SPANISH national operator Renfe restored passenger services on the 180km line connecting Huelva in Andalucía with Zafra in Extremadura on September 15. This follows the completion of a €250m upgrade programme undertaken by infrastructure manager Adif.
The line had been closed since June 30 2023 for infrastructure work, having been under threat of closure since the mid-1980s, serving an area struggling with the decline of mining activity and rural depopulation.
According to the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, the timetable for the restored medium-distance services was developed by Renfe following extensive analysis of traffic and demand in the Huelva - Zafra travel market, incorporating feedback gathered during a customer forum held in Huelva in April.
The new timetable is tailored to meet the needs of those travelling to work or study, and includes two trains in each direction between Huelva and the intermediate station of Jabugo-Galaroza from Monday to Thursday, three on Friday and Saturday, and four on Sunday.
Between Huelva and Zafra there is one train in each direction on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, aimed at the leisure market and offering an end-to-end journey time of 2h 52m, a reduction of 25 minutes on the previous timing.
Upgrading the line has removed 14 temporary speed restrictions, enabling a significant reduction in journey times to make rail more competitive with the private car, according to the ministry.
Work undertaken by Adif has included repairing and reinforcing five bridges, with new concrete bridge decks installed to improve weather resistance. A total of 90.5km of track has been completely renewed with 60kg/m rail on concrete sleepers and ballast, as well as drainage improvements.
The programme has also included modifying the track layout and replacing turnouts at stations, repairing and reinforcing tunnels and other structures, and protecting the slopes of cuttings and embankments.
Resignalling has involved the replacement of telephone block and installing electronic interlockings to replace mechanical equipment. The single-track line is now controlled remotely from Seville by means of CTC, with train detection performed by axle-counters. GSM-R has also been installed and level crossing equipment has been upgraded at 13 locations.
GSM-R installation and track renewals have been funded by the European Union (EU) under Spain’s national Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
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