Highlighting Iberian high-speed railway progress

Gaining on the success of this event held in 2009 in Portugal, this year’s conference was hosted by Renfe and sponsored by Talgo, Siemens, CAF, ABB, Alstom, Nokia Siemens Networks, Invensys Dimetronic Signals, Indra, Capgemini, Ansaldo STS and Bombardier.

The focus of Day One was the topic of high-speed and it began with Opening Remarks from Teófilo Serrano Beltrán, President of Renfe, followed by Ignacio Barrón de Angoiti, Director of the Passenger & High-Speed Department at UIC with a presentation which discussed the UIC’s high-speed role sustainable economic development.

Santiago Cobo, HSL Madrid-Levante Director at ADIF was next to the stand with a presentation that looked at the Madrid- Valencia high-speed line. Next was Inmaculada Aranguren, Vice President of Capgemini Consulting & Alicia Gutiérrez, Account Manager of Capgemini, who presented their view on how rail companies should face the transformation that the European and worldwide sector is requiring, aligning much more with the customer needs and focusing on efficient management for profitable services. The presentation gave examples of challenges and solutions that Capgemini is developing jointly with their customers, both from the business and technology perspectives.

Abelardo Carrillo, General Director of High-Speed and Long Distance Services at Renfe was next to the stand and he looked at how high-speed rail has brought radical changes to the mobility markets, and how it is poised to have an increasingly important role in the shaping of the transportation sector. Rolling stock is at the centre of the changes brought by high-speed rail, but Abelardo also examined that there are several key elements that high-speed trains must deliver so that high-speed rail can achieve its full potential.

Just before the morning coffee break, Juan Carlos Lorenzo Villanueva, General Manager of the Mobility Division at Siemens S.A stepped up to the podium to present how Siemens in Spain has been participating in the development of the Spanish high-speed system from the beginning. He explained that they have been involved since 1992 with the fixed installations (catenaries, power supply substations, signalling and telecommunications) of the high-speed line from Madrid to Seville, followed by the lines Madrid to Toledo (2005), Madrid to Valladolid (2007), Lérida to Barcelona (2008) and Madrid to Valencia (scheduled in 2010), delivering the current greatest high-speed trains fleet of 26 AVE S103 series up to 350km/h running between Madrid and Barcelona and achieving the interoperable ETCS/GSM-R system Level 1 and 2 with the delivery of about 80 onboard equipments for various train sets fully compatible with all track systems, including ETCS Level 1 of Siemens on almost all Spanish high-speed lines.

Next up was Graça Jorge, Director of Environment at Rave, with a presentation about the Portuguese high-speed rail project, which focused on historical milestones, development studies, priority links, socio-economic and environmental impact issues and a description of the master plan and future steps.

Mario Oriol, Market Development Director at Patentes Talgo S.L took to the stage next. He spoke about the most important current developments related to high-speed trains and variable gauge intercitys and how Talgo has been undergoing important R&D activities to meet demand of today and future operations. Among other products, the company is currently developing a new high-speed platform named AVRIL, and Talgo 250 Hybrid intercity trains with variable gauge.

Francisco José Cardoso Dos Reis, CEO of CP was next to speak and he posed the question of; is investing in high-speed in Portugal a requirement? He focused on topics such as shortening distances and reducing travelling times.

Next to the stand was Carlos Rico Gómez, Sales and Marketing Director at Rail Control Solutions, Bombardier Transportation, with a presentation entitled “Enabling higher speeds and higher capacities in China.” This was followed by Leopoldo Maestu, Account Director for Renfe, Alstom, who spoke about how Alstom is one of the leaders in the very high-speed market and offers the widest range of high-speed and very high-speed trains to suit every operational need. He also spoke about how Alstom has developed the most advanced technologies to increase performance, passenger comfort and reducing operational costs.

Delegates then broke for a networking lunch break before taking part in a high-speed topic-related Panel Discussion made up of the morning speakers.

Lamy Figueiras, Director of EMEF took to the stand next to present some information about recent freight wagon contracts including the 300 Sgnss and the 100 Lgnss.

Next up was Michael Robson, Secretary General of EIM who presented some information concerning opportunities for rail freight in the Iberian Peninsula. Michael discussed topics such as EU Freight Regulation, Freight Corridors, the new Spain-Portugal Freight route and high-speed freight lines.

To follow was a presentation from Eduardo Borges Pires, Director of Studies and Strategy at REFER who spoke about the Portuguese rail network priorities and projects. This was followed by the final speaker of Day One, Alfredo Diaz, Economist at the European Investment Bank. He explored the tools for financing of infrastructure and rolling stock and examined the challenges and perspectives.

A drinks reception was then held to mark the end of Day One which gave delegates and speakers the chance to ask questions and gain further knowledge about the industry in an informal and relaxed atmosphere.

Day Two took a more technical stance to proceedings and was Chaired by Michael Robson, Secretary General of EIM. The day began with Ignacio Jorge Iglesias, Research and Developments Director at ADIF, who gave a presentation looking at increasing the Spanish railways performance through ERTMS.

Next up was Raúl Costa González, Senior Project Manager from Ansaldo STS, who gave a detailed presentation about ERTMS Level 1 and 2 for the high-speed lines of Madrid to Lérida and Figueras to Perpignan.

Mário Alves, Director Railway Systems at Refer Telecom was next to the stand with a presentation entitled “GSM-R; reliable telecommunications for railways.” He spoke about the Portuguese GSM-R project, operational requirements, subsystem architecture and the challenges faced.

Next was Agustín Menchén Alumbreros, Railways Customer Team Head South Europe of Nokia Siemens Networks, with a presentation that focused on the experiences in GSM-R network rollout and maintenance.

Paloma Cucala, Researcher at the Institute of Research in Technology Universidad Pontificia Comillas took to the stage next with a detailed and technical look at energy efficiency measures in high-speed train operations. She looked at vehicles, infrastructure and traffic operation plus a view about timetables, ecodriving and control.

Next up was Luis Filipe Ramos Candeias, Operations Director at Dimetronic who looked at his companies experience in the Iberian market, followed by José Ignacio Ribera Sanchez, Managing Technological Innovation at the High-Speed Department in Renfe. He spoke about his companies present fleet of trains including the International High-Capacity trains and the Class 130H trains.

Another networking lunch break took place next, before delegates made their way back into the conference room for a presentation by Antonio Campos, Director of Area at CAF, who spoke about CAF’s Iberian developments over the years, starting with a history of CAF’s productions. He then went on to give details about their TrainTram system and the benefits it could bring to clients, plus giving a full corporate profile of all CAF’s rolling stock.

Apolinar Rodríguez Díaz, Corporate Director of International Relationships at Renfe was next with a presentation that focussed on the development model of high-speed railway services in Spain, evaluating the evolution of passenger numbers, market share percentage, high-speed punctuality and onboard services.

The final presentation came from Joaquín Jiménez, Corporate Director of International Relations at ADIF who made focus on ADIF’s international plans, explaining that ADIF has signed training and advising agreements with many international railway undertakers and public companies.

Global Railway Review would like to extend thanks to all of the speakers and delegates who made the conference a great success. Special thanks also go to our hosts, sponsors and exhibitors. We look forward to welcoming you to a future Global Railway Review event.