Page 101 - Vía Libre Special - 25 Years of Spanish High Speed Rail

historical album
Bridge under construction on the
Madrid to Seville high speed line at
Brazatortas
(Ciudad Real) (September 1990).

The construction of the Madrid-Seville line brake van

T In order to drive the

railway through the
The Madrid-Seville line was the first line of a
complicated terrain
new railway that was radically different from the
of the Sierra Morena
it was necessary to
one before, and in terms of construction and
infrastructure equipment, it marked a watershed squeeze wide radius
curves into a less
in the history of civil works in Spain. than favourable
In 1986 the construction of the new rail terrain, which led to
access to Andalusia was announced. At first the construction of
it was to be built in Iberian gauge and its key a large number of
tunnels and viaducts.
feature was to be the Brazatortas bypass which Birds’ eye view (1990).
would open up a new corridor through the
Sierra Morena.
That first project made use of part of
the Madrid-Ciudad Real-Puertollano line form
Parla. Work began in the spring of 1988, but in
December of that same year the Government
decided that the new line should be built in UIC
standard gauge and with a power supply of
25,000 V AC.
This required the construction of a totally
different and entirely new line. The new design
parameters also dictated another substantial
change in speeds. From 160 or 200 km/h the
speed rose to 270 km/h in the sections in La
Mancha and 220 km/h in the hillier sections in
the Sierra Morena mountains. This was a high
speed line comparable to the high speed lines in
Japan, France and Germany, and the public works
would be on a scale never before seen in 20th The La Sagra maintenance depot was built
century Spain. on this first section, as well as some spectacular
The line started at the historic station viaducts, such as the one spanning the River
of Atocha and its first entirely new section Tajo. A new station was built at Ciudad Real,
would reach the town of Parla in the province requiring a total rearrangement of the local rail
of Madrid. From there the old Madrid to Ciudad network and the reorganization of the city.
Real line was ripped up and the new track was From Ciudad Real the new line was built
laid. alongside the conventional line before arriving

Vía Libre • Special 25th Anniversary of the AVE Edition 101