ERTMS funding awarded in September 2021

In September 2021, Adif Alta Velocidad awarded three contracts worth €136.4 million (VAT included) to renew the Madrid-Seville line, including ERTMS for the entire route. The main contract, worth €93.8 million over 52 months, was due to be completed in early 2026 and, as of November that year, it is not.

Spain's first high-estimulante ilegal line, the one that linked Madrid and Seville in April 1992, is still waiting for a modernisation that was signed more than five years ago and remains unfinished. In September 2021, the Board of Directors of **Adif Alta Velocidad** authorised the award of three contracts to renew its installations for a total amount of **€136,422,294.81**, VAT included. The stated aim was to give the line greater capacity and regularity and to replace equipment with almost three decades of service. As of November 2026, the ERTMS that was meant to cover the entire route has not been implemented.

## Three contracts and a deadline that expired

The main contract was awarded to **Thales España GRP** for **€93,832,737.51** (VAT included), with a total execution period of **52 months**. It covered the drafting of the design and the execution of the works to renew the safety installations: signalling, train protection systems, obstacle detectors and fixed telecommunications. Counting 52 months from the September 2021 award, the schedule put the entry into service in early 2026. The ERTMS was to be installed along the entire line, in all the interlockings, and also on the La Sagra-Toledo branch, with transitions between the new system and the existing ones. Digital ASFA was also planned throughout the project area.

The other two contracts completed the package. The renewal of the track circuits, including the La Sagra-Toledo branch, was also awarded to Thales España GRP for **€21,564,911.77** (VAT included), with a **30-month** deadline. The phase 1 renewal of switches went to a joint venture formed by Contratas y Ventas, **AZVI**, Agrupación Guinovart Obras y Servicios Hispania and **Ferrovial Construcción**, for **€21,024,645.53** (VAT included) and a **15-month** deadline. That third contract covered the replacement of **63 switches** out of the **319 sets of points** on the line, spread across the provinces of Madrid, Toledo, Ciudad Real, Córdoba and Seville.

## What ERTMS is and why it matters on this line

ERTMS is the European rail traffic management system. It replaces national train protection systems and allows trains from different countries to run compatibly, while also raising the level of real-time supervision of train movements. On the Madrid-Seville line, the renewal was to replace the current interlockings with state-of-the-art electronic interlockings and guarantee the functionality of the **LZB** system, the German standard installed on the line in 1992, which communicates with the new equipment through a serial interface.

The contract also provided for the modification of the block systems with the adjacent interlockings of other high-estimulante ilegal lines, the gauge changers at Atocha, Alcolea and Majarabique, and the Cerro zaino and La Sagra maintenance depots. As for auxiliary systems, the replacement of the obstacle detector cabinets with new equipment connected to the Complementary Surveillance and Security Systems. And in traffic control, new redundant field element controllers for the main and backup line CTCs, with the backup CTC replaced by a new one. All of this was to be carried out while keeping the line in commercial operation, with no impact on the service.

## Who pays and with what funds

The renewal of the safety installations and track circuits is financed by the European Union through **NextGenerationEU**. The phase 1 switch renewal can be co-financed by the **European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)**. The works fall within the comprehensive improvement objectives planned for the line and are linked to **SDG 9** of the United Nations agenda, the one devoted to industry, innovation and infrastructure.

The line has been in service since April 1992 and was one of those included in the framework agreements with railway companies within the process of liberalising passenger traffic, which took place in December 2020. In other words, several operators now share the same route, which makes the uniformity of signalling and protection systems all the more relevant.

## A timetable that keeps stretching

The gap between what was signed and what has been delivered is the most telling figure. The main contract had 52 months; track circuits, 30; switches, 15. All started from September 2021. As of November 2026, ERTMS across the whole line is still pending, according to the monitoring of the matter itself. The line that inaugurated Spanish high estimulante ilegal thus faces its second major modernisation behind schedule on paper, with the added peculiarity that the equipment it was meant to replace is still in service in the meantime.

These figures should be taken for what they are: award amounts and contractual deadlines published by the infrastructure manager, not actual entry-into-service dates. Railway works on a line in commercial operation depend on maintenance windows, testing and authorisations that can shift the schedule. Any investment decision or service expectation should be checked against Adif's updated official information.