Ferran Torga

PORTUGUESE Trains (CP) has publicly announced that a lack of serviceable rolling stock will force it to cut a number of services, starting in August. CP’s rolling stock problems come at a time when the Portuguese government is trying to revive rail transport.

GERMAN Rail (DB) subsidiary Arriva Spain confirmed on May 7 that it has filed a request before the Spanish rail regulator to establish international passenger services connecting A Coruña with Porto.

SPAIN’s Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Madrid City Council and Distrito Castellana Norte, a subsidiary of Spanish bank BBVA, have finally agreed terms for a major redevelopment around Madrid Chamartin station, a project first planned more than 24 years ago.

SPANISH companies involved in the development and certification of the OGI automatic gauge-changing system have completed the first phase of dynamic testing. The OGI bogies are designed for use on freight routes crossing the Spanish-French border where the track gauge changes from 1668mm to 1435mm.

An agreement was ratified last month between Saudi Arabia and the Al Shoula consortium responsible for equipping and operating the Haramain high-speed line for a phased opening. IRJ’s Spanish regional editor Ferran Torga explains why the opening is later than envisaged and the challenges the world’s first desert high-speed railway will face.

A new opening date for the Haramain high-speed project, announced last November, was ratified on January 16 during a visit to Saudi Arabia by a Spanish delegation led by Spain’s King Felipe VI when Saudi authorities agreed to extend the delivery deadline by 14 months until March 2018 and to acknowledge €150m in cost overruns.

FRANCE and Spain took control of the international high-speed rail link between both countries on December 21 after the contract with concessionaire TP Ferro was terminated following the company’s liquidation in September.