CATALONIA Government Railways (FGC) has awarded Stadler Rail Valencia a €120.4m contract to supply 15 suburban EMUs for the standard-gauge Barcelona - Vallès Line.

PROPOSALS for the reopening of a long-abandoned cross-border railway in the Pyrenees took a step forward on December 1, when Mr Alain Rousset, president of the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Mr Javier Lambán, president of the Spanish region of Aragon, and Mr Héral Ruijters, director of innovative and sustainable transport for the European Commission (EC), signed a financing agreement for a study into the revival of the Pau - Canfranc line.

SPANISH operator Renfe is set to begin pilot tests next month of a self-propelled passenger train powered with liquefied natural gas (LNG) in what the operator says are the first such trials in Europe.

The phased construction of Barcelona’s first fully-automated metro line has been accompanied by a complete rethink in the way the entire network is operated and maintained. This revolution in metro construction and operation has produced several benefits, as David Briginshaw discovered during a visit to Spain’s second city.

SPANISH airline Air Nostrum is planning to launch open-access high-speed services from Madrid to Barcelona and Montpellier next year in competition with incumbent operator Renfe.

FIVE years after it was originally due to open, the first light rail line in the Spanish city of Granada finally began carrying passengers on September 21.

SPAIN’s infrastructure manager Adif has started tunnelling for a 4.5km rail link to serve both terminals at Barcelona Airport replacing the existing single-track branch line which only serves Terminal 2 on the north side of the airport.

VALENCIAN Government Railways (FGV) has awarded Stadler Rail Valencia a €43.3m contract to supply six bi-mode (diesel and electric) multiple units.

SPAIN’s Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Madrid City Council and Distrito Castellana Norte, a subsidiary of Spanish bank BBVA, have finally agreed terms for a major redevelopment around Madrid Chamartin station, a project first planned more than 24 years ago.

CATALONIAN Government Railways (FGC) expanded its standard-gauge Barcelona - Vallès suburban network on July 20, when the president of Catalonia Mr Carles Puigdemont inaugurated the second phase of the Line S2 Sabadell extension.