Page 15 - Vía Libre Special - 25 Years of Spanish High Speed Rail

GONZALO RUBIO

An S104 in the connection area of the Madrid-Seville
line with the La Sagra-Toledo line.
Madrid–Seville In terms of the track, major improvement

line work has been done on the cambers of various
sections, which has enable speeds to be increased
from 250 km/h to 300 km/h, without affecting either
passenger comfort levels or rail wear.
On April 21, 1992 the first Spanish high speed line Among the upgrades implemented to
entered into service between the cities of Madrid fall in line with new high speed standards is the
and Seville. This infrastructure represented a modification of the electrification system used
qualitative leap towards a new railway model, in accesses to cities, which has been changed to
culminating a process that began in 1986, the year 25 KV AC at 50 Hz, and the installation of GSM-R
in which the construction of the New Rail Access to telecommunications. Finally we would highlight
Andalusia (NAFA) was given the go ahead.
This connection, the starting point of the
revolution in Spanish rail communications, not Key features of the
only benefited the cities directly served by the infrastructure
line (Madrid, Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Cordoba
and Seville), but later spawned two branch lines - Length: 474,4 km.
giving rise to the high speed lines to Toledo and - Gauge: Standard.
Malaga. - Maximum speed: 300 km/h.
Meanwhile, thanks to gauge changers, all the
benefits brought by this line, both in shorter journey - Electrification: 1 x 25kV 50Hz AC.
times and improved safety and service, have been - Signalling: ASFA 200 and LZB.
passed on to the rail traffic of Cadiz, Huelva, Malaga, - Telecommunications: Digital train-ground based
Granada and Algeciras. on GSM–R
Designed to allow speeds of up to 300 km/h,
the first high speed line in Spain is now able to - Viaducts: 32. Total length 8,355 metres.
deliver its maximum performance. Since its initial - Tunnels: 17. Total length 16,030 metres.
entry into service, a number of upgrade projects - Passenger stations: Six, at Madrid Puerta de
have been developed with the aim of increasing Atocha, Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Villanueva de
quality levels in all aspects. Córdoba-Los Pedroches, Cordoba, and Sevilla
Pioneering technologies for the time were Santa Justa.
installed on this line, such as LZB, which constantly
monitors the train’s speed by means of bidirectional - Gauge changers: Two, at Madrid Atocha and years of Spanish high speed rail
data transmission between track and train, enabling Majarabique (Seville).
the train to be driven automatically.

Vía Libre • Special 25th Anniversary of the AVE Edition 15