AVE shuttle ‘needs time’

AFTER three years of haggling and false starts, Benidorm has a direct bus link with Alicante’s mainline railway station.

Nevertheless it had a disappointingly slow start and the first Alsa buses inside the station precinct waited in vain for passengers arriving on the high-speed AVE trains from Madrid.

“These are early days and it’s normal for this to happen. People still don’t know about the service,” Alsa drivers said. 

AVE passengers are certainly arriving from Madrid, and in Benidorm the tourist industry and the town hall are convinced that many are bound for the resort.  If so, they are either taking taxis or making their way to the tram or bus station.

“The station shuttle will be a success. It will take time because this type of service takes a while to get going,” insisted Benidorm’s Transport councillor Jose Ramon Gonzalez de Zarate. 

De Zarate also predicted that the combined AVE-plus-shuttle tickets will persuade many more Madrileños to take weekend and ‘puente’ breaks.