Adif has put out to tender a contract for the adaptation of the Bobadilla-Algeciras line to future Autopista Ferroviaria (AF) services between Algeciras and Zaragoza, for an amount of EUR 78.28 million and a completion period of 24 months.
The contract includes the execution of two projects. The first aims to improve the stability of the slope on which the railway platform is located, which is situated between the municipalities of Almargen and Setenil.
The works, which will be carried out between points 35 and 42 of the line, will consist of the lifting of the existing platform to allow the execution of mortar piles to improve the foundation of the new platform. The execution of walls and rock fills is also planned. In addition to the above, the execution of a surface and deep drainage network is planned, with its corresponding transversal drainage works. Once these works are finished, the platform will be raised and the track will be re-assembled.
This intervention will improve the reliability of traffic on the section, also reducing maintenance costs.
The second action involves adapting the gauges in the tunnels of the Bobadilla-Algeciras line to the dimensions required by the semi-trailers that will use the AF service between Algeciras-Madrid-Zaragoza.
Specifically, actions will be taken on the infrastructure, such as the extension of tunnel sections at those points where they collide with the new required gauge; and on the superstructure, with its recentering by ripping the track.
Although the electrification of the line is not the objective of these works, the new gauges will take into account the space requirements required for the future implementation of this traction system.
High-speed rail services on the Algeciras-Madrid-Zaragoza route
Adif has an ambitious investment plan in place to launch high-speed rail services on the Algeciras-Madrid-Zaragoza route, which is expected to cost EUR 468 million.
The launch of the Algeciras-Zaragoza AF service will be crucial to boosting the increase in the share of rail transport, both in the central branch of the Mediterranean Corridor and in the Atlantic. In addition, it will strengthen intermodality in the Iberian Peninsula with traffic between Europe and Morocco.
Adif has already put out to tender the adaptation of the tunnels located between Córdoba and Santa Cruz de Mudela (the Alcázar de San Juan-Cádiz line passing through the provinces of Ciudad Real, Jaén and Córdoba) to the necessary gauge for future high-speed train services, for an amount of EUR 29.8 million.
In addition, the contract has been awarded for the adaptation of tunnels and overpasses between Madrid and Zaragoza for EUR 78 million. In total, on the AF Algeciras-Zaragoza route, which runs between the Port of Algeciras Bay and the Zaragoza Plaza terminal, work will be carried out on 174 structures: 43 tunnels and 131 overpasses.
Adif will also carry out the extension of tracks to 750 m in a total of 17 stations, which will reinforce the efficiency and competitiveness of the route. In this area, it has recently put out to tender for EUR 8.9 million the extension to 750 m of the siding tracks at the stations of Arcos de Jalón (Soria) and Sigüenza (Guadalajara).
The investments include the implementation of the Automatic Banalized Block (BAB) between Guadalajara and Calatayud -already contracted-, a system that guarantees the distance between trains by means of signals.
Two daily trains Algeciras-Zaragoza route
On the Algeciras-Zaragoza route there will be two daily trains in each direction in the initial phase, which will be extended to three daily trains in each direction one year after the start of the service with trucks originating/destined for Morocco, to which will be added 2 daily trains (one in each direction) from Huelva to Zaragoza, with trucks originating/destined for the Canary Islands and the surrounding area of Huelva, and another 4 daily trains (two in each direction) between Seville and Zaragoza, with trucks originating/destined for the Port of Seville and the rest of Andalusia.
In this way, approximately 12,000 km of trains will be carried out daily and some 360 trucks will be transported on this route, avoiding 360,000 km of truck traffic on the road every day.
Continuation of services to Tarragona
The Algeciras-Zaragoza AF services will continue from Zaragoza to Tarragona, via Lleida, a section that links the main production and consumption nodes of the Iberian Peninsula, Madrid and Barcelona, and forms part of the flows from the centre and south with the northeast of Spain and the rest of Europe.
Adif has just put out to tender for EUR 2.8 million the drafting of the projects to adapt the gauges of 6 tunnels and 16 overpasses to the traffic generated by these services on this stretch of Iberian gauge. The planned investment amounts to more than EUR 60 million.
This line, the most in-demand in the entire railway network, with more than 100 trips/week in each direction, will also make possible future services on the routes from Vitoria to Tarragona and Barcelona, taking advantage of the synergies between maritime and rail transport.
Two routes in service and 15 in progress
AF is a freight transport service that loads road trailers or semi-trailers using specialised wagons. The initiative offers a competitive and collaborative logistics solution with significant savings, both in external costs and in GHG emissions. Emissions from road transport are 4.7 times higher than from rail transport.
Adif has two high-speed rail routes in service: Valencia-Madrid (in Iberian gauge) and Barcelona-French border (in standard gauge). It is also working on 15 routes, 12 in Iberian gauge and 3 in standard gauge, after receiving, through its Office of Support and Advice to the AAFF (OAA), the interest of logistics operators, port authorities and railway companies.
The deployment of the AAFF is part of the set of actions that Adif has underway (development of strategic logistics nodes, rail-port connections, etc.) to increase the transport of goods by rail in Spain, with the aim of advancing towards more sustainable, competitive, multimodal and safe mobility.
These actions contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 8, aimed at promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth; and 9, which has among its goals the development of reliable, sustainable, resilient and quality infrastructures.
The implementation of the Railway Highway between Madrid and Zaragoza will have European funding through the “Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. Financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU”.
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