Page 112 - 360.revista de Alta Velocidad - Nº 6

Ayrault Pérez, Juan

In 1988, the new commuter station projected in 1983 opened with 10 tracks, connected to the
1967 tunnel. Two years later, in 1990, a second tunnel linked Atocha with the south‐western line
to Móstoles, until then isolated from the network. In 1996 a new line following the old bypass
between Atocha and Principe Pío (Pasillo Verde) was open. The process went on and in 2007 a
new tunnel N‐S was open with a new station in Sol, acceding la Puerta del Sol, the symbolic core
of the city. This new tunnel permitted to connect with the north two lines that firstly ended at
Atocha. The whole network functioned as an integrated system.

6.6 Rail Trasport plan ‐ New access to Andalusia.

In respect to long distance
routes, railway in Spain faced
a big challenge: survival face
to the harsh competition
with road an aerial transport.
Long distance passenger
services experienced poor
results on the 70’s and the
situation was worsening as
far as road infrastructure
improved. In 1987 a Railway
Transportation Plan was
approved by the Government.
Several proposals stood out: A
triangle line
Madrid‐BarcelonaValencia‐
Alicante with standards of
200 kph, a new connection
between Vitoria and Bilbao
to avoid the extremely Figure 24: PTF plan (1986) and line standards.
complicated Orduña pass, a Source: PTF http://www.vialibre‐ffe.com/noticias.asp?not=5154 and Juan Ayrault
new access to Andalusia and
other lines improvement with standards from
160 to 200 kph.

Access to Andalusia was one of the most
problematic existing connections due to the
slow passage through Despeñaperros moun‐
tain pass, very difficult to solve technically.
Consequently, a new line was proposed 60
km westwards, connecting the old line Ma‐
drid‐Ciudad Real‐Puertollano with Córdoba
through the mountain range of Sierra Morena.
In 1988 a dramatic decision with important
consequences was made: all new HS lines will
be built with the standard gauge (1435 mm),
instead the Iberian gauge (1668 mm).

Figure 25: New Raiway Access to Andalusia (NAFA).
Source: Ferropedia and Juan Ayrault

110 360.revista de alta velocidad