Macro transport stations for Manacor and Palma Nova

The Balearic government continues with its ambitious plans for the transport sector and has announced the construction of two macro transport stations in Manacor and Palma Nova next year. They will be similar to the station which already exists in Inca, for trains, coaches and other forms of transport. In Manacor, it will be built on the land of the old railway station, an area which has been going downhill steadily. Work is already a year behind schedule, but it will involve the refurbishment of the former station and the integration of the area into the city. The new Manacor station will be for trains, coaches and taxis. It will also have parking spaces for bicycles and a car park for vehicles of people who are planning to continue their journeys by public transport. Work on the macro station is due to start early next year and will be finished by the end of December. It is hoped that the new macro station will be fully operational when the Manacor train service is up and running. The station will cover an area of 12'000 square metres, and the building, of 600 square metres, will be the neuralgic centre of the area. The Palma Nova station will be built in co-ordination with the Calvia council and at the moment, the preliminary plans are being drawn up. Calvia council sources said that this transport centre will be located at the entrance to Palma Nova, next to the junction with the Ponent motorway. It will facilitate transfers and connections to and from all parts of the municipality and to Palma for journeys which cannot be made directly. It is hoped that this station will also be operative in 2002. It is reported that similar stations will be built in Alcudia and Capdepera in the future. In the meantime, Margalida Nájera, the Mayor of Calvia, said that the council was studying the possibility of EMT, the municipal bus company of Palma, running the service within Calvia, and from Capdella to Palma. The other options are to continue with the current concessionaire or for the Calvia council to set up its own service.