SPAIN’s infrastructure manager Adif has completed electrification of the Plasencia - Badajoz section of the Madrid - Lisbon main line. The €90m project was partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The project involved electrification at 2x25kV 50Hz of the 195km broad-gauge line connecting Plasencia, Monfragüe, Cáceres, Badajoz and the Portuguese border as well as the branch to Mérida. The work covered 150km of new line, opened in 2022 as the first part of the 437km Madrid - Portugal high-speed corridor, plus conventional connecting lines.
Adif adopted type C-350 catenary, which is used on new high-speed lines in Spain. The line has three traction substations to transform the 400kV grid power to the voltage required. These are spaced at 60-65km intervals, which is further apart than usual in order to reduce their environmental impact.
There are also 12 autotransformers, responsible for distributing energy along the catenary, located between the traction substations at approximately 10km intervals.
The section also has remote energy control supervised from the operations control centre (CRC).
In addition, Adif is installing ERTMS on the line. The 230km conventional line between Monfragüe and Madrid has already been resignalled so that trains can operate using the same signalling and safety systems throughout the route to Madrid.
The entire new line between Madrid and the Portuguese border will have cost about €3.7bn by the time it is completed later this decade.
