The Government authorizes to tender for 38.6 million euros the electrification works of the Talayuela–Plasencia section of the Madrid-Extremadura high-speed line

• Through this work, the overhead contact line and associated systems will be installed, as well as their maintenance, on this journey of about 70 km. • This contract is in addition to those recently tendered for this section, for a total of 174 million euros, to deploy the security, signaling and telecommunications facilities; the GSM-R system; and the construction of the track assembly base. • With these actions, the completion of the baipás of Mérida and the tests of ERTMS, the commitment of the Ministry for the development of high speed in Extremadura is confirmed.

The Government has today authorized the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to tender for 38.6 million euros (VAT not included), through Adif AV, a contract for works and maintenance of the air contact line (catenary) and its associated systems in the stretch of about 70 km Talayuela - Plasencia, of the High Speed Line (LAV) Madrid-Extremadura - Portuguese Border.

The works will allow the electrification of this section, as well as the realization of the necessary tests and the pre-maintenance of the facilities from the completion of the works to their commissioning.

The works include the installation of the contact airline; the energy connections from catenary or feeder to buildings or technical houses; the installation of the porticoes on both sides of the track, the posts, lintels and auxiliary supports that compose them, as well as the foundations for their fixation. It also includes the disconnectors, their thymoneries and electrical drives.

In addition, the project covers the heating system for diversion needles, with their heaters and feeding systems.

Benefits of Electric Traction

With the electrification of the section that will allow the use of electric traction trains instead of diesel, several benefits are obtained:

• It requires less primary energy, on the order of 25%.
• It needs less energy from fossil sources and, therefore, not renewables. Depending on the energy mix, this reduction can reach 45%.
• It produces less greenhouse gas emissions, about 59% less.

Electric traction also offers considerable benefits in the reliability of railway circulations.

Decisive impulse to the Talayuela–Plasencia stretch

With this action, another great boost is given to the Talayuela–Plasencia section, after the recent tender of three other key contracts for its development related to signage, communications and the construction of a large base for assembly and collection of materials:

1. Contract for the design and construction of security, signalling and fixed telecommunications facilities, awarded in the amount of 131.41 million euros (VAT included).
2. Installation contract for the GSM-R communications system, for 8.98 million euros (VAT included).
3. Contract to build a large base of assembly and collection of materials, for 34 million euros (VAT included), in Navalmoral de la Mata, destined to the assembly of track between Talayuela and Plasencia. Once this section is in service, the installation will become the maintenance base of the Extremadura LAV.

Development of the LAV Madrid-Extremadura

The Ministry, through Adif AV, continues to work on simultaneous actions in different areas and points of the Madrid-Extremadura High-Speed Line (of 437 km), a strategic axis of the Atlantic Corridor that is structured in three major sections:

• Plasencia-Cáeres-Badajoz (150 km + 18 km from the Baipás de Mérida)

This route continues to be improved, in service since 2022 and electrified since 2023. In this stretch, the entire Mérida bypass is already operational and progress is being made in the tests of the ERTMS 2 signalling system, which will allow speeds of up to 300 km/h to be reached in Extremadura.

• Talayuela Plasencia (70 km)

In this second section, the Ministry continues with the works of the platform, which has already been completed in four of the eight subsections in which its construction has been structured. These four subsections (Talayuela–Arroyo de Santa María, Navalmoral de la Mata–Casatejada, Casatejada-Toril and Toril-Río Tiétar) add up to 39.1 km, which is more than half of the total length of the route.

To complete the entire section, the works of platform of the subsections Arroyo de Santa Maria-Navalmoral de la Mata, Río Tiétar-Malpartida de Plasencia, Malpartida de Plasencia‐Estacion de Plasencia and branch of connection Madrid‐Plasencia continue.

Once the platform works have been completed, the following phases will include the works of the Navalmoral de la Manta assembly base, already mentioned, the track assembly itself and the electrification line, as well as the security installations.

• Madrid-Oropesa (200 km)

For its part, the Ministry is working on the definition of the route of the third and last stretch of the future high-speed line that will link the capital with Extremadura and the Portuguese border, the Madrid-Oropesa.

Improvements also in the conventional railway

In parallel, progress is also being made in improving Extremadura’s connections by conventional rail:

• In the line between Madrid and Valencia de Alcántara, with the drafting of the project for its electrification.
• In the Méida-Puertollano, with 167 million euros mobilized for its renovation.
• And the Méida-Los Rosales, with improvement actions also under way for another 106 million euros.

The development of this line contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 9 (promotion of reliable, sustainable and quality infrastructures), 7 (sustainability) and 8 (creation of employment and economic growth), with which the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility is committed.

European funding

This action may be co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).