Page 35 - Vía Libre Special - 25 Years of Spanish High Speed Rail

O Corno tunnel and the 529 metre long Teixeiras North
viaduct.
The Zamora-Lubián section is at an advan- high speed corridor
ced state of completion. The impressively long Re-
quejo viaduct and the new 6,407 metre long tunnel
at Padornelo, already bored, are the two standout
features of the line. • Venta de Baños-Burgos section. At 89.1 km long,
The Lubián-Orense section is one of the it will link up with the Madrid-Valladolid-Leon high
most technically complex sections, not only of speed line, already in service. In the future it is plan-
the Madrid-Galicia high speed line but also of the ned to extend the line to connect with Vitoria and
entire Spanish high speed network, due to the ru- the Basque Y network, currently under construc-
ggedness of the terrain through which it passes. tion.
Nearly fifty construction companies are involved in The route features two tunnels and twelve
building the line, which requires a major coordina- viaducts, among which stand out the 1,128 metre long
tion effort. Particularly complicated is the close to viaduct over the River Pisuerga, and the 1,330 metre
60 km long section between Lubián and Porto, in long viaduct over the A-62 motorway and the River
which the layout consists of two tracks running on Pisuerga.
separate track beds with a continuous succession The track bed work on this line is completed,
of tunnels and viaducts. save for the Estépar-Burgos section. The most signi-
Of the tunnels on the line, the aforementio- ficant work is now centred on the completion of this
ned O Corno tunnel (8.5 km long), the Prado tunnel section, including the laying of the track, installation
(whose left track is 7,629 metres long while the ri- of the overhead contact line, safety and communica-
ght track is 7,604 in length), and the La Canda tun- tions equipment, and noise protection screens.
nel (7.3 km in each bore) are all impressively long. • Pajares bypass. This 49.8 km long section is part
Of the viaducts we would highlight the 1,014 metre of the Madrid-Asturias high speed line current-
long Arnoia viaduct, part of the already completed ly in service between Madrid and Leon. The Paja-
6.7 km long Miamán-Ponte Ambía subsection. res bypass falls within the framework of the nor-

years of Spanish high speed rail

In the future, the Venta de Baños-Burgos section will
be extended to connect with the Basque Y network.
ADIF In the photo, the San Antonio viaduct.

Vía Libre • Special 25th Anniversary of the AVE Edition 35