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The president of Adif highlights the boost given to European corridors in Andalusia, with investments of EUR 9,000 million

The president of Adif highlights the boost given to European corridors in Andalusia, with investments of EUR 9,000 million
foto: Adif /The president of Adif highlights the boost given to European corridors in Andalusia, with investments of EUR 9,000 million
07 / 10 / 2022

The president of Adif and Adif Alta Velocidad (Adif AV), María Luisa Domínguez, has reaffirmed her commitment to the development of the European Mediterranean and Atlantic corridors. The company will continue contributing to the structuring of territories and attracting opportunities for citizens and companies in those along which they run, including Andalusia.

"Landing in Andalusian lands, together with the comprehensive renovation of the Madrid-Seville High-Speed Line (investment of EUR 650 million), Adif and Adif AV undertake the development of actions with a total investment volume of around EUR 9,000 million, both in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Corridors, of which almost EUR 700 million will be financed by the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism until 2026 promoted by the European Union," she stressed.

María Luisa Domínguez said these words during her speech at the 'European Railway Corridors, keys for the development of Andalusia' conference, organized in Cordoba by the Andalusian Council of Chambers of Commerce. There she reviewed the strategy, plans, and actions of Adif and Adif AV to promote the trans-European corridors that run through Andalusia.

In her speech, she pointed out that "we continue to move forward to complete these infrastructures which are destined to become the preferred routes for our connections with Europe" and stressed the opportunity to involve all the actors necessary for the success of these strategic axes, "because their potential lies precisely in a transversal approach to the projects."

In this sense, she explained that the European corridors go beyond infrastructure, as they are strategic projects at the service of citizens and companies, in which logistics development strategies are also defined, and where ports are another major player, as well as airports, private terminals, and the industrial and business fabric, the driving force behind economic activity. "Only in this way, maximizing its transversality and multimodality, will we squeeze its capacity for transformation," she commented.

She also stressed the opportunity to "take advantage, now more than ever, of the potential they offer us because we have the backing of a European strategy aimed at developing transformative projects, which will allow us to move towards more sustainable, resilient, and competitive economies."

Among the Corridor projects that the entity is currently working on, the president highlighted the role of the Madrid-Seville High-Speed Line (HSL), one of the first links in the Mediterranean Corridor, and its transformative capacity for the territories it crosses, and its business fabric. "This axis will continue to offer the same high standards of reliability and comfort of the last thirty years. For this reason, we are undertaking a EUR 650 million investment in its comprehensive renovation, with up to 55% financing from the Spanish government's Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM), from the European Union's Next Generation Funds," she added.

The investment mobilized in this initiative already exceeds EUR 570 million in actions on infrastructure and superstructure (structures, tunnels, and earthworks; sleepers, ballast, and turnouts); signaling, telecommunications, and electrification installations; and, most notably, the implementation of the ERTMS level 2 train command and control system.

Connections with logistics and port infrastructures

Some of the key points of the trans-European corridors are the rail connections with ports and the main freight transport terminals. Operations related to the electrification of the lines and the network adaptation for the circulation of goods trains of up to 750 meters are very relevant in this chapter. "The corridors will become an important catalyst for the boost we all want for rail freight transport, deploying infrastructures with greater reliability and competitiveness and connecting the main industrial and logistic centers of the country, among them, and also with Europe," said the president.

In this area, Adif continues to progress on the works for rail access to the Port of Seville to provide direct access to the port, avoiding the passage and reversing maneuvers of trains at the stations of La Salud, Dos Hermanas, or even Utrera. The new rail access to the Port of Seville will reduce train transit times and improve the competitiveness and efficiency of the infrastructure. Similarly, the railway access to Bajo de la Cabezuela in Cádiz is being promoted, where the Port Authority of the Bay of Cádiz has already built a track bundle.

Adif is also progressing on one of the key projects for the intermodality promotion in the Iberian Peninsula and the freight traffic boosting between Europe and Morocco, the Algeciras-Zaragoza Railway Motorway. Projects are currently being drafted to adapt the gauges of the tunnels and overpasses over the track to the new traffic that will be generated by the entry into service of this motorway.

The Mediterranean and Atlantic Corridors progress in Andalusia

On the Seville-Huelva line, track renovation work is being carried out on several sections and, within the framework of the agreement with the Huelva Port Authority, work will be carried out for the circulation of 750 m freight trains. Specifically, work to extend the useful length of the tracks at the Salteras siding to 750 m is expected to be launched soon, and the drafting of the project to extend another siding at Escacena (Huelva) is in its final phase.

Another important project is the Almodóvar del Río by-pass, a 1.7-kilometer-long connecting branch between the Madrid-Seville and Córdoba-Málaga high-speed lines, which will cut travel times by 20 minutes between Seville and Málaga or Granada. At the moment, the platform, track, and electrification works are underway, and the drafting of the project for the safety, signaling, and communications installations has begun.

On the Antequera-Granada high-speed line, as it passes through Loja, platform works are underway on the first section, while progress is being made on the platform projects adaptation for another three sections. In addition, in the coming months, the new Antequera station, on which work is at an advanced stage, will open its doors.

In the Granada-Almería stretch, on the other hand, investments of more than 900 million Euro are planned, which will enable the reduction in journey times and increase the competitiveness of the railway in comparison with the road. In addition, work is being carried out on a gauge changer at Granada station, which will shorten journey times between Almería and Madrid, avoiding transfers.

In another relevant action, the high-speed connection between Murcia and Almería, all the stretches are under construction or contract, with a planned investment of more than 3.3 billion Euro. At the same time, progress is being made in the drafting of the projects for phase 2 of the integration in Almería; the adaptation of the Pulpí-Águilas branch line to provide it with standard gauge, electrification at 25 kilovolts and ERTMS, and the tender for the new high-speed station in Vera-Almanzora is being prepared.

As for the conventional Bobadilla-Algeciras line, a comprehensive renovation is being tackled, with a global investment of 470 million euros, with outstanding interventions in Castellar de la Frontera and the surroundings of San Roque Mercancías.

In addition, on the connection with Jaén, the contract has already been awarded to upgrade the current line to 200 km/h (platform, track, and energy) between Alcázar de San Juan and Manzanares. A functional study is also being carried out to determine the improvement actions that could be undertaken between Casas de Torrubia and Grañena to improve the operation of the line. In addition, small interventions are being carried out to improve the reliability of the installations between Linares and Cordoba.

Source: ADIF

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