Inse Rail, as part of a joint venture, has been awarded the contract to supervise the works to adapt the Madrid-Zaragoza stretch to the Rolling Highway (RH) of the Algeciras-Zaragoza route.

The RH is a cargo transport service that loads highway trailers or semi-trailers, using specialized cars. The initiative offers a competitive and collaborative logistics solution that significantly reduces both external costs and GHG emissions. Highway transport emits 4.7 times more GHGs than rail (annual savings: 620,000 tn CO2).

The work consists of adapting the railway loading gauge of tunnels and overpasses to the dimensions required for the semi-trailers that will use the RH service between Madrid and Zaragoza.  This will require the modification of 40 overpasses and 26 tunnels on the conventional-gage line between the provinces of Madrid, Guadalajara, Soria and Zaragoza.

This will involve modification of the infrastructure, such as the expansion of the tunnel cross-sections and lowering of the platform, as well as changes to the superstructure, including renovation of sleepers, rails and ballast, as well as drainage and electrification work. 

The framework of the actions between Madrid and Zaragoza to develop the Rolling Highway also includes extending the siding tracks of the Épila, Morés, Paracuellos-Sabiñán, Arcos de Jalón, Sigüenza, Jadraque, and Humanes de Mohernando stations to a length of 750 m.

This will make it possible to park trains and allow trains of interoperable lengths to cross, increasing the capacity, efficiency and competitivity of the line to promote railway transport of freight.

The implementation of the Algeciras-Zaragoza RH service will be crucial to increase the share of railway transport on the central branch of the Mediterranean Corridor as well as on the Atlantic Corridor. It will also strengthen intermodality on the Iberian Peninsula with traffic between Europe and Morocco.

The Algeciras-Zaragoza route will carry 6 trains per day (three in each direction) with trucks to/from Morocco, in addition to 2 trains per day (one each way) from Huelva to Zaragoza, with trucks to/from the Canary Islands and the area around Huelva; and another 4 trains per day (two each way) Sevilla-Zaragoza, with truck to/from the Port of Sevilla and Andalusia.

This means that each day, approximately 12,000 train-km will be covered, and approximately 360 trucks will be carried on this route, avoiding 360,000 km of highway truck traffic per day.   

The services of the Algeciras-Zaragoza RH will continue from Zaragoza to Tarragona, through Lleida. This stretch connects the Main production and consumption nodes of the Iberian Peninsula, Madrid and Barcelona, and forms part of the flow between the center and south, and northeast Spain and the rest of Europe. 

These actions will help achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8, which is aimed at promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth; and SDG 9, whose aims include the development of reliable, sustainable, resilient and high quality infrastructure.

 

Source: Inse Rail

To improve the quality, maintainability and operational safety of Metro de Madrid’s operating network, an Action Plan has been established for the technological renovation of obsolescent signaling systems that contain contaminating substances, replacing them with state-of-the-art electronic interlockings.

As part of this plan, METRO has planned the execution of the comprehensive renovation works of the signaling system on line 7A, between the Estadio Metropolitano and Pitis stations, to provide the line with a high-performance, high-availability Target Distance signaling system that will make it possible to remove obsolescent equipment. The actions affect 20 kilometers of tunnel and 27 stations.

Inse Rail will supervise the execution of the installations works that will be carried out at night without interrupting service, and five periods of service interruption of approximately 92 hours each planned during 2024/2025. This means that the coordination of the works, both during the periods with service and during the planned closings, will be critical for the execution of the work.

Source: Inse Rail

The works will adapt these facilities to the new road configuration associated with the Access Channel.

This contract includes the adaptation of the management system for the Valencia-Joaquín Sorolla traffic and the Regulation and Control Center for the high-speed line, among other facilities; as well as the procedure for trains to enter and exit on the connection between Joaquín Sorolla and Valencia-Nord.

New signaling and other field elements of the safety and communications equipment will also be installed, including track circuits, axle counters, balises and fallen-object detectors, in addition to technical verifications and testing.

The Valencia Access Channel project and the remodeling of the Valencia-Joaquín Sorolla station are key operations to integrate the railway into Valencia.

The tunneling of the access roads to the two stations in Valencia will free up land for city development. The Joaquín Sorolla station will also be transformed – including the expansion of its parking – to handle the increased demand as a result of the from the deregulation of rail services and the development of the Mediterranean Corridor. 

Source: Inse Rail

Inse Rail, in a joint venture with the company Grusamar, will supervise the works promoted by Adif to reorganize the tracks of the Atocha Cercanías station with the implementation of a new arrangement (4+4+2) that will improve the management of the railway traffic of the station. 

The action is part of the Madrid Cercanías Plan and will increase the capacity of the C-3 and C-4 lines that run through the Sol tunnel. It will also expand platform 5 that serves passengers on line C-5.

New 4+4+2 track arrangement
The changing of the tracks to a 4+4+2 arrangement in the northern header station will assign tracks 1 to 4 to the Recoletos tunnel, tracks 5 to 8 to the Sol tunnel and tracks 9 and 10 to the Embajadores tunnel. It will also allow track 8 to be used as a siding track for line C-5 in the event of an incident. 

Likewise, platform 5, which serves tracks 9 and 10, will be extended and widened to increase its capacity and use it for passengers to get on and off line C-5 in both traffic directions. 

The Atocha Cercanías station currently has ten tracks with platforms in a 4+3+3 configuration, so this remodeling represents a significant change that will improve the movement of the most heavily used lines. 

The Cercanías commuter trains are the ones that travel through Atocha the most, but the movement of Medium and Long Distance trains may also be affected in the future.

Source: Inse Rail