4 Dec 2023, 13:07

HIGH SPEED TRAINS ARRIVE IN ASTURIAS AFTER OPENING OF 25KM TUNNEL


The Variante de Pajares tunnel between Telledo and Pola de Gordón might be the longest in Europe

50 kilometres of works, and possibly the longest tunnel of the European Union with 25km of longitude: those are the two main facts about the Pajares Bypass, the newly inaugurated AVE (Alta Velocidad Española, or Spanish High Speed) tracks between León and Asturias, that finally take high speed services to the region. The project is an unprecedented advance that will reduce the journey time for passengers between Asturias and Madrid by more than an hour and will allow freight trains to increase their load by up to 15% and be longer.

Accompanied by Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker; the Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Mariastella Gelmini; and the Presidents of Madrid, Castilla y León and Asturias; his Majesty the King Felipe VI has completed the inaugural journey between Madrid-Chamartín and Oviedo. In total, 12 tunnels and 10 viaducts form part of this 50-kilometre stretch between La Robla and Pola de Lena, built with maximum integration with the environment and biodiversity while making the bypass safe for all. Renfe has already sold 70.000 tickets for the new journeys between Madrid and Oviedo; and it is expected that during its first year of full service, 1,25 million people will travel throughout the Pajares bypass.

On a press event held in Oviedo station, Prime Minister Juncker has remarked the great high speed network the Kingdom has: "our nation has the longest tunnel in Europe, that adds up to the longest high speed network with over 4,000 kilometres of tracks. But we are not stopping here: our network will be longer, we will keep investing and we will take high speed rail to all our dominions. We are already investing 9,000 million EMUs in Cantabria, the Basque Country, Extremadura and Navarra; and during 2024, we will be investing 10,000 more in our preautonomic states".