Issue No. 7 Winter 2007 he inaugural IRS meeting took place at the Model T Railway Club in London on 22nd February 2006, and was attended by about 20 prospective members from all around the UK. A general discussion took place and introductions, suggestions and proposals were made. At this meeting a small committee was voted on and tasked with setting up the Society on a formal basis. The Committee members are: Chairman David Stevenson Secretary Charles Phillips Journal Editor Michael Guerra Treasurer & Membership Secretary Tony Bowles Publicity & Exhibitions Myles Munsey THE BASICS The remit of the Society is to stimulate interest in and disseminate information about railways on the Iberian Peninsular and the Balearic Islands. It was felt at this time that extending this remit to Spanish and Portuguese speaking areas of the world would be too ambitious. It is proposed that a Society Journal be published four times a year and that this would be the main conduit between members. Local meetings and branches were also to be established wherever possible to encourage membership from the widest possible area. A fledgling library could be made available to members as time went on. Consideration would be given to organising trips from the UK, both formal and informal, as a way of enabling members to meet in a very convivial atmosphere and whilst indulging their passion for rail travel! MEMBERSHIP Membership was to be open to all and would entitle the member to receipt of the magazine, use of the Societies’ facilities and attendance and voting rights at an Annual General Meeting. MEMBERSHIP RATES FOR ONE YEAR – APRIL 2006-MARCH 2007 UK £12.50 EUROPE £15.00 REST OF WORLD £16.00 Payment CHEQUE (Payable to: Iberian Railway Society) - Send to: Tony Bowles 1 Station Cottages Stow Road Toddington Cheltenham GL54 5DT Those joining during the year pay the Annual Rate and will receive all copies of the journal for that year. Membership of the IRS is subject to the rules and constitution of the IRS. Membership records are held on a computer database in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act. 2 Title Page The Society 2 The Chairman’s Page 4 The Editor’s Page 5 Barcelona-Madrid, Spring 2007 6 L'Hospitalet De La Infant 2007 14 Cercanias Line 9 Cercedill to Cotos 17 Excursion to Barcelona, March 2007 20 Portugese High Speed 31 AGM Invitation 32 Contributions for publication should be, if possible, by email or computer disk (to avoid time spent transcribing text). Photos should be of good quality, sharp, well composed or of significant historical interest. Prints, slides, digital photos or good scans can be accommodated. All prints and slides should be sent by recorded delivery, they will be scanned as quickly as possible and returned by recorded delivery. Scans of 6”x4” prints should be scanned at 300dpi, 35mm slides should be scanned at 1600dpi, digital photographs should be 1920x1200 minimum. Articles can be of any length, though generally of between 500 to 800 words for a book review, and up to 4,000 words for a main article. Maps should be of a good clear line, and legible at quarter page size. Submissions should be to: Michael Guerra, 6 Nash Close, Welham Green Hatfield, HERTS AL9 7NN Email (pref): [email protected] Front Cover: S102 & S103 trains waiting at the new Camp de Tarragona AVE station, 18.09.07. Graham Harrison 3 OLA! ith Christmas and the New Year rapidly approaching it’s always a good time to W look over the past year. For me personally and in terms of travel it has been a good twelve months. Cordoba, Andalucia, Estepona, San Sebastian, not to mention Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Germany and Poland. How have I managed all these? Frankly it’s the cheap fares on budget airlines, primarily easyJet. In the great scheme of things it would be better to go by train, but it’s impossible to do it at an economical price unless one is fortunate to have access to Privilege Tickets as employees, current or former, of railway companies. I am concerned by this but so far have been unable to find any alternative; if you know of one I would be very interested to hear of it. As a matter of interest as I wrote this piece I tried to look up a fare from Worcester, where I live, to Madrid by train going in April and coming back five days later. I couldn’t as one can only book three months in advance, this is absurd. I checked on easyJet and got two £50 returns from Bristol, direct, no changes. This too is absurd, but in my favour. High speed train services should be about making long distance travel easier, cheaper and accessible. It won’t happen, there, that’s my prediction. Enough doom and gloom. May I take the opportunity to wish all of you a very Happy Christmas and New Year and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the AGM in March, look for the separate notice. David Stevenson, Chairman – Iberian Railways Society Tel: 01905 358440 Email: [email protected] 4 Renfe Class 310.840 on the turntable at Leon. Stephen Beck collection eceiving The Chairman’s piece stimulated some thinking about the practicalities of R our interest. In the past 47 years I have been on an airplane 5 times, and only 3 times since my majority; a return to the USA (for work) and a single to Japan (for leisure – we took the train back). Perhaps it is down to lifestyles and choices, so it is difficult to continue without sounding ‘holier than thou’. As a family we have travelled all over Europe without flying. It is of course more expensive and more complicated, but life is a journey, not a destination. For us the adventure begins at Welham Green Platform 1. There is no tedious travel out to an airport hours before departure, no long-winded security checks, and no being treated like a sardine. We can watch the world go by, eat, read and sleep in comfort; and all the time the geography unfolds, with the change in languages heard and the food available. I urge all of you to re-discover slow travel, it will reward you and the Planet. My work at St Pancras is complete. I am now ‘between contracts’ and enjoying catching up with 10 years of DIY! I was on the last train from Waterloo to Paris, and the first public train into St Pancras. No more meandering through South London, and for the upper half of Britain The Continent is now an hour closer. The children are particularly pleased that it is now feasible to have a day trip to Disneyland Paris with the earlier morning departure. It also brings forward the day when it may be possible to get a direct train from St Pancras to Barcelona or Madrid now that there is a UIC+B gauge connection to a major London terminus. I am trying to arrange a meeting with Deutsche Bahn to discuss that possibility in January. Thank you again to those who send in articles; more please! This publication survives only due to your goodwill and labour. Where ever possible send high resolution pictures (remember to give captions so I don’t have to guess them), if you don’t have one try scanning a suitable picture from an old book (always remember to reference where the picture comes from). Hopefully this issue will arrive before the end of December, and so Seasonal Greetings to all; whatever your faith, philosophy, or agnostic disposition. Michael Guerra The giant advent calendar at the South end of St Pancras’ Barlow Shed. 08.12.07 5 Barcelona-Madrid 2007 By Alan Sprod This is Alan’s first article on his Spring 2007 trip around Spain that includes a detailed look at the current Barcelona to Madrid AVE route. In Correo 8 Alan will be describing the Burgos Direct route. Map of Alan’s vuelta that will be described in this and future articles. lthough there have been several train trips in Spain during recent visits (none of A them involving beaches!), I had not made a rail-dedicated trip since 1995. So this year I planned a brief visit, which would cover a variety of railway interest, including journeys on new lines and also on one whose demise could be imminent. Barcelona, with three daily easyJet flights from my nearby Luton Airport, was the obvious starting point for my Spanish travels. So flights were booked on the internet, together with hotel reservations for the first night in Barcelona and the fifth and final night in Tarragona. Although I had a basic itinerary in my mind, I prefer to leave some flexibility. So being off-season, I took a chance on finding accommodation on the three other days. My outward flight would be on Sunday 25th February, with a return flight five days later. 6 After landing at Barcelona Airport I made my way to the RENFE station, which is the terminus of the half-hourly C10 Cercanias service to and from Barcelona Estaçio França. A three-car Class 440 EMU worked the crowded 16.59 departure. On the south side of the existing airport a massive new terminal complex is under construction. Approaching the main Barcelona-Tarragona coastal route, the single-track airport line used to bridge the main line, then run alongside until joining it at El Prat de Llobregat station. Now there is a new inside chord, enabling city-bound trains to join the northbound main without having to cross the busy southbound track.