Adif Alta Velocidad to improve travellers experience on 221 km of the Mediterranean rail corridor with Thales

• Adif Alta Velocidad awards Thales in public tender the deployment of the signalling, and telecommunications systems on the high-speed and conventional networks at the Encina-Xàtiva-Valencia hub. The project will cover a stretch of 105 km on the high-speed and 116 km on the conventional line.

• An independent rail corridor, which presents 55% of the goods transported in Spain, is to be created, able to autonomously segregate goods and suburban and regional railway traffic, optimising the resources that facilitate end-user movements

• The global amount of the contract represents 291,5 million€.

Adif Alta Velocidad has entrusted Thales, together with the company CAF Signalling, with the responsibility of carrying out a new contract as part of the improvements to safety, signalling and telecommunications systems on the future high-speed line that is to connect Valencia and Alicante with the corresponding link to Albacete as well as allowing a link with Murcia, providing a substantial improvement in the rail service provided to the regions of Castilla La Mancha, Valencia and Murcia, with high-performance railways.

An independent rail corridor facilitating traffic movements

Once this contract has been carried out, it will be possible to independently segregate rail traffic whether of goods - this corridor represents 55% of the goods transported in Spain - or of main lines and regional trains.

Some of Spain’s chief regions in economic and population terms are located on its Mediterranean rim. The Mediterranean corridor alone currently accounts for 46% of Spanish Gross Domestic Productwith 48% of national industrial output and 60-65% of sea traffic (excluding the Canary Islands).

The improvement work is to be carried out on both the high-speed line and the conventional line and will result in enhanced safety and shorter travel time.

- Jesus Sanchez Bargos, Country Director Thales in Spain.

The project on the high-speed line is to cover a stretch of 105 km and will involve ETCS level 2 railway safety technology and automatic train protection. On the conventional line the work will cover 116 km and involve ETCS level 1 technology. State-of-the-art interlocking systems will also be installed on the new high-speed line to safeguard traffic control. Thales will also deploy telecommunications networks to support the signalling and train protection systems, along with safety systems based on CCTV and access control for equipment buildings.

Thales and the Spanish Rail

Following the start of commercial service on the Antequera-Granada line and the award to the company of a 20-year maintenance contract, Adif Alta Velocidad again trusted in Thales with this contract for the Mediterranean corridor, with its high daily traffic of passengers and goods. Currently the company is present in the maintenance of more than 2,400 km of the Spanish high-speed rail network.