The Ministry of Development (el Ministerio de Fomento) announced that it will open, in 2019, the first section of the high-speed rail line between Madrid and Badajoz, in the Extremadura region near the Portuguese border. Currently, on this first section of 177 kilometers length, Plasencia – Badajoz, tracklaying works are being carried out.
In a first phase, the line will be commissioned with diesel traction, but in 2020 electrification works are due to start between Plasencia city and the Portuguese border, says the Spanish Ministry of Development. In this regard, ADIF, the railway infrastructure manager in Spain, has launched the tendering procedure.
For the eastern end of the route, the Ministry of Development organized tenders, within a budget of EUR 975,000, to carry out alignment studies on the Madrid – Oropensa route. After establishing the route alignment, it will be subject to public consultation and then sent for approval to the Ministry of the Environment in the last quarter of 2018.
In addition to reviewing the first alignment study conducted in 2008, analyzes will be carried out on the options or possibilities of introducing both Toledo and Talavera de la Reina on the map of the new high-speed line.
The new study will also take into account the necessary infrastructure works in Madrid, in order for freight trains to also use the high-speed line towards the Extremadura region.
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