The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, traveled today between Badajoz and Plasencia on the S106 train to learn first-hand how the tests of the modern ERTMS signalling and safety system are carried out, which will allow travel at 300 km/h through Extremadura. The first tests, which began on March 27, consist of the auscultation of the infrastructure and the catenary on both roads at an increasing and staggered speed between 200 km/h and 300 km/h.
“We are testing the ERTMS with the intention of being able to apply for the authorization of putting into service to the Railway Safety Agency at the end of the year and thus connect Badajoz with Madrid in 4 hours or even less,” said the minister after attending the tests in the standard width section of 150 km/h.
Thus, once deployed, the system will facilitate doubling the current circulation speed through Extremadura, shortening travel times with the capital of Spain between 20 and 45 minutes, depending on the number of stops, and improving the railway connectivity of the region.
With regard to the improvement of the infrastructure, the minister has said that the Baipás de Mérida has since today been authorized by the Railway Safety Agency to be put into service and that the duplication of track between Aljucén and Mérida is already under construction, which will improve the capacity of the section and the access therefore of the high speed to the city.
“Time improvements associated with better infrastructure and better services. In short, investment and advances in Extremadura. It’s important to say it: not everything is done. But we can say that the course has changed,” he said.
High speed deployment
In this way, the Ministry, through Adif, advances in the development of high speed in Extremadura, with a high rate of investment.
Specifically, in the second section of the high-speed line of Extremadura, the Talayuela–Plasencia, the works advance at cruising speed. The construction of the platform and structures (tunnels, viaducts, dismounts, upper passes…) of four of the eight subsections into which the 70 km line is divided into works has already been completed and Adif AV is already bidding for contracts to address the electrification and track assembly phases as soon as possible.
At this point, the minister has confirmed that the works of the platform will be completed in 2025. “This year we are going to finish the platform works in all sections. Another 70 kilometers of high speed where until very recently there was nothing,” he said.
And, since 2018, the Ministry, through Adif, has executed or is executing investments for 1,208 million euros in the Plasencia–Cáceres and Talayuela–Plasencia sections: 43% of the total planned for both routes, which amounts to 2,775 million euros since 2004. At the moment, the investments executed or in execution on the two routes is 2,317 million euros, 83% of the total, which means that, in the last 7 years, between 2018 and 2025, it has been invested as much as in the previous 13 years.
Moving towards Madrid, the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility is working on the definition of the route of the third and last stretch, the Madrid-Oropesa of 200 km, of the future high-speed line of 437 km, which will link the capital with Extremadura and the Portuguese border and strategic axis of the Atlantic Corridor. “We are working to unblock the Castilian section of Manchego that would not be like this if others had not let the Declaration of Environmental Impact (DIA) expire,” he said.
Commitment to Extremadura
The high-speed drive is a clear example of the Ministry’s commitment to the development and improvement of infrastructure in Extremadura. “In 2017, the Ministry that I now lead invested 90 million euros here. Last year, we have exceeded 300 million, 311 million to be exact,” he explained.
A pace of investments that will continue to grow because the number of bids has increased exponentially. In particular, since 2018, around 1.9 billion euros have been litigated in Extremadura, 260 million euros annually on average, compared to the 21 million euros that were tendered in 2017.
“The pace is that tendering in Extremadura in 2017 would have taken 90 years to reach what we have done in just over 7 years,” said the minister.
ERTMS system
The ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) is a train protection, command and control system that continuously monitors the speed of the train and governs its travel by means of signage in the cabin. The system is the result of an EU initiative to move towards the interoperability of rail traffic between the countries of the Union.
The ERTMS integrates the signalling and control of the railway traffic of the infrastructure with the equipment loaded in the rolling stock, ensuring the highest standards of reliability and safety in the management and supervision of the railway traffic.
The development of this line contributes to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 9 (promoting reliable, sustainable and quality infrastructures), 7 (sustainability) and 8 (creating jobs and economic growth).
European funding
This action may be co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).