Óscar Mayol, president of Ferrocarril de Sóller in Mallorca

Óscar Mayol, president of Ferrocarril de Sóller. | Lluc Garcia

Andrew EdePalma18/02/2023 13:37
TW
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Over the winter, the Soller Railway closes for a time so that maintenance work can be carried out. It has now reopened, the company's president, Óscar Mayol, saying that it's not possible to carry out work without completely stopping the service. Most recent work has included the repair of 350 metres of track in the main tunnel. Since renewal of the concession ten years ago, an average of two million euros have been spent on maintenance each winter.

Apart from this spend, he explains that keeping the train running costs ten million euros a year, but these costs have shot up over the past twelve months or so while revenue remains more or less what it has been - "the rates we are applying were set in 2012 and haven't been revised".

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In 2022, 850,000 tickets were sold for both the train and the tram. Mayol says that the train continues to be one of Mallorca's great attractions - "especially since people travel to Soller, a unique and very attractive place". But he adds that last year they suffered a decrease in sales for the classic island tour, an excursion which is very important for the train and tram.

Now there is concern about the closure of the Sa Calobra road. "That's something that couldn't have been foreseen, but it is necessary and urgent that it is repaired as soon as possible."