AVE

Related Topics:
Avery :: Avengers,_The :: Avenging_Force :: Ave_Caesar :: Aveiro :: Aveley :: Averroes :: Avery,_Tex :: Avery,_Steve :: Avernum_Series

AVE, an acronym for (literally, "Spanish High Speed" but also meaning "bird" in Spanish) is a high speed train that can achieve speeds of up to 300 km/h on dedicated track.

Unlike the rest of the Spanish broad-gauge network, the AVE uses standard gauge, permitting direct connections outside Spain in the future. All AVE trains are currently operated by RENFE, the Spanish state railway company, although it is possible that private companies may be allowed to run lines in the future.

History

The AVE commenced service between Madrid and Seville on 21 April 1992, a distance of 471 km, with a travel time of 2.5 hours.

It has been suggested that the PSOE government chose the French Alstom bid over the Siemens and Talgo bids for political rather than technical reasons, rewarding the French government for its assistance in capturing ETA activists who took "sanctuary" across the border in Southern France. Seville's hosting of the 1992 World's Fair prompted its choice for the inaugural AVE line, but there were also accusations that the Spanish head of government Felipe González favoured his home city. Seville is the fourth biggest city in Spain, after Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. However, with a population of some 700,000, Seville was a poor choice for a TGV link. Linking Madrid to Barcelona (the latter city has 1.4 million inhabitants, an industrial hinterland of 4m and accounts for roughly a quarter of Spain's exports) would have been the rational choice. However such considerations seldom influence spending on public works in Spain. Subsequent revelations on the way multi-million dollar bribes from AVE contractors were used to fund the PSOE followed a depressingly familiar tale of corruption and subversion of the public interest.

The service guarantees arrival within 5 minutes of the advertised time, and offers a full refund if the train is delayed further, although only 0.16% of trains have been so. In this regard, the punctuality of the AVE is exceptional compared to other RENFE services, and indeed even compared to the French TGV system.

The high speed of the train link combined with high property prices in Madrid has encouraged many Madrid commuters to settle in Ciudad Real, the first stop on the Madrid-Seville line.

Political controversy

Three corporations are involved in making trains to run on the national high-speed network: Spanish Talgo, German Siemens (makers of the German ICE high speed trains) and French Alstom (makers of the TGV). However, Alstom lost the so-called project of the century in 2001 to supply the train sets on the Madrid-Barcelona line, despite having over twenty years experience of running high-speed trains (the TGV or Train à Grande Vitesse) in France and providing the train sets on the Madrid-Seville line. Siemens' experience was limited to the ICE. Talgo, while producing a highly innovative fast train in the 1970s, was a newcomer to the field. There were also concerns regarding Siemens' ICE, particularly after the Eschede train disaster.

Articles in the Spanish Press suggested the likely reason for this choice - Talgo was Spanish, while the Siemens contract was the consolation prize for Germany after the Spanish government decided to accept the General Dynamics bid for the Santa Bárbara armament firm instead of the bid put in by Krauss Maffei-Wegmann. Krauss Maffei had a big contract under which Santa Bárbara would build Leopard 2 tanks under license for the Spanish army and this provided a further bargaining chip in the ensuing horse-trading between the Aznar and Schröder governments. It should also be noted that there are allegations that Siemens had made substantial bribes during the 1990s in an attempt to secure the AVE contract. An article in El País newspaper (article in Spanish) revealed that Siemens had paid some DM 4.3 million to a company owned by Luis Oliveró, the same man sentenced to ten years for illegal financing of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Party).

Construction and current development

Construction of a high-speed line connecting Madrid and Barcelona is underway, with the initial section from Madrid to Lleida, via Zaragoza, opening on 11 October 2003. Completion of the line is planned for 2007, with the line reaching Tarragona in 2006. When completed, the Madrid-Barcelona line should be on of the world's fastest long-distance train in commercial operation, with trains billed to reach a top speed of 350 km/h and covering the 600 km between the two cities in 2.5 hours. However, it has to be said that both Siemens and Talgo/Bombardier train sets have consistently failed to meet scheduled speed targets. El Periódico newspaper carried an article in October 2005 reporting that the Talgo/Bombardier train set (nicknamed "" or "The Duck" because of the locomotive's bill-like snout) would not be tested at 250 km in the near future, but it has now been cleared for this speed and has begun operating at 250 km/h on May 19, 2006, the same speed that Britain achieved when it introduced its diesel High Speed Train (HST) back in 1976. RENFE claim that by the end of 2006 it should be running at 300 km/h. In this context, one should note the highly critical report by KPMG, an internationally famous consulting firm. The report was commissioned by ADIF at the behest of the Ministry for Public Works (Ministerio de Fomento) on June 23, 2004. KPMG's experts pointed to the lack of in-depth studies and over-hasty execution of works as the reasons underlying the major problems dogging construction of the AVE line. Although it is forecast that the AVE would substantially replace air traffic on the Barcelona - Madrid route (in the same way that the Eurostar has on the London-Paris/London-Brussels routes and France's TGV has on the Paris-Lyon route), the AVE's repeated failure to meet its scheduled speed targets raises doubts that the train will succeed in dislodging the air shuttle.

Construction of a segment to Valladolid, extension of the Seville line to Málaga, as well as similar extensions of the system to Valencia and Alicante are also underway. Connection to the French TGV network is also planned, at either La Jonquera in Catalonia or Irun in the Basque Country. Further expansions to Galicia, the Basque Country (including the so-called Basque "Y" connecting the capitals of the three Basque provinces) and Portugal may eventually be built.

Spanish government's ambitions

The Spanish government has an ambitious plan to have 7,000 km of high-speed rail operational by 2010, with all provincial capitals at most only 4 hours from Madrid, and 6.5 hours from Barcelona. Critics of this scheme point out that raising the average speed of Spain's regional trains would achieve a much greater global impact at much less cost. At present, there are many rural lines where average speeds barely exceed 40 km/h (25 mph). The speed between many provincial capitals is little better; for example, it takes some thirteen hours to cover the 784 km between León and Barcelona (an average speed of 60 km/h or 43 mph). A much more modest upgrading of the network to 140 km/h (87 mph) would yield considerable service improvements without incurring the enormous expense of the AVE.

The construction of the high speed Madrid-Barcelona line encountered unforeseen geological problems, with the result that trains are not currently running at their full speed between Madrid and Lleida. Geologists have been particularly critical of the stretches built on weak clays in Aragon and large pits have appeared near the track. This latest AVE project has been plagued by major failures regarding signalling equipment, train speeds, and tunnel design. At the time of writing (2005), it appears increasingly unlikely that the line's designed top speed of 350 km/h will ever be attained. More recently, plans to build a shallow AVE tunnel under the fragile foundations of Barcelona's 19th century city centre instead of by a low-impact coastal route have incensed some 50,000 residents, threatening Barcelona mayor Joan Clos' political future as a result.

Lines

Currently, five lines make up the AVE system:

(long distance) (Madrid, Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Córdoba, Seville)
(Madrid, Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza, Lleida)
(shuttle) (Madrid, Ciudad Real, Puertollano)
(Madrid, Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Córdoba, Málaga
(Mid distance) Madrid–Toledo.

The central hub of the system is Madrid's Puerta de Atocha station.

External links

RENFE | High-speed trains | Rolling stock