provisional corridor to maintain the railway service while the integration actions are carried out.

The diversion of the tracks, the provision of a temporary station to house all the services and the building of railway uses, will be fully financed by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, through Adif, as it implies functional and operational improvements for the railway infrastructure.

For its part, Adif, the City Council and the regional executive will cofinance the reorganization of spaces within the railway complex and the modernization of the long-distance station, completing the actions with which the final image of integration would be achieved, which occupies a prominent place in the Proximity Plan of Cantabria. In fact, Adif is currently working on this project.

New building for railway uses

The new building will be located on a 9,000 m2 plot located next to the Water Park, in parallel and on the same level as the road beach, south of the Castilla-Hermida pedestrian elevator.

Conceived as a versatile building, it will house the dependencies that are currently dispersed throughout the railway complex, responding to their different needs: offices, workshops and warehouses, Traffic Regulation Center, training center, etc.

The building will consist of two modules independent of each other: the office building, of approximately 4,300 m2, distributed on three floors with a height of 13 m; and the building for workshops and maintenance stores, of 850 m2, with a single floor of 7 m.

An intuitive and functional building has been designed that guarantees the well-being of workers, combining environmental sustainability with technological innovation and flexibility.

In the elevation that overlooks the beach of roads, the facade presents a large continuous glassware that guarantees the lighting of the rooms, covered by an envelope of slats that protects it from direct sunlight. On the other hand, the opposite elevation, which overlooks the park, presents a surface with less presence of glass.

The project includes the urbanization of the environment, with pedestrian and road roads, gardening, parking of approximately 150 spaces, and a perimeter enclosure.

Space freed up to advance in the integration

In the current beach of roads of the Santander station coexist the Iberian width and the metric width with two clearly differentiated corridors, with their corresponding facilities and buildings that physically separate them.

The final image of the entire performance includes:

•Moving the beam of passenger tracks and goods of metric width;

•The remodeling of the beach of wide Iberian roads;

•Integration of all passenger services into a single station;

•The replacement of the current car park;

•The urbanization of the whole area, with a liberated area of more than 24,000 m2 next to Calle Castilla;

•And the creation of a new area of about 52,250 m2 that will cover tracks and platforms of both Iberian and metric width.

Benefits and objectives of railway integration in Santander

The integration of the railway in the city of Santander will allow to materialize three objectives, with notable benefits both for users and for railway operations and the urban environment:

1.Modernizar and expand the station: rehabilitate the station of the conventional network (north pavilion) to unify in a single passenger building the provision of all railway services (Long Distance, Medium Distance, Neighbourhoods and network of metric width); and build a new volume, attached to the north pavilion, which will expand the surface of the passenger building and create a new connection of the square of the Stations with the Paseo del Agua.

2.Reordenar spaces to rationalize the surface occupied by the beach of roads and railway facilities. Thus, the railway service will be made more efficient and spaces will be freed up to improve the integration of the railway in the city.

3.Cubrir the tracks and platforms from the headboard to the pedestrian walkway that connect the streets Alta and Castilla and take advantage urbanistically of the liberated soils.