On Thursday, 21st July, an 87.25 km extension of Spain‘s Alta Velocidad Española (AVE) high-speed rail from Madrid to Burgos was officially inaugurated by His Majesty King Felipe VI.

This section extends Spain’s high-speed North line (LAV), contributing to the social and economic structuring of the territories it crosses. Control of the line is by the European Traffic Management System / European Train Control System ERTMS/ETCS Level 2 technology supplied by Alstom. That allows an increase in train speed along with increased safety, which results in shorter travel times and an increase in network capacity and frequency.

The signalling is part of a 20-year contract awarded in 2015 to a consortium between Alstom and Indra, but led by Alstom, to build and maintain the latest-generation signalling and telecommunications systems on the Valladolid to León and Venta de Baños to Burgos high-speed lines.

The contract includes project design, procurement, installation, commissioning, and 20-years-maintenance of the signalling, fixed telecommunications, and automatic train protection (ATP) systems, centralised traffic control (CTC), security equipment, Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway (GSM-R) communications equipment and infrastructure for trains and operators.

The new line adds to state-of-the-art signalling projects that Alstom has been developing in Spain over the last two decades. They include the commissioning of the first ATP on the Mediterranean Corridor, a People Mover for Madrid Airport, which was the first driverless system in Spain, and the first main line railway system operating with ERTMS Level 2 without Level 1 support in the Albacete-Alicante Corridor.

Alstom teams in Spain have also installed more than 600 onboard signalling systems on various commuter and high-speed trains.

Luciano Barbieri, MD Signalling & Infrastructure for Alstom in Spain, said:

“This project is a further step in achieving a rail network that applies the latest advances in signalling for more efficient and sustainable mobility. Alstom’s ERTMS/ETCS technology brings significant benefits in terms of interoperability, safety, system capacity, service reliability and energy efficiency. ”

Alstom has over 650 engineers in Spain developing signalling solutions at two centres of excellence and test laboratories in Madrid, and project centres in Leon, Sitges and Malaga. From these facilities, Alstom develops and supplies signalling and digital mobility solutions for more than 20 countries.