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Madrid–Extremadura high-speed rail line

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Madrid–Extremadura high-speed rail line
Construction works in Montijo
Overview
Termini
Service
Operator(s)Renfe
History
Planned opening2030 (whole)
Technical
Operating speed
  • Majority:
  • 300 km/h (186 mph)
  • Parts of the line:
  • 200–250 km/h (125–155 mph)
Train protection systemERTMS

The Madrid—Extremadura high-speed rail line is a rail line under construction in Spain, intended to link Madrid and Badajoz.

As of July 2021, the Badajoz–Mérida stretch had begun electrification.[1]

In 2016 the European Union's European Regional Development Fund, gave Spain €205.1m towards the €312.1m needed for the track between Navalmoral de la Mata and Mérida.[2]

The tentative finishing date for the Plasencia–Navalmoral de la Mata stretch pushed forward to 2025.[3] The Oropesa–Madrid stretch is the least developed part of the project, only in the informative study phase as of 2021.[4][3] The local government of Talavera de la Reina have lobbied for the undergrounding of the railway as it would pass through Talavera de la Reina.[5]

Once finished by 2030, the Badajoz–Madrid line is expected to provide high-speed rail services linking both cities in 2 hours 31 minutes.[4]

Segments

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Badajoz–Plasencia

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The infrastructure is built with multi-purpose railroad ties, set for Iberian gauge but allowing for a future switch to standard gauge.[6] It is single track from Badajoz to Mérida and double track from Mérida to Plasencia.[4]

The Badajoz–Plasencia new railway line entered in service on 19 July 2022 after its institutional inauguration in June 2022, but was not yet electrified and the speed was limited to 200 km/h (125 mph), planned to be increased to 250 km/h (155 mph) when the line will be electrified.[7][8] The first phase of the electrification is scheduled to be completed in September 2023, when a first test train will circulate between Plasencia and Cáceres (the same will be done later on Cáceres–Badajoz, where the electrification work is also being finalized).[9]

Plasencia–Talayuela (Oropesa)

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The Oropesa segment of the track will be 68.6 km (42.6 mi) long.[4]

Oropesa–Madrid

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127 km (79 mi) long, it will consist of a passenger only double track segment between Madrid and Talavera de la Reina and mixed passenger-freight traffic from Talavera de la Reina to Oropesa.[4]

Extension to Portugal

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The extension to Portugal, the Lisbon–Madrid high-speed rail line, forms part of the Trans-European high-speed rail network, which in turn is one of a number of the European Union's Trans-European transport networks (TEN-T). It was defined by the Council Directive 96/48/EC of 23 July 1996.[10] Although in 2012 the project was formally cancelled on the Portuguese side of the project as not being financially viable,[11] it was brought back in 2020 as the Portuguese government saw new opportunities.

The current plan is to open the line by sections on the "South International Corridor", between the Spanish border and Lisbon via Évora (and with another branch from Évora towards the port of Sines). As of March 2023, the line between Badajoz and Lisbon was planned to be opened in 2024, with a journey time between Lisbon and Badajoz of 1 hour 50 minutes.[12] The line is currently planned to fully open by 2030.

Badajoz–Elvas

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The border section Badajoz–Elvas is composed of :

  • a Spanish section.
  • a Portuguese section Elvas–Caia (11 km, 6.8 mi), whose modernization was achieved in 2020.[13]

Elvas–Évora

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From Elvas to Évora, a 90 km (56 mi) section of new line is currently under construction, named "New line of Évora" (Portuguese Nova Linha de Évora [pt]), which will allow operational speeds up to 250 km/h (155 mph).[14][15][16][17] As of March 2023, this section, designed for a maximum speed of 300 km/h (186 mph), was planned to be completed by the end of 2023.[12] This will be the first high-speed line section to be opened in Portugal (the high-speed sections opened until then were upgraded lines with lower speed).[12]

Évora-Lisbon

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The line from Évora to Lisbon via Poceirão, with a new bridge over the Tagus River (as in the original plan) is planned to be upgraded.[14][15][16] 100 km (62 mi) of upgraded railway is in service where Intercity trains run at 200 km/h (125 mph) on the upgraded single track.[citation needed]

A new double-tracked high-speed line for the section between Évora-Norte and Poceirão is planned, but given lower priority over other sections of the high speed railway network, with conclusion predicted not-early-then the mid-2030's.

References

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  1. ^ Soriano, Juan (17 July 2021). "Adif inicia la electrificación del tramo entre el norte de Mérida y Badajoz". Hoy.
  2. ^ "ESI funds to improve Madrid – Lisboa connection". Retrieved 2017-04-14.
  3. ^ a b Aroca, José Luis (2 December 2020). "La línea de alta velocidad Madrid-Extremadura no estará completa hasta 2030 según el último informe del Gobierno". eldiario.es.
  4. ^ a b c d e Sánchez Rodríguez, Rocío (3 January 2021). "Extremadura: AVE con destino a 2030" [Extremadura: AVE destined for 2030]. El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish).
  5. ^ "Acuerdo en la petición de soterrar el AVE en Talavera". ABC. 12 July 2021.
  6. ^ "El futuro llega... a todo tren". El Periódico Extremadura. 18 September 2022.
  7. ^ El 'tren rápido' entre Plasencia y Badajoz entrará en servicio el 19 de julio ("The 'fast train' between Plasencia and Badajoz will enter service on July 19"), RTVE.es, 23 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Extremadura high speed line inaugurated", Railway Gazette International, 21 July 2022.
  9. ^ Adif AV aborda las últimas pruebas de la electrificación del tramo Plasencia-Cáceres (Adif AV addresses the latest tests of the electrification of the Plasencia-Cáceres section), ADIF, 12 September 2023.
  10. ^ Council Directive 96/48/EC of 23 July 1996 on the interoperability of the trans-European high-speed rail system Retrieved 7 March 2012
  11. ^ "Portugal's high speed rail network 'not financially viable' according to final report". 5 January 2015. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
  12. ^ a b c "Portugal confirma alta velocidade entre Badajoz e Lisboa em 2024" [Portugal confirms high speed between Badajoz and Lisbon in 2024] (in Portuguese). 16 March 2023.
  13. ^ Linha de Évora, Troço Elvas – (Caia) Fronteira. Corredor Internacional Sul (Évora Line, Section Elvas – (Caia) Border. South International Corridor).
  14. ^ a b "Corredor Internacional Sul" [South International Corridor]. Infraestuturas de Portugal (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2021-09-13.
  15. ^ a b "Plano Nacional de Investimentos - Transportes" (PDF). Plano Ferroviário Nacional 2030 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2021-09-13.
  16. ^ a b "Plano Ferroviário Nacional, Versão 0.2, 15 de novembro de 2022" (PDF). Plano Ferroviário Nacional 2030 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  17. ^ "El AVE Évora-Elvas coge ritmo para estar concluido en el 2023" [The Évora-Elvas AVE is picking up pace to be completed in 2023]. El Periódico Extremadura (in Spanish). 1 February 2022.
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