Page 20 - Vía Libre Special - 25 Years of Spanish High Speed Rail

SPECIAL

years of Spanish high speed rail

GONZALO RUBIO The 21.4 kilometre long La Sagra–Toledo

high speed line begins at around kilometre 54 of the
Madrid–Seville line.
Madrid–Toledo for Toledo to switch lines at 220 km/h without having
to slow down and so cover the distance between
line Madrid and Toledo in 33 minutes.
The line is equipped with ERTMS, LZB and ASFA
signalling systems, although currently trains are run-
ning with LZB supervision for operational reasons
On November 15, 2005 the high speed Madrid–Tole- since this system is used on the Madrid–Seville line.
do line was inaugurated, Spain’s third high speed line In the future, when the Madrid–Seville line switches
after Madrid–Seville and Madrid–Lleida. It consists of to ERTMS signalling, the new high speed line to Tole-
21.4 kilometres of standard gauge double track star- do will already be equipped with everything it needs
ting at approximately kilometre 54 of the high speed to receive traffic, without the need for any further
Madrid–Seville line, at the La Sagra technical station. modification.
The track design at this facility allows trains bound A spectacular viaduct over 1,600 metres long
over the River Tajo and the Valdecaba Stream, and
the pergola bridge over the Madrid–Seville high
Key features of the speed line are the two most significant structures on
infrastructure the line.

- Length: 20.842 km (+ 53.7 km on the Madrid–
Seville high speed line).
- Gauge: Standard. Córdoba–Málaga
- Maximum speed: 270 km/h on the section of the
Madrid-Seville line. 200 km/h on the branch line line
to Toledo.

- Electrification: System 1 x 25kV 50Hz AC.
- Signalling: LZB, ASFA and ERTMS systems. The first 100 kilometres, between Cordoba and
Antequera–Santa Ana, entered into service on
- Mobile radio telecommunications network:
GSM–R. December 16, 2006, coinciding with the opening
of two state-of-the art stations, Puente
- Viaducts: 1. Length: 1.6 km. Genil–Herrera and Antequera–Santa Ana. The
- Tunnels: 0 latter station is home to the Regulation and
Control Centre, the maintenance depot, and
- Passenger stations: 2. Madrid Puerta de Atocha
and Toledo. two gauge changers which enable trains to
switch seamlessly between the high speed

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