Cerebre Trainstation
Changing the Tracks
The characteristic track gauge of the Spanish railway network (1,668 millimetres between inner rail faces) is different from the normal or standard track gauge of most of the other European and world rail network (which is 1,435 millimetres).
In principle, trains cannot pass from a line with one track gauge to another with a different gauge. The resulting “borders” between networks with different track gauges has been a problem for operators and passengers alike. This has traditionally necessitated transferring or changing trains, an inconvenient and time-consuming process.
In Spain, the points at which different track gauges coexist are located on the borders with France; but there are also “borders” at some Spanish stations, since although the 1,668 mm track gauge predominates, the Spanish rail network also has lines with narrower gauges (1,000 mm and others), giving rise to other “interior borders”.
Moreover, the 1988 decision to build new Spanish high-speed lines to the European standard track gauge led to the appearance of new “borders” between the two gauges (and the associated problems) at numerous points in the rail network.
These different gauges create problems for the cross border train traffic, which leads to long waiting times at border stations for the trains to be adapted, as well as to a much lower number of freight and passenger trains travelling to or from Spain.
In order to foster economic growth and shift the traffic from the motorways to rail, some important measures must be taken.
The deployment of harmonised, efficient standards for the railway infrastructure:
- compatibility with UIC(worldwide organisation for railway cooperation) gauge
- freight train length of 750 m
The ERTMS-ETCS signalling and control system must be pursued, not only for the new lines, but also for the existing ones, in order to allow efficient transport services to be deployed in the short term and enhance the capacity of the corridors. This effort is in line with the standardisation required by the proposal for revised TEN-T guidelines.