Adif is proud to announce the 25th anniversary of the Spanish high speed network, which started operating on 21 April 1992, when the first train ran on the Madrid-Seville line.
This important event is being celebrated by our company throughout this whole year, alongside RENFE and the whole Spanish railways sector, as a crucial moment in the history of railways in Spain. The decision to embark in such an ambitious project as deploying a high speed rail system in the 1980s has proved to be a complete success, considering the multiple economic and social benefits it has brought to the country, increasing territorial cohesion, and boosting our economy and tourism industry.
The Spanish high speed network is more than 3000 kilometres long, the largest in Europe, and second in the world. It is also an example of state-of-the-art technologies. The process that led to the deployment of the whole system has contributed to create one of the most powerful clusters of railway-related companies in the world. These companies are currently working on different phases of the design, construction or operation of some of the main lines in the world. Adif itself is currently working in crucial projects such as the Haramain High Speed Line, in Saudi Arabia, as well as in India, or Egypt, among many other places.
High speed in Spain has grown steadily over the last 25 years, with the economic support of the European Union. It currently serves 47 stations, giving access to around 70% of the Spanish population, partly through the innovative track gauge changeover system, developed by Spanish companies, that allow for HS regional services, running partly on the HS line and then shifting to the conventional network, thus benefitting thousands of new passengers who spend less time on their journeys.
Citizens favour this reliable, fast and safe transport system: there has been a continuous increase in the number of high speed passengers, many of whom did not use railways at all before this system was deployed. The number of HS passengers has nearly doubled over the last 10 years.
Adif International proudly represents the talent and expertise of our more than 13,000 professionals, working to share our knowledge with new partners around the globe, who are interested in modernising their railways system, not only to implement high speed, but also conventional and commuter systems,.
(Source: Adif)
