Page 52 - Vía Libre Special - 25 Years of Spanish High Speed Rail

SPECIAL

years of Spanish high speed rail

Other systems

The systems for the detection of falling objects
on the Madrid-Seville line used to be based on
copper mesh and today is based on optical fibre
mesh. New detectors have also been introduced
to monitor the behaviour of the pantograph, to-
gether with onboard detectors of vertical impact,
crosswinds, etc. The control desks were analogue
in the first high speed trains and now they are di-
gital. The Séneca auscultation train now carries out the
functions of the laboratory car that used to be
The first trains running on high speed lines attached to a conventional train.
were fitted with rheostat brakes which enabled
trains to be slowed without using the disc brakes. chart that course, set sights firmly on the future, and
The electrical energy generated by this braking define strategies to carry out the necessary changes
was dissipated by some resistors on the roof. to realize that vision.
Currently all high speed trains make use At that time the forming of teams and the es-
of a technological development of this electrical tablishment and creation of multifunctional depart-
braking system whereby this energy is recovered ments that took that vision on board and had the
and returned to the OHL to be used by other tra- motivation and inspiration to carry forward some-
ins or sent back to the energy transport network. thing that was almost heroic but achievable, was the
This achieves a significant saving in energy con- seed from which today’s success has grown.
The twenty-fifth anniversary of the inaugu-
sumption while preventing the energy from dis- ration of the Madrid-Seville line is a good moment
sipating as heat.
to recognize and acknowledge the effort and dedi-
Initially track auscultation was carried out cation of everyone whose technical and managerial
by a laboratory car on a commercial train, with work played a part and still plays a part in the deve-
OHL dinamic behaviour and passenger confort lopment of a railway which is increasingly more effi-
testing . Nowadays the Seneca auscultation tra- cient and more useful to society.
in, capable of running at 330 km/h, is equipped Antonio Berrios VillAlBA
with dynamic auscultation systems for monitoring is an industrial engineer who joined Renfe as an engine
driver. He has held posts of responsibility at Renfe, GIF and Adif
the track, the OHL, signalling and telecommuni-
cations. and has played an active part in the design, commissioning and
operation of all the high speed lines.

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