Adif AV has awarded, for 1.4 million euros, the drafting of the project to deploy a link (3.2 km) at the height of the Palentine town of Nogales de Pisuerga, which will advance the implementation of high-speed circulations between Cantabria and the center of the country, improving its capacity and reliability, and cutting travel time.
Adif is thus making progress in the construction of this new connection, in which 65 million euros will be invested, given that the drafting of the project is the phase prior to the tender of the works.
The so-called Nogales link will connect the route of the High Speed Line (LAV) between Palencia and Alar del Rey (78.4 km), currently under construction, with the conventional railway line Palencia-Santander at the height of the town of Nogales de Pisuerga.
In this way, it will make it possible to put into service this first stretch of the high speed - once its construction is finished - and continue along the conventional line the route to the Cantabrian capital while completing the construction of the second stretch of the LAV, the Alar del Rey-Reinosa (51.4 km). This advances the value of the first section and the benefits of having high-speed sections in part of the route.
3.2 km and two viaducts
The connection will start, drawing a curve, from the end of the stretch of the LAV Calsalvo de Boedo-Alar del Rey, the last of the five under construction. After crossing between the link of the A-67 and Nogales de Pisuerga, it runs in a straight line in a stretch that will be located a width changer - a device that adapts its rolling to the different track widths when the trains pass - and is completed with two viaducts that circumvent a plain (432 m) and the river Pisuerga (280 m).
The performance includes the 2.7 km eastward travel of the conventional Palencia-Santander line, so that it shares traces with the new connection and minimizes its impact on the environment.
Once the Alar del Rey-Reinosa route is completed and the entire new high-speed line is operational in its 130 km between Palencia and Reinosa, the Nogales link will be maintained to reinforce the capacity and versatility of the network, and allow connections that combine conventional track and high speed.
Boost to the high-speed connection with Cantabria
Adif promotes the construction of the high speed between Palencia and Reinosa (Cantabria), with a global investment of 1.7 billion euros, to improve the connection between Cantabria and the rest of the country, reinforcing the reliability and capacity of the infrastructure and reducing travel times.
The company is making progress in the construction of the first five sections of the LAV, which add up to 78.4 km (Palencia Norte, Palencia Norte-Amusco, Amusco-Osorno, Osorno-Calahorde de Boedo and Calahorde de Boedo-Alar del Rey). Also in the drafting of the project of the stretch with which the high-speed infrastructure will reach Cantabria, the Alar del Rey-Reinosa (51.4 km), phase prior to the tender of the works. In addition, it promotes capacity increase actions of the conventional line that completes the connection from Reinosa to Santander.
This action contributes to SDGs 9 (infrastructure, reliable, sustainable and quality), 7 (sustainability) and 8 (economic growth and job creation.
European funding
The drafting of the platform construction project for the Palencia Alar del Rey High-Speed Line can be co-financed by the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).