Mariano Rajoy visits work on high-speed rail link between Madrid and Galicia in province of Ourense

During their visit, the President of the Government and the Minister for Public Works were shown the progress being made on the Prado Tunnel (a twin-tube solution of 7.6 km in length, with a 52 m2 cross-section and a 4.4 m radius for each tube), among other things.

The Prado Tunnel - requiring a total investment of 201.5 million euros - forms part of the Prado-Porto sub-section (9.1 km) of the Lubián-Ourense section of the high-speed rail link that will continue on from the Olmedo-Zamora section scheduled to open this year and the Zamora-Lubián section. When finished, in 2018, these sections will conclude the complete connection of Galicia to the high-speed railway network.

At the moment, between Lubián and Taboadela, near the regional capital, work has already been finished on the platform for the Miamán-Ponte Ambía subsection (6.7 km) and all the other subsections are currently under way.

Commitment to Galicia

Progress on the Madrid-Galicia high-speed rail link highlights the degree of commitment made by the Government of Spain and its Ministry of Public Works to the autonomous region of Galicia, leading to a global investment budget of over 3.5 billion euros for the high-speed connection during the course of this legislature, to which can be added the investments planned in the General State Budget for 2016 amounting to 1.08 billion euros, of which 733.7 million euros will be allocated to Galicia.

Investments in the autonomous region of Galicia have been focused on two railway infrastructure projects that are highly important to social and economic development in the region: the Olmedo-Ourense section of the future Madrid-Galicia High-Speed Railway; and the Atlantic Corridor, of approximately 250 km, that has connected the cities of A Coruña, Santiago de Compostela, Pontevedra and Vigo since April.

In this regard, it should be noted that an investment of more than 830 million euros was necessary over the course of this legislature to complete the Atlantic Corridor.

These investments between 2012 and 2015 have led to a significant boost to the Madrid-Galicia high-speed connection aimed at meeting the commitment made to providing the citizens of Galicia with high-performance transportation by 2018 and significant journey time reductions. A 30-minute direct journey time reduction will be achieved when the Olmedo-Zamora connection is opened later this year.

Madrid-Galicia High-Speed Railway

On the remaining sections that comprise the Madrid-Galicia High-Speed Railway, the platform works are currently under way and a number of subsections are already complete.

The platform for the entire Olmedo-Zamora section (95 km) has been finished - with work continuing on the Zamora-Lubián section (129 km) - except for the improvement works on the Padornelo Tunnel (left track, 7.3 km), the plans for which are currently being drawn up.

As regards installation of the track and power equipment (electrification, overhead cables, substations and remote control systems), work is at an advanced stage between Olmedo and Zamora, and has been begun between Zamora and Pedralba de la Pradería. Work on the safety and communication installations between Olmedo and Zamora is also under way.
Furthermore, various supply contracts for track ballast, sleepers, rails and track equipment are currently being completed (tender and award).

European financing

The Madrid-Galicia High-Speed Railway is being co-financed with the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).