WITH infrastructure manager Adif AV acting as intermediary, Spain’s Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has awarded three contracts worth a total of €33.5m to provide a second track on 41.5km of the Palencia - León high-speed line.
The ministry says that that capacity is being increased following the opening of the Pajares Base Tunnel between León and Oviedo, and to meet rising demand following the opening up of the high-speed network to competition.
The second track will be laid from the Las Arenas junction near Bercianos del Real Camino to the junction at Vilecha which is 5km from León. When the project is completed, 85km of the 114.8km Palencia - León high-speed line will have double track, from Las Barreras junction which is 30km from Palencia to León.
Tracklaying and installing catenary for the second track will be undertaken by a joint venture of Convensa and Teléfonos, Líneas y Centrales under a contract worth €26.2m.
Other electrification work will be undertaken by Teléfonos, Líneas y Centrales and Mytra Control under a separate contract worth €6.3m. This includes work to upgrade traction substations at Luengos, Becerril and Dueñas, build three intermediate autotransformer stations, and install remote control.
The autotransformers will be supplied by Faramax Trafo, and technical assistance provided by Saitec, for a further €1m.
The ministry is investing a total of €153m to increase capacity on the Palencia - León high-speed line. Adif AV has already awarded contracts for the supply of ballast (€10.3m) and sleepers (€5m), while a third for the supply of turnouts is currently out to tender with a budget of €6.5m.
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