Old trains for the railway museum. | Assumpta Bassa

TW

Sant Llorenç town hall will manage the railway museum that is planned for the station in Son Carrió. The board of the SFM rail operator has given the green light to an agreement between the regional government and town hall by which the SFM facility will be placed in municipal hands.

The project had been due to start in 2018. Tourist tax revenue had been lined up, but the project was put on hold. In October 2017, it was announced that 4.2 million euros of tax revenue would be invested in three phases. This was for the museum and for an old train to be used.

However, the regional transport ministry lost all the tourist tax funding for the project because it wasn't carried out in the stipulated time. Introducing the old train was not possible on legal grounds. The director-general for transport, Jaume Mateu, says that the passing of the law on ways now makes it legally possible for historic trains to be used.

The government has set aside an initial 400,000 euros for the project. The total funding, as it currently now stands, will have to come from the transport ministry.

Mateu adds that if the Manacor-Arta line were to be revived in future, space at Son Carrió would be made.