Page 29 - Vía Libre Special - 25 Years of Spanish High Speed Rail

GONZALO RUBIO

Construction of the Venta de Baños-Burgos
high speed line.

Its construction, at a cost of 2,547 million time already saved by the new Madrid-Valladolid
euros, was constrained by the rugged terrain the line. The entire journey now takes just over an
line had to pass through and the commitment to hour and a half, halving the three hour journey
reduce its environmental impact. This required time prior to the introduction of high speed. This
the construction of 38 viaducts and 31 tunnels, reduction in time also benefits Madrid–Galicia
accounting for over 57% of the total length of the journey times.
section.
Compared to the conventional line, the new
alignment shortened the distance between the two Valladolid–
Galician cities by 38.9 kilometres.

Olmedo–Zamora section Palencia–León line

December 17, 2015 saw the entry into service
of what is to date the second, 100.2 kilometre long On September 29, 2015 the 169 kilometre long
section of the Madrid–Galicia line. The section Valladolid-Venta de Baños-Palencia-Leon high
starts on the Madrid-Segovia-Valladolid line at speed line entered into service. This line forms
the Olmedo branch junction, from where it heads part of the north-northwest high speed corridor,
towards the new station at Medina del Campo. extending the Madrid-Segovia-Valladolid into the
There, a gauge changer enables high speed services region of Castile and Leon.
to continue on to Salamanca on a conventional With an overall investment of close to 1,600
line that has been electrified for the purpose. From million euros, the line leaves Valladolid with double
there it presses on to Zamora, where the station has track operation until the junction at Cerrato some
been radically revamped to allow it to meet the new 38 kilometres out, from where it continues in
needs. The new line runs close to the existing line single track mode for approximately 42 kilometres
over easy terrain. as far as the junction at Las Barreras. There it
The construction of the Olmedo–Zamora reverts to double track for a 37.5 kilometre stretch
line, which extends the Madrid–Segovia–Valladolid to Las Arenas junction, where trains once again
high speed line towards northwest Spain, involved run on single track for another 42 kilometres until
an investment of 748.2 million euros. Its entry into they reach Vilecha. From Vilecha, more double years of Spanish high speed rail
service reduced journey times between Madrid and track carries trains the final kilometres to the
Zamora by some thirty minutes, in addition to the high speed station of Leon.

Vía Libre • Special 25th Anniversary of the AVE Edition 29