Madrid–Galicia high-speed rail line

The Madrid–Galicia high-speed rail line is a high-speed railway line partially open in Spain that will link the city of Madrid with the region of Galicia via the cities of Olmedo, Zamora and Santiago de Compostela when completed. The line will also connect 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 being constructed as double electrified line and is designed for trains running at speeds up to 350 kilometres per hour (220 mph).[1]

Madrid–Galicia high-speed rail line
Overview
Status	Partial operation
Owner	Adif
Locale	Spain (Community of Madrid, Castile and León, Galicia)
Termini	Madrid Chamartín Santiago de Compostela
Service
Type	High-speed rail
Operator(s)	Renfe Operadora
Technical
Line length	415.7 km (258.3 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz
Operating speed	350 km/h
Route map Sanabria-Santiago de Compostela high-speed section 343,784 convencional line from/to Ourense Viaducto de Puebla Oeste Puebla Tunnel Viaducto de Puebla Este Otero Tunnel Viaducto de Otero (170 m) 333,588 Otero de Sanabria Viaducto de Palacios (419 m) Viaducto de Asturianos (158 m) Arroyo de Valchanos Mombuey N-631 Embalse de Nuestra Señora de Agavanzal 299,446 Otero de Bodas 274,993 Tábara N-631 Arroyo de Valdurcos Esla river N-630 Arroyo de Las Callejinas N-630 249,434 Montamarta Arroyo de Valdurcos Autovía del Duero (A-11) La Campiña Tunnel Arroyo de Valderrey (80 m) Valorio Tunnel (193 m) Bolón Tunnel(431 m) 233,0 conventional line from/to Ourense 232.4 Zamora conventional line from/to Medina del Campo Autovía del Duero (A-11) Viaducto del Río Valderaduey Autovía Ruta de la Plata (A-66) 223.2 Crossover Coreses Intersection with conventional line Medina-Zamora N-122 Duero river Duero river bridge 203.4 Semi-PAET Toro Guareña river Arroyo del Puente Arroyo del Caño Arroyo de la Pitanza A-62 Intersection with conventional line Medina-Salamanca 156.5 Gauge changer in Medina towards Salamanca 155.4 Medina del Campo AV Autovía del Noroeste (A-6) conventional line Madrid-Hendaya Zapardiel river bridge over A-6 conventional line Olmedo-Medina Viaducto de Río Adaja 144.4 PCA Pozal de Gallinas and future link to Valladolid Intersection with conventional line Olmedo-Medina 137.1 Junction to eliminate gauge changer of Medina del Campo Start of the Olmedo–Galicia section 133,8 Junction Medina Link to Madrid–Leon high-speed rail line N-601 133.0 Olmedo 106.6 Crossover Nava de la Asunción 97.1 94.4 Tabladillo Tunnel 86.0 Garcillán 72.5 70.7 Puentecilla Tunnel Intersection with conventional line Villa AP-61 68.3 Segovia-Guiomar railway station 66.2 37.5 Guadarrama Tunnels 35.5 Miraflores de la Sierra Intersection with conventional line Madrid-Burgos 32.9 Arroyo Valley bridge 32.1 23.2 Tunnels of Cerro de San Pedro Intersection with conventional line Madrid-Burgos 18.9 Crossover Tres Cantos Intersection with conventional line Madrid-Burgos Intersection with conv. line Madrid-Alcobendas/S.S. de los Reyes Fuencarral maintenance center Intersection with link Hortaleza-Pitis Intersection with link Hortaleza-Chamartin Link to Chamartin Iberian gauge (width changer) 0.50 Madrid Chamartín railway station End of the line (Future Túnel de la risa between Puerta de Atocha-Chamartín)

History

The line shares the same railway for the section between Madrid and Olmedo with the Madrid–León 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 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] As of November 2015, trains in Alvia commercial service use 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 southern section, between Olmedo (130 km 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 2022.[8] The 110 km 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 300 km/h. The new high-speed rail station in Sanabria is expected to be completed in December 2020.[9]

Incidents

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

References

1. "Infraestructuras y Estaciones". Adif. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
2. "Adif pone en tensión tramo de alta velocidad Olmedo-Pedralba de la Pradería". ABC.es. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
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. "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. "FCC completes boring of Bolaños tunnels". railjournal.com. 9 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
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. "Economía/AVE- Adif ratifica la llegada del AVE a Galicia en 2019". europapress. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
8. "EU co-financing for Galician high speed line". Railway Gazette International. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
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.