- Madrid–Seville high-speed rail line
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Madrid–Seville high-speed rail line Technical Line length 471,8 km Track gauge 1435 mm Minimum radius Standard: 4000 m; Absolute: 3250 m Electrification 25 kV, 50 Hz Operating speed 300 km/h Maximum incline Standard: 12,5 ‰; Absolute: 13,25 ‰ Route map Legend
0 Madrid Atocha 
Madrid-Barcelona high-speed rail line 
12,300 Valdemingomez, a bypass Sevilla-Barcelona 
14,272 Los Gavilanes 24,418 Parla 
28 Cuenca, València/Albacete 35,311 Yeles 
53,727 Passing station La Sagra, towards Toledo 
63,4 Tajo 704 m 73,724 Ablates 
89,535 Switches Mora 104,882 Los Yébenes 119,746 Switches Urda 130,136 El Emperador 149,621 Malagón 
170,748 Ciudad Real 
171 Ciudad Real 929 m 196,476 Switches Calatrava 209,761 Puertollano 225,426 Brazatortas 244,488 Switches Venta la Inés 267,343 Switches Conquista Guadalmez 798 m 285,193 Switches Villanueva de Córdoba 293,950 Arroyo del Valle 
300 Piedras de la Sal 2569 m 304,8 Churretes Bajos 317,796 Adamuz Guadalquivir 345,184 Córdoba Gauge conversion towards Málaga (not in service) Guadalquivir 358,006 Córdoba-Málaga high-speed rail line 362,958 Almodovar del Río 387,149 Switch Hornachuelos 408,927 Peñaflor 426,144 Switches Guadajoz Guadalquivir 442.719 Switches Cantillana 460.461 Majarabique Gauge conversion Majarabique 
Seville Santa Justa The Madrid-Sevilla high speed line (NAFA or Nuevo Acceso Ferroviario a Andalucía) is a 472 kilometers (293 mi) Spanish railway line for high speed traffic between Madrid and Seville. The first Spanish high-speed rail connection has been in use since 21 April 1992 at speeds up to 300 km/h (186 mph). Travel time between the two end points was reduced by over half.
At Córdoba the Madrid-Málaga high-speed rail line leaves the line from Madrid.
Contents
Routing
AVEs in Seville's Santa Justa station.
The line starts at Madrid-Atocha and runs over 31 bridges (total length 9,845 meters (32,300 ft)) and through 17 tunnels (total length 16.03 kilometers (9.96 mi)[1], crossing the plains of Castile. It climbs south of Toledo as well as when crossing the Sierra Morena to an altitude of 800 meters, and then descends to around sea level as it approaches Seville. End point of the line is the new railway station Santa Justa in Seville.
Technical details
The high speed line was constructed at standard gauge, in contrast with the rest of the Spanish railway network. Voltage is 25 kV AC instead of 3000 V DC. Twelve transformers feed the overhead wires. Some 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) before the start and end points of the line, the line merges with local DC tracks.
The line was equipped with signalling standards that had been developed in the 80s for the German Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line and the Mannheim-Stuttgart high-speed rail line.
At the end of 2006, Spanish governmental agency ADIF ordered technical changes to the safety systems along the line for an amount of 12.6 million Euros, so that in the future, trains of the RENFE-type 104 will be able to run at 200 instead of 180 km/h. A further amount of 4.1 million Euros has been spent on changes to the ASFA train safety system.[2]
Between the railway stations along the line, passing stations and emergency stations are located (in Spanish: Puesto de adelantamiento y estacionamiento de trenes, abbr. PEAT). These allow faster trains to overtake slower trains, and the parking of rescue trains. In addition, most of these stations have basic platforms that can be used to let passengers descend and change to buses in case of emergency.
Trains travel along the line at 300 km/h during the sections of the track close to Madrid. They travel at 200 km/h through the Sierra Morena region, possibly because the S/100 trains aren't pressure-sealed and this section includes many tunnels and also because of the tight curvatures in the Sierra Morena (occasionally dipping as low as 2300m[3]). According to the HS2 website[4], a 200km/h track needs a curvature of 1800m and a 400km/h track needs a curvature of 7200m. As the necessary curvature increases in proportion to the square of the maximum velocity, the maximum safe speed for a curvature of 2300m would be 226 km/h, assuming no tilting technology: - only the AVE Class 100, AVE Class 102 and AVE Class 103 run through the Sierra Nevada section, of which only the AVE Class 102 has tilting technology. The trains travel at a top speed of 250 km/h between Córdoba and Seville, possibly on account of the AVANT services that also use the line, whose trains are limited to 250 km/h. On most journeys, the trains spend a very small proportion of the journey travelling above 250km/h, although most of the Málaga branch is done at 300km/h (save for station approaches and the Gobantes and Abdalajís tunnels). The trains slow down to approximately 160km/h when travelling through Ciudad Real station. They also have to slow down to 70km/h when travelling through Puertollano station because of the lack of a bypass route and tight curvatures in the station.
History
AVE lines in Andalusia, including the later branch to Malaga.On 11 October 1986 the Spanish government decided to build a new railway between Madrid and Seville. On 25 February 1988, the international tender for the acquisition of 24 high-speed trains AVE followed; these trains were ordered by 23 December 1988. The first train, based on the third generation of TGVs, was delivered on 10 October 1991.
In December 1988 it was decided to build the new line in standard gauge. Construction was ordered on 16 March 1989, and it lasted for 33 months; actual construction activity lasted only 24 months. Commercial use of the line commenced on 21 April 1992. In the first weeks, over 23 thousand passengers used the new trains - an occupancy rate of 81%.
On 20 April 1992, services started between Madrid and Seville. Non-stop travel time between the two cities were 2:45 hrs; with stops at Ciudad Real, Puertollano and Córdoba it was 2:55 hrs. In 1992, tickets cost around 50-70 euros in second class, in first class over 100 euros.
The line later received branches in Andalusia.
Impact
The new railway line radically changed the modal split between Madrid and Seville. The share of air traffic decreased between 1991 and 1994 from 40% to 13%; the combined share of car and bus decreased from 44% to 36%. The share of railway traffic increased from 16% to 51%, while total traffic increased by 35%.[5]
In 1997, some 4.4 million passengers travelled along the line; in 1998, 4.75 million. By 1999, trains transported over 4 times as many passengers as planes between Seville and Madrid.[1]
See also
Source
- Hochgeschwindigkeitsverkehr in Spanien aufgenommen and Neubaustrecke Madrid–Sevilla in Betrieb, in: Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau, June 1992, page 354 f.
- This article incorporates information from the German Wikipedia.
References
- ^ a b Spanish To Build More High-Speed Lines. International Railway Journal, Sept. 1999.
- ^ High speed advances in Spain. In: Railway Gazette International. 163, nr. 1, 2007, ISSN 0373-5346, page 4
- ^ http://www.adif.es/en_US/infraestructuras/lineas_de_alta_velocidad/madrid_sevilla/madrid_sevilla.shtml]
- ^ http://www.hs2.org.uk/about-hsr
- ^ Moshe Givoni: Development and Impact of the Modern High-speed Train: A Review. In: Transport Reviews. 26, Nr. 5, Jahr, ISSN 0144-1647, S. 593–611
External links
- LAV Madrid - Sevilla on Ferropedia (Spanish)
High speed rail in Spain Lines in service (map) Madrid–Barcelona • Madrid–Levante (Valencia) • Madrid–Seville • Córdoba–Málaga • Madrid–Valladolid • Madrid–Toledo • Zaragoza–Huesca(fr) • Figueres–PerpignanLines under construction Planned lines Madrid–Lisbon(fr) • Porto–VigoRolling stock S/100 • S/102 • S/103 (Siemens Velaro) • S/112 • S/114 • S/120 , S/121 • S/130 • S/353 • S/354 • S/490Services (map) High-speed railway lines East Asia JapanChinaBeijing-Shanghai · Qinhuangdao–Shenyang · Hefei–Nanjing · Beijing–Tianjin · Qingdao–Jinan · Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan · Hefei–Wuhan · Ningbo–Taizhou–Wenzhou · Wenzhou–Fuzhou · Wuhan–Guangzhou · Zhengzhou–Xi'an · Fuzhou–Xiamen · Chengdu–Dujiangyan · Shanghai–Nanjing · Nanchang–Jiujiang · Shanghai–Hangzhou · Hainan Eastern Ring · Changchun–JilinSouth KoreaGyeongbu HSRTaiwanEurope BelgiumFranceLGV Sud-Est · LGV Est · LGV Atlantique · LGV Rhône-Alpes · LGV Nord · LGV Interconnexion Est · LGV Méditerranée · Perpignan-FigueresGermanyCologne–Düren · Cologne–Frankfurt · Hanover–Würzburg · Mannheim–Stuttgart · Rastatt–Offenburg · Wolfsburg–Berlin · Nuremberg–IngolstadtItalyNetherlandsNorwaySpainMadrid–Barcelona · Madrid–Sevilla · Córdoba–Malaga · Madrid–Valladolid · Madrid–Toledo · Figueres–Perpignan · Madrid–Valencia · Motilla–AlbaceteTurkeySincan–Eskişehir · Polatlı–KonyaUnited KingdomNorth America United StatesCategories:- High-speed railway lines in Spain
- Transport in Madrid
- Rail transport in the Community of Madrid
- Railway lines opened in 1992
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