Adif - Abrimos caminos

EUROPEAN UNION

To be co-financed in the period 2007-2013:

(Information at 31 december 2012)

The new rail infrastructure will incorporate Extremadura into the Iberian Peninsula and European high-speed network.

When it goes into service, it will offer a new concept of de mobility between the different metropolitan areas it crosses, reducing rail travel times significantly. Connectivity with the conventional network and new stations will ensure access to the high-speed network for many towns and cities.

Not only passenger traffic will benefit from the new line. Its mixed traffic characteristics will allow freight trains to travel on the same line, making use of excess capacity. Consequently, improved mobility and a more balanced distribution of transport modes will be achieved, which will reduce, above all, the share of road transport.

The high investment effort required will contribute to the creation of employment and to economic, technological and regional development.

For the government of Spain, the construction of this line is a priority that represents a commitment to their citizens and to sustainable development, in social, environmental and regional terms.

The Pantoja – Talavera de la Reina – Oropesa section. Length: 140 km

The first 52 kilometres (Madrid-Pantoja) of the line are shared with the Madrid-Seville high-speed line, up to the outskirts of La Sagra. From here, a new route passes through the province of Toledo, from Pantoja to Talavera de la Reina and the provincial and regional border between Toledo and Cáceres.

Up to Talavera de la Reina the line’s route is based on the current Madrid-Valencia de Alcántara line. After this, the new route will run alongside the A-5 motorway until it reaches Oropesa, where it returns to the current line’s corridor. This first section ends at the provincial border between Toledo and Cáceres.

The Ministry of Public Works is responsible for preparing the building projects for the sections between Pantoja and Oropesa. The new Talavera de la Reina high-speed station is part of urban integration of the railway, included in the railway integration Protocol for the town of Talavera de la Reina, signed on 18 October 2007 by the Ministry of Public Works, Adif, the Castile-La Mancha Government and the Town Council.

Talayuela-Cáceres section. Length: 127.5 km

The part of the project to be constructed by Adif, from Talayuela to the Spanish-Portuguese border, starts at the border between the Autonomous Regions of Castile-La Mancha and Extremadura.

Beginning in the Municipality of Talayuela, it passes through Navalmoral de la Mata, where a station is planned, and continues alongside the current rail corridor to the new Plasencia station, in Fuentidueñas. The name of this station derives from the fact that Plasencia is the nearest and most highly populated city that the future station will serve, while the name of Fuentidueñas comes from the spot where an old flag stop is located.

From Plasencia, the line heads south towards Cáceres and Mérida, keeping mainly parallel with the A-66 “Plata” motorway and the course of the current Madrid-Valencia de Alcántara railway line.

Two of the most important new structures on the whole line are being built before it reaches Cáceres: the viaducts crossing the Tajo and Almonte rivers, at the Alcántara reservoir. The width of the obstacles to be bridged, the impossibility of using piles in the riverbeds and the requirement to respect the environmental impact statement, have led to both having a “concrete arch” design, with main spans of 324 and 384 metres, respectively.

The 384 metres without supports of the central span of the viaduct over the Almonte River make it the widest span arched railway bridge in the world. The construction process chosen for erecting both bridges is similar to that used successfully for the Contreras Viaduct, on the Levante line.

Meeting the challenge of constructing this type of viaduct confirms the high level of Spanish infrastructure engineering.

Cáceres - Badajoz - Portuguese Border section. Length: 76.7 km

In order to optimise the corridor’s functionality, the solution in Mérida is to use a direct line to Badajoz and a by-pass around the current station, similar to the design of the Madrid-Zaragoza-Barcelona-French Border high-speed line as it passes the cities of Zaragoza and Barcelona.

Remodelling and construction of three new stations is planned in Cáceres, Mérida and Badajoz.

The Badajoz-Portuguese Border section awaits the Informative Study prepared by the Spain-Portugal High-Speed - European Economic Interest Group (AVEP-EEIG)

An important agreement has been reached between both countries regarding the location and management of the international passenger and freight station of Elvas/Badajoz. This is a shared infrastructure with its passenger area on the Spanish side and the freight area in Portuguese territory.

Main features

Respect for the environment is one the values that defines Adif as a company, standing as one of its central action strategies.

The objectives of the Environmental Policy include maximum respect for protected natural spaces when designing, building and operating the railway infrastructure.

The measures indicated in the Environmental Impact Statement, aimed at maintaining maximum respect for surroundings and the environment, including corrective measures to recover the environment and scenery in areas through which the line passes, and to allow fauna to cross the infrastructure, have been designed from the Project phase. Thus, in the phases prior to drawing up the Projects, Fauna and Flora Studies were made of the whole corridor, to serve as the basis for preparing each Project’s Environmental Integration Appendices. A Complementary Environmental Measures Project is also being drawn up, in response to actions required by the Environmental Impact Statement for a wider geographical scope than a specific section of track-bed.

Line routes are chosen to respect the environment to the maximum, as in the case of the line at km 42, built to save the “Monfragüe y Dehesas Del Entorno ASPB” protected space, part of the Natura 2000 Network. The following Areas of Special Protection for Birds (ASPBs) and LIC Sites of Community Interest have also been respected: Torrijos, Castrejón Reservoir, Rosarito, Navalcán and Valdecañas, as well as the plains of Oropesa, Lagartera y Calera and Chozas. The LIC Sites of Sierra de San Vicente and Barrancas de Talavera have also been protected.

The rate of carrying out works is adapted to bird nesting periods. Work is also done to protect fauna, flora and hydrological systems, and to recover the environment and scenery.

All of these actions are being coordinated with the Government of Extremadura in the framework of the Mixed Commission on Environmental Monitoring and Control of Works and of High-Speed Projects in Extremadura.

The designs for the Tajo and Almonte viaducts have incorporated new bird protection screens as an innovative solution for areas of great importance for fauna. The prototype consists of a barrier made of vertical steel tube sections. This kind of screen reduces the wind load on the structure, compared to other systems, permitting a financial saving in the design of some of its components. It also improves the viaduct’s aesthetics and environmental integration.

The designs for the Tajo and Almonte viaducts have incorporated new bird protection screens as an innovative solution for areas of great importance for fauna. The prototype consists of a barrier made of vertical steel tube sections. This kind of screen reduces the wind load on the structure, compared to other systems, permitting a financial saving in the design of some of its components. It also improves the viaduct’s aesthetics and environmental integration.

The PIAC provides up-to-date details on the status of works on the Talayuela-Cáceres-Badajoz section, offering personalised information on specific aspects of different projects and responding to inquiries about construction processes, travel disruption and other issues regarding urban planning code.