The subway returns to ground zero of the Dana eight months later

241 days have passed since the watery hell devastated much of the province of Valencia . The historic and terrifying 29-0 storm devastated the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who lost everything overnight. Including the ability to travel on public transport rendered useless by the flood. Now, almost eight months later, the metro returns to ground zero after a Herculean reconstruction that involved laying down kilometers and kilometers of new network.

All Metrovalencia infrastructure and facilities affected by the floods of October 29th along this stretch have been renovated or rebuilt in recent months, in an "unprecedented effort" to which 27 contracts for construction and engineering services have been awarded, with a budget of approximately €140 million.

This was stated by the Minister of Environment, Infrastructure and Territory, Vicente Martínez Mus, after visiting the renovation of the Paiporta station, which opened its doors this Friday, June 27, amid the excitement of someone recovering something important.

This is the Valencia Sud-Castelló section, located in the Horta Sud and Ribera regions, which is served by metro lines 1, 2, and 7. Around 500 workers participated in the reconstruction process, along with Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (FGV) staff, who "have completed 275,000 hours of work to make this reopening possible."

In Paiporta, a new Metrovalencia station building has been built, as well as a rebuilt bridge over the Poyo ravine, which incorporates, as part of the same structure, the pedestrian walkway that connects this town with Picanya .

The main building of Paiporta station is now operational, while work continues on the annexed cafeteria. FGV has allocated more than five million euros for the new facilities in Paiporta and to repair the damaged Picanya building. The reconstruction of the building, completed in just over two months, provides more comfortable and accessible facilities for the town. At the same time, the platforms and all the railway infrastructure, which was devastated by the flood, have been rebuilt.

At the same time, work on the bridge over the Poyo ravine has been completed. These works, with a budget of €6.4 million, have allowed the pedestrian walkway to be integrated into the same structure, "a fundamental infrastructure for restoring service between Valencia Sud and Castelló."

With the restoration of service, the alternative buses that used to run to Safranar and Valencia Sud to compensate for the lack of metro service in the affected towns have stopped running. Over the past eight months, the buses have traveled more than 2.2 million kilometers, with more than seven million riders.

With the reopening of the "ground zero" section, the number of trains in service will increase: on lines 1 and 2, the current number of trains will increase from 17 to 23, and on lines 3, 5, 7, and 9, the current 23 vehicles will remain in service. A total of 46 trains will operate, the same number as before the closure.

Meanwhile, traffic will be suspended between this Friday and August 31st between the Aragó and Marítim stops due to rehabilitation and renovation of the tunnel's infrastructure and superstructure, and between Masies and Bétera due to work the Ministry of Transport will undertake on the A-7.

With this reopening, the ban on electric scooters entering the facilities and units remains in place, and access is limited to two bicycles per unit.