Page 75 - Vía Libre Special - 25 Years of Spanish High Speed Rail

Six trainsets of the 24 that were built for the
AVE between Madrid and Seville were sent to the
Mediterranean corridor.

year for the first time double trainsets were used.
Forty-four train managers joined the
Euromed service. Their training started a few
months before that of the rest of the teams.
The average age was 37 at the time. Of the 44
train managers, 29 were from Catalonia, two
from Valencia, and the rest from other regions.
Meanwhile there were 32 supervisors;
28 were on the initial training course and four
more joined in 1997. In this case, the average age
was 36, and 18 were from Barcelona, seven from
Valencia, and the rest from other regions (Madrid,
Irún, Guadalajara and Miranda). Of the 76 train
managers and supervisors, only one, a supervisor,
was a woman. This very low percentage of females
was increased slightly by the presence of another
four women in the management team, including
the manager of the Mediterranean corridor.
It was certainly a young team, both in terms between Barcelona and Valencia, reflected in the
of the operational staff and the managers. They all constant increase of passengers and revenue.
belonged to the same generation and felt destined Once it had entered into service, nothing
to transform the world they had inherited, in this would ever be the same for long distance travel on
case, the provision of traditional services in Renfe. the conventional network. The 1990s were decisive
There was a collective will to work together for the in laying the foundations for the transformation
common good. of onboard and on the ground services on long
At Barcelona and Valencia that team placed distance trains, as much as the 80s had been for years of Spanish high speed rail
the customer at the centre of all operations. An the modernization of stations.
attitude that enabled Renfe to conquer the market We entered the 21st century with a rail

Vía Libre • Special 25th Anniversary of the AVE Edition 75