Adif gives a double impulse to the new railway connection of Santander with Palencia and the rest of the country with the realization, this month of August and simultaneously, of the actions to advance in the development of the new High Speed Line (LAV) and the duplication of the conventional track Torrelavega -Santander.
The works, which will take place between August 1 and 31, are incompatible with the railway circulation and will interrupt during that month, affecting various services in Santander, Aguilar de Campoo, Reinosa, Torrelavega, Palencia, Alar del Rey or Quintanilla de las Torres, among others. Renfe is finalising the alternative road transport plan to ensure the mobility of users.
The company overcomes a new technical and planning challenge with the implementation of large-scale actions and technical complexity of both projects at the same time and in a single month, in August. The fact of concentrating the actions in August will minimize the impact on freight traffic with the Port of Santander.
Between 1 and 31 August, on the new high-speed line, Adif will build the platform sections* that run in parallel and intersect the conventional Palencia–Santander line; routes that, together, add up to around 1 km.
One of these sections will be deployed along a few hundred meters at the exit of Palencia, within the framework of the Palencia–Palencia Norte section of the LAV; and the other, in another hundred meters of the Palencia Norte-Amusco route. The subsequent crossing of the two lines will be channeled with the construction of a viaduct (80 m) at the height of Marcilla de Campos (Palencia); a structure that is part of the third stretch of the LAV, the Amusco-Osorno.
Engineering challenge to integrate into the environmento
In this same period, Adif launches a new phase of the duplication of the conventional line Torrelavega - Santander - an action of the Proximity Plan of Cantabria to which it allocates a total of 138 million euros - with the construction of the platform for the second track and its electrification in the stretch between Renedo and Guarnizo (1.8 km).
The works constitute a new engineering challenge to adapt the new road to the difficult orography of the area: the construction of a concrete slab supported by more than 80 piles to channel a stretch of about 400 m of the road as it passes through the Parbayón area, where, in addition, three concrete screens, between 20 and 60 m long and about 45 m deep, have already been built to strengthen the slope near the railway line.
The action also includes the construction of a lower pass to eliminate the pass at the Parbayón level, the adaptation of the Torrelavega station and the Parbayón and Guarnizo walkways; the adaptation of a substation and the installation of eight new interlocks** between Mataporquera and Bárcenas.
Boost to the new railway connection with Cantabria
Adif boosts the Palencia–Santander connection, to which it allocates a global investment of 1.7 billion euros, to promote the mobility and high-speed communications of Santander with the center and the rest of the country, reinforcing the reliability and capacity of the infrastructure and reducing travel times.
Currently, it is moving forward in the construction of five sections (78.4 km) between Palencia and Alar del Rey and in the contracting of the drafting of the project of the Alar del Rey-Reinosa (51.4 km). In parallel, it promotes the actions of increasing the capacity of the connection from Reinosa and Santander, which is materialized through the conventional network.
This action contributes to SDGs 9 (infrastructure, reliable, sustainable and quality), 7 (sustainability) and 8 (economic growth and job creation).
European funding
The work of execution of the platform construction project of the Palencia Norte, Palencia Norte-Amusco and Amusco-Osorno sections of the LAV Palencia Aguilar de Campoo have European funding, through the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. Funded by the European Union- NextGenerationEU.
* Platform: surface on the ground on which the tracks are subsequently mounted.
**Interlocks: devices that remotely manage all the signals of a railway section.
***Substations: facilities located along the railway lines that transmit energy to your catenary from the general network.