Rail Transportation in Spain

In the past, however, each country used its own signaling technology, so trains crossing borders needed to be equipped with a variety of systems to read the different signals. To deal with this problem, in the early 1990s the European Union called for a standardized system. Known as the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), it was developed to be open and available for use by companies around Europe; any company could develop a system that would meet the European standards. The Spanish government, working in conjunction with top Spanish companies, pioneered the use of this system in all the country’s high-speed rail lines.

In what’s known as ERTMS Level 1, all the track information, such as the location of trains, is centralized in a computer. The information is relayed back to trains by equipment along the track. The accuracy of this system allows trains to reach speeds of 250 to 300 kilometers per hour. Level 1 was first installed in Spain in a pilot program in 2002 and has been used for all new high-speed lines built since.

ERTMS Level 2, which is in final testing, uses less rail-side equipment and provides greater accuracy, so that trains can run even faster and more of them can run on a given track. Level 3, which is still under development, will allow still higher speeds and train densities. Increased precision in transportation technology has allowed trains to run faster and more frequently, agrees Arturo Corbi, inter national director of transportation at Telvent, which operates control systems for trains and subways. “Ten years ago, in one lane there were probably two or three trains, and now you can have ten,” he says. “Now, with the increased ability to know exactly where the trains are at any given second, you are able to have effective and direct control over the train that in the past was not possible.”

Telvent’s expertise in control systems and related technology won it the bid to design and provide the ticketing system for the first subway system in Tianjin, China, a city of about 13 million inhabitants. The local government wanted to try a different approach, “so we decided not to use tickets at all,” says Corbi. “It was a challenge and a risk to base the system entirely on one technology, and the first such system in China.”

Instead of individual tickets, the system relies on plastic cards, similar to Boston’s Charlie Card or the DC subway’s SmarTrip card. Both those systems, however, also offer the option of standard ticketing. In the system Telvent designed for Tianjin, passengers buying individual rides get tokens equipped with the same chip that’s in the plastic card, creating a “contactless solution.”

There are many benefits, according to Telvent. “You help make it comfortable and easy for the users, and you avoid maintenance costs for the operator [by having one system instead of two],” Corbi says. “Also, there’s no paper, so it’s more sustainable.” The line opened in 2 0 0 5 and has been running successfully for a year; the fare system will now be extended to two additional lines. Te l ve n t has applied what it learned from the Tianjin project in Latin America, in Monterey, Mexico, and in a train line in Venezuela. The company is also working on technology that makes the system more accessible, such as voice-recognition vending machines for the visually impaired.

Those involved in rail say it’s an exciting time in the expanding sector. “There are a lot of technological improvements, a lot of work to be done, a lot of projects going on,” says Indra’s Jose Miguel Rubio. “Ten years ago, rail couldn’t reach the current speed, and now it can easily compete for medium distance with planes. It’s the ultimate transport solution.”