Spanish railway news – Page 4
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NewsTrain driver and head of safety convicted over Santiago de Compostela derailment
SPAIN: It was ‘incomprehensible’ that a high speed line equipped with ERTMS would not have it installed at a location where a speed restriction meant it was so obviously required, the judge said when a criminal court reached its verdict on the July 24 2013 derailment of a Class 730 Alvia train.
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Metro Report InternationalNew trains and CBTC to increase Bilbao metro capacity
SPAIN: Metro de Bilbao has announced a €736m plan to increase capacity by 12% by upgrading its metre-gauge network and replacing its oldest vehicles. Communications-based train control is to be installed at an estimated cost of €130m. This would enable headways to be reduced and provide ...
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Metro Report InternationalMadrid metro Line 6 to go driverless
SPAIN: Metro de Madrid has announced more details of its plans for the automation of the 23·5 km, 28-station circular Line 6, which is the busiest on the network with an average of 618 000 passengers on weekdays. Work on the €129m project is scheduled to ...
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Metro Report International‘Extremely exacting’ Madrid metro train order signed
SPAIN: Metro de Madrid has signed a contract for sole bidder CAF to supply 40 six-car trainsets to operate on large-profile lines 6 and 8. The €400m deal announced by CAF on June 17 includes a programme to optimise the fleet’s life cycle, and there is ...
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NewsInvestor sees ‘genuine growth potential’ as DB completes sale of Arriva
EUROPE: The sale of Deutsche Bahn’s non-German public transport business Arriva to I Squared Capital has been completed, the companies announced on June 3. DB said it would now focus on rail transport within Germany, while I Squared said it sees opportunities to invest in decarbonisation. ...
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NewsAvril high speed trains enter service
SPAIN: The first 10 Talgo S106 Avril high speed trainsets entered passenger service with national operator RENFE on May 21. The Alta Velocidad, Rueda Independiente, Ligero (High Speed, Independent Wheels, Lightweight) is the latest evolution of the Talgo family. The 330 km/h Series 106 sets have ...
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NewsSpain – Morocco tunnel investigations underway
INTERNATIONAL: Spanish state-owned engineering consultancy Ineco has told Railway Gazette International that the long-proposed Spain – Morocco inter-continental tunnel ’is highly complex and is currently undergoing feasibility studies’. The Strait of Gibraltar is around 13 km wide at its narrowest point, but is up to 900 ...
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NewsMurcia del Carmen station fit-out contract awarded
SPAIN: High speed rail infrastructure manager ADIF Alta Velocidad has awarded Ferrovial and Acciona a €164m contract to fit out the new Murcia del Carmen station. The contract announced on May 3 covers building interiors, platform furniture and landscaping, as well as the installation of non-railway ...
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Metro Report InternationalConstruction starts on Sevilla metro Line 3
SPAIN: Work has started on the construction of Sevilla metro Line 3, following a groundbreaking ceremony attended by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Minister of Transport & Sustainable Mobility Óscar Puente and Minister of Housing & Urban Development Isabel Rodríguez on April 8. When complete the 7·6 ...
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News‘Price dumping’ row mars Ouigo’s latest expansion
SPAIN: SNCF’s low-cost subsidiary Ouigo has further expanded its operations in Spain, launching Madrid – Valladolid services on April 19, consisting of two return trips per day. Single fares start at €9, and initially 14 000 tickets per week have been made available. The operator could ...
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NewsStadler’s Spanish suburban EMUs on test
SPAIN: The first of 44 double-deck EMUs which Stadler is supplying to RENFE are now being tested at the manufacturer’s plant at Albuixech near València. In March 2021, RENFE placed a contract which covered an initial 24 EMUs 100 m long and 25 sets 200 m ...
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NewsTalgo Avril high speed trainsets to enter service in May
SPAIN: National operator RENFE has taken delivery of its first 10 Talgo S106 Avril wide-bodied high speed trainsets. The trains are to be deployed from May 21 on services to Galicia and Asturias where gauge-changing is necessary., allowing the existing S130 sets to be cascaded to ...
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In depthSpain: Plan de Cercanías promises an end to inaction
Over the past three decades, much of Spain’s rail investment has been channelled into its expanding high speed network. Government plans now envisage a substantial boost for suburban services which account for 90% of all ridership. Mike Bent investigates.
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NewsSpanish dual gauging project makes progress
SPAIN: Infrastructure manager ADIF Alta Velocidad has enlarged the 558 m Gaintxurizketa tunnel between Errenteria and Irun as part of a project to provide a dual gauge link between the French border and the start of the future ‘Basque Y’ 1 435 mm gauge high speed ...
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NewsIberian T4000 pocket wagons arrive
SPAIN: Leasing company VTG is taking delivery of 200 T4000 pocket wagons for combined transport services on Spain and Portugal’s 1 668 mm gauge. The wagons are being built by Tatravagónka to a design derived from the T3000 pocket wagons in use on 1 435 mm ...
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NewsBasque region to take over RENFE suburban routes
SPAIN: On March 11 the Spanish government announced that management of all suburban services in the Basque region would be transferred from national operator RENFE to the Euzkadi autonomous community. The national government will set up a €400m fund to launch the project, some of which ...
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NewsHigh speed rail bypass contract awarded
SPAIN: High speed rail infrastructure manager ADIF Alta Velocidad has awarded Sacyr Construcción a €49m contract to build the first section of a 19 km bypass around the town of Loja on the Antequera – Granada high speed line. Trains currently use a single track, dual ...
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NewsMallorca EMU delivered
SPAIN: Serveis Ferroviaris de Mallorca has taken delivery of the first of five electric multiple-units being supplied by CAF. Testing is now underway with entry into services on SFM’s metre-gauge routes from Palma de Mallorca planned for June, by which time the remaining four EMUs are ...
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NewsHungarian consortium proposes Talgo takeover
SPAIN: Hungarian consortium Ganz-Mavag Europe has put forward a €619m offer to buy 100% of Talgo, which said the offer was attractive. However, the Spanish government is not keen to see the company in foreign ownership, and options including a potential takeover by CAF are reportedly ...
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NewsCheaper rolling stock financing predicted as Luxembourg protocol comes into force
INTERNATIONAL: A global treaty designed to make it easier and cheaper for the private sector to finance railway rolling stock came into force on March 8. The Luxembourg Rail Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment is a treaty under the ...