The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, announced today that it will strengthen the railway offer between La Rioja and Madrid with the arrival of the new high-speed S-107 trains that Talgo is manufacturing. Thus, the minister has opened the door to implement one of the new trains in the connection between Logroño and Madrid, which will allow to increase frequencies and reduce travel times. Not in vain, as explained by the minister, the S-107 is a very similar material to the S-106, which are already in service, because they can operate in different widths and reach speeds of 300 km/h.
In any case, Óscar Puente has assured that the arrival of this new rolling stock next year will result in an increase in the railway connections of La Rioja thanks to the fact that they will allow the release of material from other regions to reinforce other territories.
Within the framework of the objective of promoting the railway connectivity of La Rioja, the minister has announced that he will strengthen the connections between Logroño and Zaragoza with the incorporation of the 490 series trains, which are currently being remodelled to integrate them into the Media Distancia fleet. These trains, which used to provide the Alaris de Renfe service, reach speeds of 200 km/h and will increase frequencies with the Delicias station, facilitating transfers to different destinations.
The minister has confirmed his commitment to promoting rail connectivity and sustainable mobility in La Rioja after a meeting with the president of the autonomous community, Gonzalo Capellán, in which they addressed issues of common interest in infrastructure and transport.
New Alvia Madrid-Logroño by Miranda
The most immediate improvement will be a reality this autumn, when the Alvia begins to circulate between Madrid and Logroño, reinforcing with 3,200 weekly places the railway offer between both capitals.
The incorporation of the Renfe S-120.5 train to the Madrid-Burgos-Miranda de Ebro-Logroño route allows to increase the offer of places by 75% and enhance regional connectivity by generating direct connections between important cities of Castilla y León, such as Segovia, Valladolid and Burgos, with the capital of La Rioja and Haro.
Thus, this new service contributes to boost the railway connectivity of the region and complements the connection through Calatayud, which has 4,284 weekly seats, allowing to reach 7,484 seats a week thanks to the fact that the high-speed corridor of Burgos has greater capacity.
The Alvia S-120.5 is part of the 15 trains that are being released after the arrival of the first S-106 high-speed trains to improve service in various relationships. The train is able to travel through tracks of different widths (displaceable rolling), reaching maximum speeds of 250 km/h in lines of international width and 220 km/h in those of Iberian width. Thus, the advantages of high speed are extended to La Rioja, multiplying connections and improving reliability.
Atlantic-Mediterranean Corridor
In line with the objective of improving the railway connectivity of La Rioja and reducing the travel times to the two-hour environment, the Ministry continues to promote the construction of the Cantabrian-Mediterranean Corridor, where all the sections between Zaragoza and Miranda de Ebro are in execution, under study or in project.
At this point, as announced by Óscar Puente in parliament, the Ministry has already definitively approved the Informative Study to renew the Castejón-Logroño railway section, which means that Adif is going to start the work to tender the drafting of the constructive project.
Thus, it is planned to invest some 536.2 million euros (VAT included) in conditioning the current railway line to reach speeds of up to 220 km/h, renovating the track and adapting electrification and signalling systems in straight sections, even rectifying curves.
The action will mean a significant reduction in travel times, since the journey between Castejón and Logroño, with an intermediate stop in Calsalvo, will go from the current 48 minutes to 30 minutes in the future. In addition, it will increase the traffic of goods and passengers thanks to the improvement of the service's performance.
As for the section between Zaragoza and Castejón, the Informative Study is already underway and, when it is completed, the projects will be tendered. The future stretch will allow you to reduce the travel to La Rioja by 30 minutes.
For its part, the feasibility study of the improvement of the railway corridor between Logroño and Miranda de Ebro is being developed.
Lift the toll from the AP-68
The minister has confirmed that the toll of the AP-68 will be lifted in November 2026, when the concession ends, so work is already being done to adapt the motorway to future operating conditions with the remodeling and execution of new links. Thus, the drafting of the project to remodel the Calahorse link has already been mentioned and it is planned to tender, in a second phase, the drafting of two new links: Briones and Aldeanueva de Ebro, facilitating the accessibility of the motorway from the territory.
A conservation project to improve the intersection of access to the AP-68 from the N-126 in Haro is also in preparation.
These actions are contemplated in the previous traffic study carried out by the Ministry to analyze the demand for traffic after the suppression of the toll in the AP-68 and propose the necessary actions to adapt the road to the future scenario.
In parallel, the Ministry continues to make progress in the execution of the works for the proper connection of the AP-68 with the N-232 through the remodeling and construction of links. The performance comprises a length of 29.2 km, of which 24.6 km correspond to the trunk of the current AP-68 that is freed from tolls and 4.6 km to a new motorway section.
After the meeting with the president of La Rioja, the minister visits the works of the A-12 motorway, which will form a high-capacity axis between Logroño and Burgos. The “Santo Domingo de la Calzada – Villamayor del Río” stretch of 14.36 km and a budget of 93.3 million euros is currently in operation.
Link to the photos of the day Óscar Puente visits La Rioja | Flickr