Olmedo-Zamora-Galicia_high-speed_rail_line

Madrid–Galicia high-speed rail line

Madrid–Galicia high-speed rail line

Spanish high-speed railway line

The Madrid–Galicia high-speed rail line is a high-speed railway line in Spain that links the city of Madrid with the region of Galicia via the cities of Olmedo, Zamora, Ourense and Santiago de Compostela. The line also connects the Atlantic Axis high-speed rail line to the rest of the Spanish AVE high-speed network. The Madrid–Galicia high-speed rail line is constructed as double electrified line and is designed for trains running at speeds up to 350 kilometres per hour (220 mph).[1]

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History

The line shares the same railway for the section between Madrid and Olmedo with the Madrid–Asturias high-speed rail line. This part was inaugurated on 23 December 2007 along with the entire section Madrid–Segovia–Valladolid. Construction on the section between Ourense and Santiago de Compostela started in 2004 and the 87.1 km (54.1 mi) part was completed and connected with the Atlantic Axis high-speed rail line in Santiago de Compostela on 10 December 2011. This part of the line has a track gauge of 1,668 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in) Iberian gauge, which is due to be converted to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge later.[1] Since November 2015, trains in Alvia commercial service used this part on routes between Galicia and other Spanish regions.

In July 2015 it was announced that the traction power supply for the Olmedo-Pedralba de la Pradería (near Puebla de Sanabria) section would be switched-on on 7 August 2015.[2] The 99 km (62 mi) southern section, between Olmedo (130 km (81 mi) north of Madrid on the Madrid–Leon line) and Zamora entered revenue service on 17 December 2015 and initially served by Alvia trains.[3][4] In January 2017 it was announced that the boring of the Bolaños tunnels along the Verín - Ourense section of the line was completed.[5] The central part, which crosses some of Spain's most remote and fragile natural areas, was initially expected to open in 2018,[6][7] but has again been delayed to end 2021.[8] The 110 km (68 mi) new built section between Zamora and Otero de Sanabria (near Puebla de Sanabria) was completed at a cost of 898 million euros and put in service on 26 October 2020. It is capable for speeds up to 350 km/h (217 mph).[9] The Sanabria AV [es] high-speed rail station opened on 22 July 2021.[10] The 119.4 km (74.2 mi) last remaining part between Puebla de Sanabria and Ourense was completed on 21 December 2021 and the whole line was commercially inaugurated in AVE service on 21 December 2021, after 20 years of work.[11]

Operations

There are 10 services each day in both directions.[12] AVE trains run between Madrid and Ourense with a maximum operating speed of 300 km/h (186 mph) to cover the distance in 2h 15min, whilst certification is ongoing for variable gauge Talgo AVRIL trains to achieve 330 km/h (205 mph) in service. In addition Alvia services in the line on class 130 and 730 gauge-changing trains with a commercial speed of 250 km/h (155 mph), connect Madrid to Santiago de Compostela, Pontevedra, Vigo, Lugo, A Coruña and Ferrol.[13]

Incidents

In July 2013, an S730 train derailed in a non-LAV (conventional line) stretch near the Santiago de Compostela station.

References

  1. [1]
    "Infraestructuras y Estaciones". Adif. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  2. [2]
    "Adif pone en tensión tramo de alta velocidad Olmedo-Pedralba de la Pradería". ABC.es. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  3. [3]
    Fran Hurtado (15 December 2015). "El AVE Madrid-Zamora se estrena este jueves sin actos inaugurales". noticias.lainformacion.com. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. [4]
    "La llegada del AVE a Zamora se retrasa a finales de año, según la ministra, Ana Pastor". La Opinion de Zamora. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  5. [5]
    "FCC completes boring of Bolaños tunnels". railjournal.com. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  6. [6]
    "Los AVE de pruebas entre Olmedo y Zamora comenzarán a circular a finales de septiembre". La Opinión de Zamora. 23 August 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  7. [7]
    "Economía/AVE- Adif ratifica la llegada del AVE a Galicia en 2019". europapress. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  8. [8]
    "EU co-financing for Galician high speed line". Railway Gazette International. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  9. [9]
    "Ábalos destaca la inversión de 898 millones en el nuevo tramo del AVE a Galicia". www.elnortedecastilla.es. 26 October 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  10. [10]
    "La ministra inaugura la estación AVE "ejemplo del compromiso" con el corredor noroeste". Agencia EFE. 22 July 2021.
  11. [11]
    Chris King (20 December 2021). "AVE links Madrid with Galicia after 20 years". euroweeklynews.com. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  12. [12]
    "Spain to launch €15 high-speed train between Madrid and Galicia". The Local Spain. 2021-11-28. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
  13. [13]
    "Madrid - Galicia high-speed line to open on December 21". International Railway Journal. 2021-11-22. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Olmedo-Zamora-Galicia_high-speed_rail_line, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.