Page 104 - Vía Libre Special - 25 Years of Spanish High Speed Rail

full speed ahead
brake van

The first

Andalusia

access

project via

Brazatortas

April 26, 1928

This April sees the 25th anniversary of the first Map of the Spanish rail network in the 1920s, to
high speed line in Spain, the origins of which hark back which have been added in red the different lines,
to the Rail Transport Plan approved by the government such as the one from Puertollano to Cordoba,
in 1987. Among the actions called for in this investment built under the Guadalhorce Plan. Illustration
programme was the construction of a new rail access by Pedro Pintado Quintana.
to Andalusia by building a direct railway link between
the stations of Brazatortas, on the Madrid to Badajoz mining interests of the Sociedad Minero Metalúrgica
line not far from Puertollano, and Cordoba. de Peñarroya and some of its most influential
This anniversary is a good excuse for stakeholders, including some famous politicians of
remembering an interesting forerunner to the direct the time such as Canalejas and Romanones. The
connection between Puertollano and Cordoba, which first proposals in the respect hark back to the year
was planned in the days of the Dictatorship of Primo 1912 when a Royal Decree authorized the Ministry of
de Rivera; April 26 marks the 89th anniversary of it Development to submit to Parliament a draft bill to
being given the go ahead. set the terms of a tender calling for designs for the
In stead of seeking a direct route south construction of this line.
from Madrid, the railway company Compañía de los After the failure of this and other similar
Ferrocarriles de Madrid a Zaragoza y Alicante (MZA) projects, a new rail access to Andalusia was about to
decided to take advantage of a large chunk of its become a reality when the Puertollano to Cordoba
existing line towards the Mediterranean, specifically line was included in the 1926 Priority Plan for Railways
the line between Madrid and Alcázar de San Juan, with of Urgent Construction, better known as the
the idea of prolonging the line at this point over the “Guadalhorce Plan” as it was the brainchild of the
Despeñaperros Pass to Cordoba and Seville. With Count of Guadalhorce, the Minister of Development
the DATE
this decision the railway company could optimize its under Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship. From Madrid
infrastructure and cut the cost of building a line to trains would arrive at Puertollano via the line linking
Andalusia. But the downside was that the trains would Madrid with Badajoz, precisely the same section that
be obliged to make a significant detour, with the would later be used by the AVE.
consequent increase in journey times and transport The Guadalhorce Plan received the backing
costs. So soon new, more direct options were studied, of Primo de Rivera’s government on March 5, 1926,
ones which would improve communications between but the project, at an estimated cost of 65,876,261.08
the central meseta and the Guadalquivir valley, among pesetas, was not formally approved until April 26, 1928.
which we should highlight the Puertollano to Cordoba Months later, on June 8, the government authorized
connection, which was practically completed under the Ministry of Development to contract out the
this project. railway work for the section from Puertollano to the
The main objectives of the Puertollano to town of Marmolejo where it was to eventually to link
Cordoba railway project was to help unblock the up with the Madrid-Seville line.
saturated Despeñaperros Pass and reduce the distance The grading work, building work, and the
between Madrid and Cordoba-Seville by 50 km. The construction of the railway buildings from Puertollano
initiative was also closely tied in with the industrial and to Marmolejo were awarded to the company Bernabé

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