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. Beyond El Prat de Llobregat the route onward is a linear building site, with work in progress realigning the existing tracks and installing a pair of standard-gauge tracks for the final section of the Madrid-Zaragoza-Barcelona high-speed line.

Barcelona Estaçio França. Increasingly rare; the O8.45 III RD for Montpelier headed by Class 252.039. 26.02.07 After entering the subterranean depths of Sants station, daylight is not seen again until the final approaches to the Estaçio França station. Here the Hotel Park was ideally located opposite the station. After checking-in my first task was to purchase my tickets for the next day's journeys. As a retired British Rail employee, untainted by privatisation, I have the good fortune of half-rate travel on most European railways. Nevertheless in some of my travels I find it easier to purchase a national pass, rather than book for each individual journey. However, since seat reservations are compulsory on all Spanish long- distance trains, this time purchasing individual tickets and seat reservations in a single 7 transaction was my preferred option. Back at the station, tickets and reservations were soon obtained to get me to Madrid, then onward to Burgos. Time now for some exercise, so a good stroll to me to the very lively harbour, soon finding a tapas cafeteria for my evening meal. Back at Estaçio França in time to witness the departure of the 21.05 Tren Hotel to Paris Austerlitz, a 17-car Talgo train headed by 252.069. The formation included power generator cars at each end, together with a restaurant car and a bar car in the centre. The former was well-occupied, with diners seated at the tables. That's the way to travel! The train looked magnificent as it departed the illuminated curving arched-roof station. Estaçio França, once known as Termino, has fifteen platforms - more than adequate for the thirty long-distance and Regional services shown on the departure sheet, of which only nineteen run on a daily basis. Additionally there is the half-hourly C10 Cercanias service to the airport. Once there were suburban services northward along the coast, but these were diverted to the more-convenient city-centre tunnel routes prior to the 1992 Olympic Games. On Day 2 I headed across to Estaçio França to board the 9.00 Alvia departure to Madrid. Beforehand there was time to watch the departure of the 8.45 Catalan Talgo to Montpelier, this time witnessing a France-bound departure in daylight, again with a Class 252 electric at the helm. Since the opening of the latest stretch of high-speed line from Lleida to Roda de Bara in December 2006, there have been eight trains Madrid-Barcelona each way over the high- speed line, worked by four-car Series 120 Alvia units. These units have variable gauge axles, enabling them to work over the traditional 3000v DC broad-gauge lines at 220 kph maximum speed, as well as at 250 kph over the new 25kv AC standard-gauge high-speed routes Set 120.03 was lightly loaded leaving Estaçio França for the trundle through the tunnels to Barcelona Sants, the latter now the city's main station, but so gloomy that it makes Birmingham New Street seem agoraphobic. All seats in my coach were occupied on departure on departure from Sants. Initially the Alvia retraced the previous day's approach route through the extensive reconstruction. Soon after the airport line diverges on the left, the unfinished alignment of the future high-speed Madrid route veers away on the inland side. Good speed followed along the traditional coast line, passing through several popular summer resorts, including Sitges. At San Vincent de Calders, the alternative inland route via Martorell joins before the station, beyond which the Alvia left the coastal route for the single-track line towards Reus. Prior to the opening of the high speed line east of Lleida, this was the route taken by Barcelona to Madrid express trains, not booked to call at Tarragona. A viaduct, flanked at both ends by tunnels, on the yet-to-be-opened Barcelona high-speed line is passed on the inland side, the two routes soon running alongside approaching Roda de Bara station. Here the broad-gauge line splits into two directions - the former main-line towards Lleida and the alternative route to Zaragoza via Reus and Caspe.

8 The Alvia set leaves the traditional broad-gauge route and slowly passes through the gauge-changing shed. There is a separate "cambiadores" installation on another track for Talgo trains. The gauge transition is smooth and soon the Alvia is on the double-tracked standard-gauge line and the power is on!

Barcelona Estaçio França. One of the new gauge-changeable Class 120 Alvia awaits departure to Madrid Atocha. 26.02.07 Speed rapidly rises on the stretch of new line opened on the 16th December 2006. Nine kilometres west of Roda de Bara, the Alvia raced through the centre tracks of Camp de Tarragona station at 200 kph. This station is effectively Tarragona Parkway. None of the Barcelona trains stop here, but there are five trains each way between Camp de Tarragona and Madrid. Since these trains do not travel over broad-gauge routes, they are worked by Series 102 or 103 standard-gauge-only sets, capable of 330 kph and 350 kph capability respectively. The set working the 10.05 arrival from Madrid, returning at 11.45 was stabled on the station loops. Curiously, due to the semi-mountainous terrain, at this stage the High-Speed line is heading northward, even though Madrid lies south of Barcelona. The 200 kph speed was maintained as the line gradually veers westward to pass through L'Espluga de Francoli, where there are emergency loops on either side. The sinuous old main line is crossed five times before reaching Lleida. The first two crossings are on either side of the 2103m Túnel Lilla. The most memorable was just

9 beyond L'Espluga de Francoli, where the broad-gauge route passes underneath at 90º in a shallow gorge, with Vinaixa station visible on the north side. Hard to imagine that until December 2006, the single-line track was the main route between Madrid and Barcelona. After passing through the Túnel Tarrés, there was a sequence of delays. Twice the train came to a stand, then briefly regaining to 200 kph before crossing from the normal westbound track to the eastbound one. Hereabouts are the fourth and fifth crossings of the old route. A further brief stop was made immediately before the dive-under onto the loop, which serves Lleida. Initially the loop is double-tracked. A fourth and final stop was made just before the start of the single track approach to Lleida Station. RENFE have certainly created major operating problems at Lleida and Zaragoza. At both locations the original broad-gauge alignments now accommodate the original route, plus the new standard-gauge line. Since the approaches are in cuttings, the compromise has been to have two single tracks, one broad gauge and the other standard gauge running in parallel side-by-side. Not only are the track gauges different, but also so are the overhead electrification systems. As on my journey, the combination of late running and the single-tracked pinch-point can seriously delay trains heading in the opposite direction. The unexplained delays approaching Lleida gave rise to a seventeen-minutes late arrival, so inevitably the eastbound Alvia due to depart at 11.05 had been held and left after our 11.18 arrival. The rebuilt Lleida station has six platform tracks, three for each gauge. Although only booked to stop at Lleida for two minutes, we were held until 11.24, waiting the on-time arrival over the western single-track leg of the S102 set working the 9.00 Madrid to Camp de Tarragona. The western exit route involves a lengthy section of tunnel/covered-way, again enclosing a pair of parallel single tracks for each gauge. The new standard-gauge splits for the non- conflicting junction with the direct Lleida Avoiding High-Speed line. In the current timetable, only two of the thirteen trains in each direction between Madrid and Camp Tarragona/Barcelona take the Zaragoza and Lleida Bypasses. More trains may do so when the final leg into Barcelona is opened. The broad-gauge to Zaragoza runs on the north side for a lengthy distance before heading away towards Tardienta. Fortunately there were no further delays as the Alvia raced across a barren open landscape, reminiscent of travelling across Northern Arizona on Amtrak's Southwest Chief. The 442-kilometres stretch from Madrid to Lleida was opened in October 2003. Although designed for a 350 kph maximum line speed, the new line has been plagued by teething problems associated with the European Train Control System signalling system. Until recently all trains were limited to 200 kph. In contrast to the brand-new rolling stock on the new line, the sight of two Ferrobuses stabled in a loop provided a reminder of distant days. These ancient four-wheeled railcars have been converted to inspection vehicles. The Rio Ebro is crossed twenty kilometres before Zaragoza, and soon the alternative broad-gauge route via Caspe passes underneath.

10 As at Lleida, the new main line bypasses Zaragoza and non-conflicting junctions lead to the loop through the city. The loop becomes single-track where the broad-gauge line from Lleida comes alongside. To ease congestion on the broad-gauge route through Lleida passenger station, a freight bypass has been built which, after passing below the standard-gauge loop line, runs parallel to the high-speed bypass. Before reaching the approach tunnels, the new standard-gauge line from Huesca trails- in. According to current timetables, there is only one train each-way over this eighty- kilometre high-speed branch - plus a second train on Fridays and Sundays. Once again our late traverse of the single-track approach created delays for an eastbound train, with the 10.25 Alvia from Madrid to Barcelona losing six minutes, waiting for our arrival. At least our Alvia had enjoyed an unchecked run form Lleida, recovering four minutes by averaging 96.7 mph over the 84.1 miles from Lleida. Historically there were two separate stations at Zaragoza, serving the Lleida and Caspe routes. El Portillo station was built in the 1970's serving both routes. This modern station has now been superseded by the new Delicias, which has four tracks for each gauge. At Zaragoza, 50% of my coach's passengers alighted, to be immediately replaced by boarders heading for Madrid. So the vehicle was 100% full throughout its journey from Barcelona Sants to Madrid.

Zaragoza from space (Google Earth) showing the relationship of the older El Portillo station (lower right) and the new Delicias station with the large white trainshed. 11 The single-track exit towards Madrid is relatively short and speed rapidly rose once the loop became double-track. The bypass line was regained after another non-conflicting junction and soon the Alvia was running at 200 kph (125 mph). Speed hovered around this ceiling for the ongoing 160 miles before reaching the outskirts of Madrid. Although Alvias are allegedly capable of running at 250 kph over 25kv sections, this speed was never reached, despite leaving Zaragoza twenty minutes late. Whereas the AVE line takes a direct route from Zaragoza towards Calatayud, the steam- age broad-gauge line had to wind through the foothills of various sierras. The AVE crosses the broad-gauge twice before reaching Calatayud. Most of the broad-gauge route between Madrid and Zaragoza was gradually doubled in the latter decades of the 20th Century, but the winding stretch between Ricla and Calatayud remains single track. There is a brief dramatic view of this section at the second crossing of the broad-gauge. There are also fine views of historic villages and a castle in this very scenic section. Sweeping through Calatayud, there is a joint station serving both gauges. Less than 50% of the trains on the high-speed line call at Calatayud. A few kilometres west of Calatayud, the broad-gauge main-line veers away on its more-northerly route onward to Madrid, not to be seen again until the final approaches to Atocha Station. Either side of Calatayud there are sequences of tunnels as the line takes a direct route through the high sierra. Apart from a short dip approaching Calatayud, the high-speed line climbs relentlessly from Zaragoza (at an altitude of 200m), for over 150 kilometres before reaching a 1100m plateau summit. Here the countryside is rather featureless, other than distant views of the snow-capped Sierra Guadarrama north of Madrid. As in many parts of Spain, there is an interesting spectrum of bird life, including birds-of-prey. However, bird identification while travelling at 200 kph is a major challenge. On the descent from the plateau an engineering depot is passed, in which were stabled another Ferrobus and an ex-Romanian Railways diesel locomotive. Calatayud and Guadalajara are the only two stations between Zaragoza and Madrid. In addition there are three non-passenger locations, with emergency recessing loops. After passing through Guadalajara, itself another Parkway station distant from its namesake city, it was time to visit the buffet car, five hours having passed since breakfast. Soon the skyline of Madrid could be seen in the distance, so a retreat back to my seat as speed eased on the approaches to the city's eastern suburbs. A 90º right-hand sweep brings the Zaragoza line alongside the 1992-built AVE line to Sevilla, soon passing on the east side the standard-gauge depot, packed with hordes of new trains. Currently, the AVE network does not operate with the restraints of the tight rolling-stock resources that exist in the UK. Following the expansion of the Cercanias suburban network, the rail approach to Atocha has become rather complex, with broad-gauge routes weaving alongside and underneath the new standard-gauge tracks, which finish on the east side of the modern terminal platforms.

12 Since leaving Zaragoza twenty minutes late, an unchecked run persistently hovering around 200 kph had regained thirteen minutes on the booked schedule. So the Alvia arrived at Madrid Atocha only seven minutes late. The 306 kilometres from Zaragoza had been covered in just less than 97 minutes, giving an average speed of 190 kph (118 mph). Having explored Atocha Station on previous visits to Madrid, I did not linger before buying a Cercanias ticket to board one of the ubiquitous multiple-unit trains to take me underneath the city to Chamartin, where hopefully I would be boarding the once-daily train, which takes the Burgos Direct route. This article will be continued in Correo 8.

Madrid Atocha: A tropical garden within the old trainshed. 26.02.07

13 L'Hospitalet De La Infant 2007

e spent 2 weeks holiday at a site near L'Hospitalet which is about 2 hours drive W south of Barcelona and was right next door to the main line from Barcelona to the south . Although designed not to be a railway holiday we saw quite a lot of the railway in the area and also visited the railway museum at Vilanova I la Geltru and the new AVE station north of Tarragona at Camp de Tarragona. (I am not a great number cruncher so I apologise in advance for not furnishing loco and unit numbers in this article.)

We flew from Stansted to Barcelona and picked up our hire car for the fortnight. The airport is connected by a substantial covered bridge which links directly into the airport station for trains to Barcelona city centre, very easy.

Euromed from Valencia running North to Barcelona near L'Hospitalet De La Infant . 15.09.07

The holiday club which we stayed at was about 3 km from the suburban station at L'Hospitalet which has a fairly frequent service of EMUs to Barcelona and southwards towards Valencia. The station itself is a bit rundown with lots of graffiti but was home to 2 road-rail lorries and was a very frequent passing place. The track seems to be mostly single track and runs close to the sea in the area with frequent passing loops and from mid day Monday to late Friday was very busy with passenger and freight trains with a maximum of 6 trains per hour at certain times. Trains tending to go in 'flights ' in each direction with a fast passenger, suburban EMU and then a freight in that order to make the most of capacity at busy times. Saturday to Monday mid day saw only a couple of freights per day so was much quieter. 14 L’Hospitalet: Class 269.114 with container freight running South. 12.09.07

Apart from EMUs all other passenger trains were in the hands of either sets one of which was in latest RENFE livery and Class 252 electrics and stock which was anything from 3 to 8 intercity coaches or Talgo sets of which two trains bound for Barcelona had 2 Talgo sets per train which I have not seen before. Opposite the holiday site is a disused former railway quarry which still has a very solid concrete hopper with RENFE lettering right next to the line and various derelict buildings but no track.

Nr. L’Hospitalet: RENFE quarry hopper. 13.09.07 15

We had a day out by car to visit the railway museum at Vilanova which is absolutely brilliant as to setting and amount and variety of stock preserved. What a pity that so many of the are suffering from corrosion not helped by being close to the sea but having said that the staff that were there were busy washing and cleaning the exhibits! The total staff seemed to only be 5 plus the 3 girls in the shop and this is nowhere near enough to even carry out even basic repairs. The small shop sells quite a good selection of pictorial books on RENFE steam and diesel class's plus a small selection of second hand railway and model magazines. A small cinema also shows a very interesting film about the history of Spanish railways in English at regular intervals.

On the way back home we visited the brand new and very impressive new AVE station at Camp de Tarragona which opened on 19th December 2006 and at the moment only operates services inland as the high speed line into Barcelona is not quite ready. Security is very tight and there is no access to platforms unless you have a ticket and according to notices at the entrance to the platforms, passengers will only be admitted 2 minutes before departure.

S102 at Camp de Tarragona 18.09.07

16 he line from Cercedilla to Cotos is unusual in that whilst it is far from being the T only example of metre gauge operation in Spain, it is the only metre gauge line operated by RENFE. It climbs from the charming village of Cercedilla to the mountain resort of Cotos.

The arrangement of tracks at Cercedilla looking south. The fierce upwards gradient of the metre gauge is apparent. On the right the broad gauge tracks dip gently down towards the tunnel.

I first attempted a trip on this line in April 2003. It was actually snowing at Cercedilla when I left. As it was coming down in little spots rather than huge flakes. I decided to press on. The photographic results more than justified the effort.

The line is operated by just 6 class 442 2-car units, virtually the only rolling stock on the line though crucially a rotary snow cutter is kept at the running sheds at Cercedilla. This line can easily be shut for days by snowdrifts.

The junction station of Cercedilla boasts two platforms for the metre gauge alongside the RENFE broad gauge ones. There is a kick-back connection to the running sheds, immediately following which the line makes a fierce ascent to the first tunnel. The line has to negotiate backs of gardens on sharp curves through the village itself. There is also 17 section where it runs alongside a public road, but for the most part this is a ride well away from human habitation. In order to gain height the line performs a series of seemingly crazy S-bends. The overhead catenary is suspended from green metal poles, some leaning at very odd angles.

The route is heavily forested until it reaches the crossing station of Navecerrada. Shortly after this station there is another tunnel beyond which vegetation starts thinning out and the route becomes more rugged and rock -strewn.

When the train emerged from the tunnel above Navacerrada that April day I was amazed to see piles of snow still lying thick, but about to melt in the spring thaw. There again this is high up and well into the Guadarrama mountain range.

The last part of the line to Cotos is flatter, but no less scenic as the line evidently has been blasted from solid rock. Fresh mountain streams tumble down the slopes which are adorned with myriads of pine trees, yet this is Spain not Switzerland.

A view of Cotos station looking towards the end of the line. Behind the train the ramp leads up to the village. 25/04/2005

The station layout at Cotos consists of three tracks which re-converge at the far end to form a head shunt that disappears mysteriously into an underground stock storage bunker underneath a restaurant.

There is little at Cotos itself save this restaurant and ski centre. It is easy though to enjoy some superb hiking trails into the mountains. I followed one of these and emerged around an hour later alongside a frozen mountain lake.. 18

I hope readers will forgive the short text, but the pictures speak for themselves. There again there is little substitute for actually going there!

About an hour’s walk from Cotos station the hiking trail emerges into this magnificent icy landscape in the Guadarrama mountains. 19 n early March 2007 I had occasion to spend some time in Barcelona on business, and I rather than travel expensively and stay in an expensive down-town hotel I elected to stay two nights in a comfortable but economical pensión in Vilanova i la Geltrú, and take the one-hour journey to the inner suburban station at El Clot Aragó by Cercanías/Rodalies train. This also gave me the opportunity to visit the railway museum in Vilanova and to spend some time observing things at stops along the way in each direction. Some thoughts and observations on my journeys might, I hope, be of passing interest. Any strange opinions and/or errors of fact are all my own work, so I trust they will be forgiven. Contrary to my usual practice of using the Castilian place-names for places in ‘times past’ articles, I have adopted the Catalan or Valenciana names where commonly used or appropriate.

Class 470 EMU, set 070 at Tarragona 05/03/07 - down Tortosa Regional Express 05.03.07 The object was to be as economical as possible, and that meant avoiding the more grand but speedier expresses and taking local and regional stopping trains or semi-fasts, still making use of my pensionista’s Tarjeta Dorada, which gives me 40% discount on weekdays and 35% at weekends. My northbound journey began by Cercanías train from my local station, Callosa de Segura to Alacant, then by Talgo to Tarragona, and by

20 regional express to Vilanova. The cost was less than €30, and the return fare to Barcelona from Vilanova was E3! The scarcity of low cost trains at suitable times meant that I was forced to make use of the Talgo – a pleasant enough train, but not so easy to see out of as the lesser varieties of train. The southbound journey was by Cercanías from Vilanova to Sant Vicenc, then regional express to Valencia and another regional express to Callosa de Segura. Cost, E22 for about 555 kilometres! I make that less than 5p per mile, although I have to admit I’m no good at mathematics.

On Monday 5th March 2007, I set forth from Callosa de Segura, my local station. The first leg of the northbound journey was by one of the quite frequent local services between Murcia and Alacant. The 08.55 was one of the usual class 592 DMU sets. Until quite recently, I had tried to note set numbers and car numbers, but as they seem to get out of order and shuffled around so frequently, I have generally given up the struggle. My train that morning was in correct formation, as 135M + 068M + 136M. The M stands for ‘motor’ and R for ‘remolque’ or trailer, (although motored, it has no driving end). The wheel arrangement of the three cars is described as 1A.A1 + 2.2 + 1A.A1. All of the local services around Alacant are operated by these 1982 vintage MAN/Macosa diesel-hydraulic sets with all cars powered. This makes for a powerful train but a noisy one.

Some of the ‘Cercanías’ trains are labelled as ‘Civis’ in the timetables. In theory the Civis trains are refurbished and upgraded a bit, but in practice there is indiscriminate use of the stock and the ticket price is the same anyway. Some of the ‘Civis’ trains do omit one or more of the minor stations and halts along the way. My train that morning passed non-stop through Albatera/Catral, and I was able to witness through the window the time-honoured routine of the station-master out on the platform, red-top cap on head and furled red flag held aloft to ‘pass’ the train through his section. It is not clear if this is entirely necessary in this day and age, but the practise is credited with having prevented some potentially nasty accidents. I have no details of those cases however.

On entry into Alacant, the trains run into Sant Gabriel, where you can generally see festoons of sea-bathers’ clothes hung on the ‘strictly no bathing’ signs. This halt is about 2 kilometres south of the Benalúa terminus of the Andaluces Railway, which is no longer used for passenger purposes. It has recently been occupied by squatters who made the Catalan television when they were cleared away by the Guardia Civil. The buildings and track are still in situ and the line goes on past there on to the docks for some freight movements. Trains coming from the south reverse and move on up the steep curving connecting line into Alacant Término. In the sidings there were four electric locomotives; three class 252s and one class 269 ‘Japonesa’. Awaiting our entry into the terminus was 319-240, on a train of empty container flats that departed, presumably down to Benalúa from one of the station roads the moment that we arrived. A number of these Meinfesa/GM Co-Co DEs were re-gauged to work on the construction of the new European gauge high-speed lines.

Items of note during my half hour train-changing time at Alacant were the arrival of one 21 of the newly introduced ‘Cercanías’ local services that shuttle between the terminus and Sant Vicenc del Raspeig, on the western outskirts of the city, and location of the University campus. I believe this service has been introduced as a substitute for the delayed link from the city to the university suburb, although perhaps it is also possible that Renfe Cercanías has decided to set up a rival service and get it in place before the do start. The train was nothing special, just one of the Class 592 DMUs. An ‘Altaria’ express from Madrid arrived right on time behind the usual class 252, and then the gauge-changing ‘Mare Nostrum’ Talgo from Cartagena to Barcelona and Montpellier arrived behind an unidentified class 333 diesel, a few minutes late.

This was my train of choice for the next leg of the journey. The 333 remained unidentified because of the higher security imposed upon passengers for the main line trains. There was a long queue waiting to pass through the X-ray machines, so I thought it prudent to join the queue several minutes before scheduled departure time, hence I could not clearly see the propelling locomotive at the country end of the train-shed, and it had scuttled away behind the other parked locomotives by the time we pulled out of the station.

The northbound Talgos are propelled up from reversal at San Gabriel with the diesel locomotive pushing, but driven from the small driver’s cab at the tail of the rear end generator car. I have only ever seen this driving position used for minor reversal moves such as this four kilometres or so at low speed. The replacement 252-034 onward from Alacant was therefore on the front end again.

The Talgo left Alacant about 8 minutes late with me comfortably ensconced aboard, with a right hand side window seat ‘facing the engine’. I don’t know if you can specify this kind of thing when you book your ticket, but I have usually been quite lucky with seat allocations. On the way over the hills to Valencia we crossed a couple of expresses, namely a ‘Euromed’ class 101 from Barcelona to at Novelda-Aspe, running about 20 minutes late, and an ‘Arco’ express, the ‘Garcia Lorca’ from Barcelona to Malaga at Xàtiva drawn by another 252 and only 5 minutes late. Between Xàtiva and Silla there was much evidence of earthworks for the new high speed alignment, and the existing line was quite badly affected by p-way slacks. Passing Silla I noted a 269, a 310 and a 333 in the sidings.

Approaching Valencia we pulled into Fuente de San Luis and paused briefly whilst the driver changed ends again, and I was able to watch 251-024 pull away with an train of empty special steel coil flats. The triangular junction outside Fuente SL provides another example of propulsion in reverse for two or three kilometres into the terminus. The train could run direct into the terminus, but of course it would be ‘wrong way round’, so it makes use of the line out through Fuente SL to the docks or to the north to get around two sides of the triangle of lines. Tantalisingly, it does not run far enough into Fuente SL to allow a good view of the big depot and yards there. However, the train continues back the same way allowing a better view later. We arrived at Valencia Estació del Nord at 13.14, 17 minutes late, improving that deficit by 6 minutes with a slick 5 minute station 22 stop/reversal. 252-065 was still in charge as we retraced our steps out through Fuente SL, where I noted a 310, a 319, a 250 and a 252, although there were many more locomotives to be seen in the distance. I shall have to plan a visit to Valencia with a side trip to the inner suburban station of Fuente SL, which looks like a good observation point. I wonder if I would be suppressed by ‘security’ personnel. Perhaps the Adif pass that I have applied for will have arrived by then.

594-510 at Valencia Término 07/03/07, 15.47 dep. Valencia - Zaragoza - Huesca 'TRD' Regional Express.

Passing Sagunt ten minutes or so later I noted three class 251s in the exchange sidings leading down to the steel works; once upon a time the home of some excellent 1907 metre gauge 4-8-0s by North British and some curious vintage electric steeple-cab shunting locomotives by Siemens Schuckert of about 1920. The next stop was Castelló, where the line and the station are completely in tunnel under the town. This burial of the line and the station no doubt opened up quite an area of valuable town real-estate at a profit to somebody or other, but did not from the traveller’s point of view give much of an improvement; quite the opposite I feel. A similar situation pertains at Elx, between Crevillent and Alacant. Elx is a fine town, famous for its huge and quite beautiful palm forests, and in years gone by you could see and enjoy them from the train. I believe they actually export palm trees to North Africa! On we went to Benicàssim, Benicarló, Vinaros and then the junction for Tortosa at L’Aldea/Amposta/Tortosa. At one time

23 the main line used to loop sharply up the Ebro valley about ten kilometres to Tortosa, over the river there and then sharply down the other bank and onwards to the south. Nowadays, there is a fine new viaduct over the Ebro river, making a straighter line for the railway but cutting out Tortosa. The ‘important’ trains no longer serve Tortosa which must be a nuisance to that fine town but a good acceleration for through passengers. The old station site of Amposta Aldea now has the cumbersome three-part name, and for once the name ‘Parkway’, or even ‘Road’ as per Great Western practice for the new station might seem have some merit. More stops at Cambrils, Salou (just a quick glimpse of the ‘plinthed’ 1886 Falcon Engine Works metre-gauge 0-4-0T, no. 3 of the Reus and Salou Railway) and then Tarragona, arriving only 2 minutes late at 15.33. I alighted from the Talgo and spent a happy hour and a half watching quite a lot of quite varied action.

269-855 ('tandem' japonesa) at Tarragona on down new car carrier. 05.03.07

My ‘Mare Nostrum’ continued on its way 17 minutes late, held due to pathing problems further up the coast. It had to wait to ‘cross’ a southbound ‘Euromed’ itself 9 minutes late. A Ford Motor Company ‘Channel Tunnel Express’ freight train left for the south behind 269-305, quickly followed by a class 448 EMU Barcelona-Reus ‘Cataluña Express’ regional working and the afternoon Barcelona-Lorca ‘Talgo’ with the ubiquitous class 252. More ‘Regionals’ and another ‘Euromed’ occupied my attention until half past four, at which time there is a gap of 25 minutes in the scheduled passenger movements. I was tempted to go off station to seek liquid refreshment 24 because the station buffet was closed for refurbishment, but it occurred to me there might be paths for some freight movements at this time, so I waited and was rewarded if a little thirsty. Two southbound freights came through. 269-855 was on a car carrier, loaded with new Seats. 269-855 is one of the so-called ‘tandem’ locomotives, made up of permanently coupled units. A single 269 followed with a ‘Railmax’ container train. This was held whilst overtaken by another southbound ‘Euromed’ with set GL 01. A ‘regional’ in each direction also helped to pass the time.

I had noticed that on the station at Tarragona there was no information at all about the new Tarragona Camp station on the new AVE high-speed standard-gauge line. I did not enquire at the window, where I suppose they would have given some information, but I took it as a sad sign that Renfe is slipping towards the British example of a not-joined-up railway. A lady fellow passenger lady alighting from the train at Tarragona had grumbled about the Camp station and the lack of information. She told me that it is more than 20 kilometres from the ‘old’ station and there are no shuttle buses laid on. Also, because it is outside the city limits the city taxi-drivers are not allowed to take fares there. A country taxi-driver can bring fares in, but could only take a fare back if pre-booked! It was not clear to me what people do. What is the point of whizzing at great speed from Madrid to a field in the country 20 kilometres from your destination?

Eventually I moved on to my destination at Vilanova i la Geltru on the 17.29 Lleida- Barcelona ‘regional’ 6-car class 470 EMU, running 7 minutes late, which deposited me at Vilanova 34 minutes later. So far as I was concerned that had been almost ten hours of excellent entertainment, and I was happy to seek out my hotel. The nearby Hostal Can Gatell turned out to be perfectly satisfactory, and I have no hesitation in recommending it for economy, good food and comfort. It should be easily contactable via the internet, if you get the chance of a visit to Vilanova. As a bonus, the view from my room window overlooked the yard of the steam locomotive museum!

Next morning I had time to visit the museum, even though it does not open until 10.30, and I had a nice nostalgic visit. Being at the gate at opening time, I had the place to myself, except for one friendly German ‘Eisenbahnfreund’ and a small party of schoolchildren and their minders. The items on view in the museum are catalogued quite well elsewhere, and Michael Guerra told us all about it in Correo 2, so perhaps I might just remark on the highlights for me. It was many years since I had been to Vilanova, but largely the locomotives were the same although presented somewhat better. I believe that in the summer they push exhibits a bit farther out of the roundhouse stalls and have one selected locomotive on the ‘rotunda’, which was vacant on this day. It was good to be able to compare side by side the two vintage 4-4-0s, 220-2005 (ex Oeste 9) by Richard Hartmann of 1881 and 220-2023 (ex Andaluces 6) by Beyer Peacock of 1891. In the beauty stakes the Manchester product wins hands down, but the double-framed machine from Chemnitz is also a fine locomotive and I think the honours must be shared between the rivals. I found the 1948 replica single-wheeler ‘Mataro’ interesting, but not so much as the fine E. B. Wilson 1857 six-coupled machine MZA 246 or Renfe 030- 2013. I recall that my brother Richard found one of this cabless class dumped at Cerro 25 Unusual view of the steam collection at Vilanova museum. View from hotel room, Hostal Cal Gatell 07.03.07 Negro, Madrid in 1957; but his photograph in a raging thunderstorm did not survive the intervening years I am afraid. There are many other steam locomotives, and although I am a self-confessed ‘steam’ man I also found the non-steam exhibits most interesting; in particular the selection of ex-Norte machines. 1004 is a 1,650v Bo-Bo by CAF Beasain of 1929. 7001 is a 1,500v Co-Co by Euskalduna/Oerlikon 0f 1928, 7206 is a massive 1,500v machine by Babcock & Wilcox/Brown Boveri of 1928. (I am not certain how to describe the wheel arrangement of these big beasts – they have two swinging sub-frames each with in effect a 4-6-0 arrangement, comprising a leading bogie and three motored axles – perhaps someone can help me out here). [The notation would be 2Co+Co2 – FC]. More modern, but just as remarkable is 7807, a 3,000v Co-Co-Co by Westinghouse/Naval/ Lima of 1954. Is there a British Vulcan Foundry/EnglishElectric class 277 of similar age somewhere extant that could be added to the collection? Likewise, one of the famous Alsthom Co-Cos of class 276 would be good to see. Finally, I liked the display of the American Car Foundry Talgo II ‘Virgen de Begoña’ with some restored cars from 1950. You can hire the cars for a meeting or study group – I don’t know about a real party, but wouldn’t that be good?

My trip into Barcelona and back, ‘upstairs’on the fine double-deck class 451 EMUs working the Vilanova – Sant Celoni run was uneventful except for the PW slack delays caused by the great permanent way work for the entry of the new high-speed lines into Sants, with dead slow running all the way from El Prat de Llobregat. The late evening return journey was even more badly delayed as paths through the affected area were in complete disarray. The signalmen were doing a great job in trying circumstances.

26

On Wednesday 7th March I returned from Vilanova to Callosa de Segura. The southbound regional expresses are timed quite conveniently. I had to get to Sant Vicenc in time for the 10.12 to Valencia (from Barcelona), which train connects into another regional to Murcia with a very nice (for a person like me) layover of two hours. It was worth a reasonably early start to get some time in at Sant Vicenc. A 20 minute ride on the next available local took me to this excellent location for observations. This is the terminus of two Barcelona ‘rodalies’ (or ‘cercanías’) lines, C2 from Barcelona Sant Andreu Comtal via Sants and line C4 from Manresa via Plaza de Cataluña. This service runs via Martorell on the line that could be considered the Barcelona by-pass freight line. At the opposite (south) end of the station the line to Lleida via Roda and Picamoixons (once the haunt of the double-mikado Garratts) deviates to the west and climbs away whilst the ‘main’ line hugs the coast to Tarragona. The Roda line is used by the excellent new class 120 high-speed tilting trains between Madrid and Barcelona. They join into the new 1447mm gauge line at Puigverd de Lleida, where there is a rolling gauge-changing installation. Renfe is very proud of the brand-name ‘Alvia’ and the trains and the line that has brought Madrid to within four and a half hours of Barcelona. However, see my previous note about the complaints about Tarragona Camp station.

I arrived at Sant Vicenc at 08.42, and spent almost the whole of the next two hours out on the platforms. There is plenty of local EMU activity at Sant Vicenc, but once again I did not trouble to note all the set formations. In order of happening, I saw the following non-Rodalies movements. A northbound Euromed from Valencia to Barcelona. A southbound class 448 regional express from Barcelona to Tortosa. A southbound container train (tankers) off the Martorell line with 250-021. A northbound car-carrier train (Renaults) on to the Martorell line with 269-095. A southbound Barcelona – Port Aventura regional express: Port Aventura is a halt just south of Tarragona, built to serve a huge Disney-type adventure park. A northbound Vinaroz – Barcelona regional express. An eastbound class 120 ‘Alvia’ high-speed express from Madrid to Barcelona. This train came snaking and sneaking down the Roda branch from the west, and it was my first sight of the new ‘Alvia’ trains. I was watching a Euromed approaching at a fair speed from Barcelona and concentrating to ‘catch’ the set number (they’re worse even than Virgin Voyagers to catch) when from behind me I heard the ‘Alvia’ blow for the run through the platform road. I was fortunate to get a reasonable photograph of 120-609, the superb CAF/Alsthom gauge-changing 4-car high speed EMU as it rolled quietly through the station. I didn’t ‘get’ the Euromed, needless to say. Next came a southbound Barcelona – Zaragoza and a northbound Caspe – Barcelona regional express, then another freight train, this time the famous Ford Channel Tunnel Express, off the Martorell line with 269-224 in charge.

A named express, the ‘Galicia’ came through next, southbound with 252-048. This train, under the ‘Estrella’ brand name, cutting across Spain on the diagonal is one of the last reminders of the old-style long distance trains, in this case the famous ‘Shanghai’ that in steam days took somewhat over 24 hours for the journey, and still takes around 15 hours! This train is the ‘Galicia’, but if you took the ‘Finistère’ via Zaragoza (more 27 correctly the route of the old Shanghai) that takes around 17 hours! It was nice to see the ‘Galicia’ as it may not last much longer, with the advent of the AVEs and of course more and more of those nasty but admittedly useful aeroplanes.

An eight-car ‘Alvia’ class 120 came through westbound, from Barcelona to Madrid, and although not in a suitable approach for photography, at least I got a good look at it. I think I understand why they have acquired the nick-name ‘Chipirones’. A chipirón is a squid, but it is a less fortunate name than Pato or duck for the Sevilla line AVEs.

The next train was mine; the 10.12 dep. Barcelona – Valencia regional express, running thirteen minutes late, which was not a problem to me, and in any case we were only three late into Valencia. On the way, we were held for a few minutes at L’Ametlla de Mar, and I expected we would have to ‘cross’ a northbound train coming off a single track section ahead, but to my surprise we were overtaken by an unidentified class 252 with a set of ‘Altaria’ carriages with passengers on board. There is no loco-hauled train in the normal timetable at that time, but this one seemed to be pretty much in the path of the next southbound ‘Euromed’, due off Tarragona at 10.55. No doubt it was a replacement for a failed or otherwise unavailable class 101 set. After a minute or two we followed the express very slowly along the single line.

The noon hour saw us in Tortosa, where a quick reversal took place, leaving no time to venture into the town to say ‘hello’ to the ‘plinthed’ metre-gauge Tortosa – La Cava Railway Hunslet 4-4-0T. From Tortosa we retraced our steps (should it be revolutions?) to the junction at L’Aldea-Amposta-Tortosa for another reversal, although only a ‘service stop’ and not to pick up passengers. It was not clear if you could ride from Tortosa to this junction and alight, but nobody did so anyway.

Moving on down the line, at Vinaròs we overtook the Ford Channel Tunnel Express freight, last seen at Sant Vicenc at ten past ten that morning. Next stop, at Castelló, I glimpsed a class 490 ‘’ tilting EMU set being cleaned at the platform. That would be the 12.15 arrival from Madrid via Valencia, and was to form the 14.55 due dep. return to Madrid. On through Sagunt (nothing to see, unusually) and the underground Valencia Cabañal, then Fuente de San Luis, passing 250s and 251s in the yard. Arrival at Valencia Término was at 14.21, nice time for lunch, if possible.

As usual, I more or less ignored the Cercanías trains, both diesel and electric. Ten minutes later 252-043 arrived from Barcelona with an ‘Arco’ express comprising just three carriages. It may have been that there was a shortage of heavyweight stock, what with the apparent Euromed substitution surmised earlier and the effects of the Valencia Fair Week being in progress and all. I did not see this train depart for Alacant (due out 14.40) because I went off the station into the rather grubby side streets on the west side to find lunch, successfully, although the aforementioned Fair Week made everywhere a bit crowded with mostly inebriated merrymakers. A very quick vino tinto and a ‘plato combinado’ enabled me to get back to the fine single-arch terminus just before 3 o’- clock, just in time to observe an unidentified class 594 DMU arrive from Madrid via 28 Cuenca. I could not identify it because of the restrictions for security on the main line trains that effectively puts the whole of the centre platforms out of bounds. The departure board displayed an ‘Arco’ express from Valencia to Barcelona, to depart at three minutes past three, and a working not displayed in the public timetable. It was presumably another Valencia Fair relief, and the class 252 had six carriages. The westbound ‘Mare Nostrum’ international Talgo express, Montpellier-Barcelona- Cartagena, arrived, reversed and departed, pretty much on time. This is not always the case, as this particular train has a bad record of punctuality coming from France. This was the ‘opposite’ working to the ‘Mare Nostrum’ that I rode to Tarragona two days before. The usual class 252 engine came in to the buffer stops, and on departure the train was driven in reverse from the little cab at the tail end around to Fuente SL for a reversal and onward movement to Alacant with the 252 at the head end again.

At a quarter to four there was another interesting departure, with two pairs of class 594 DMUs on the Valencia - Zaragoza - Huesca ‘TRD’ regional express. These smart 1997 diesel-hydraulic multiple units by CAF Beasain/MAN/Voith may well have been the units that came in from Madrid at 14.58 and shunted out of the station some time later. The train left from one of the two east-side bay platforms, away from the ‘main line’ security cordon, and I was able to secure a decent photograph of this new (for me) type. I note from a photograph by Richard Green in the May issue of Today’s Railways (Europe) that these units bear a striking resemblance to the Danish State Railways IC3 units. Richard states that those units, also diesel-hydraulic, were built by ABB Scania from 1989 to 1998. Is there a connection between CAF/MAN and ABB/Scania, although the diesel engines and the hydraulic transmissions are different?

Within just a few minutes attention focussed on the arrival and departure of the afternoon Castelló – Madrid ‘Alaris’ express, last seen at Castelló. The ‘Alaris’ sets were originally marketed as IC2000. They were introduced in 1999 on to the Madrid-Valencia ‘prestige’ service. They are 3-car ‘’ tilting EMUs with the two outer cars powered by two 3-phase asynchronous motors each. They were based upon and developed from the Italian ETR460 type, and were built by Alsthom/Fiat. You can now whizz from Madrid to Valencia in 3 hours 20 minutes via Albacete, not seeing very much as you go, for 42 Euros, or alternatively you can go by ‘regional’ via Cuenca in 6 hours, seeing much of interest for half that price. Baulked by the presence of a number of ‘security’ people, I only got a rather half-baked photograph of the ‘Alaris’ leaving.

At ten past four a 40 minutes late ‘Euromed’ arrived from Barcelona and terminated. Even at the platform I could not note the set number of this class 101. I suppose the transfers or whatever had been scoured off by the sand and dust blown up from the trackbed. As mentioned before the Euromeds are about as bad as the Virgin trains for acquiring numbers off them.

My train home was the 16.20 Valencia-Murcia regional, comprising another 6-car class 592 DMU. The line runs more or less level to Carcagent and then climbs up through

29 Xàtiva on to the high desert region around La Encina, a junction just about as remote as Riccarton Junction although considerably less green. At Caudete we waited for and ‘crossed’ a westbound EMU in regional colours. There is no train in the timetable around this time, so perhaps it was another Valencia Fair Week extra, taking Alacant people to the evening’s jollifications. We rolled slowly through Monforte, where we ‘crossed’ an uphill ‘Altaria’ express that was waiting for us to clear the single line section. The express was due off Alacant at 18.05 and due into Elda-Petrer at 18.26. It was a wonder that we weren’t held there, rather than leaving as we did at 18.13, 22 minutes late. We had steadily lost time climbing up to La Encina in appalling weather, with a very violent westerly gale blowing up a sandstorm so that you couldn’t see more than a few metres. Now the express was about 10 minutes late. I’m pretty sure the appalling weather could be blamed for the late running, and we rolled in to Alacant Término twenty minutes late, and then reversed down to Sant Gabriel. In the yard was a trio of class 252 electrics and a 334 diesel-electric. This brand new class are intended for the Cartagena-Murcia- Madrid run, so it was interesting to see one at Alacant. I expect their diagrams include a run on the Talgos from Lorca and Cartagena to Alacant. I must look out for them again. After one more reversal at Sant Gabriel, we trundled on to Callosa de Segura without incident, still 20 minutes late. Eleven hours of good ‘gricing’ this day brought my trip to a close.

120-609 at Sant Vicenc 07/03/07, Madrid - Barcelona 'Alvia' gauge-changing tilting high-speed train.

30 Portugese High Speed

his article is culled from information in the September 2007 Cooks European T Timetable and a little bit of personal observation.

At present High Speed services are confined to the services which operate and approximately hourly interval service between and Oporto with two trains a day running to and from Faro to Oporto and four trains running to and from Lisbon to and one train running to and from Lisbon to Guimarães. The main station in Lisbon is Oriente, which served by both the trains from Santa Apolónia and the trains from Faro.

Train sets used on the service are ten six coach Alfa Pendulares, which are a broad gauge version of the Italian ETR 460. The trains have two classes – conforto (first) and turística (second). Conforto passengers receive a welcome drink, free newspapers and enjoy an at-seat meal service. Sockets for portable computers and a meeting area are available. All passengers have access to audio and video channels and a buffet bar. The carriages have displays the time, temperature outside and the current speed. The trains are of course air-conditioned and are very comfortable. Prices for travelling on them higher than for travelling on IC and Regional/Urban services. To give an example – to by an Urban and Regional Services costs 6.90 euros single, second class by an Inter City service 10.50 euros second class and 15 euros second class on an Alfa. Some Portuguese prefer not to spend the extra 4.10 euros and take the Inter City. At slack times it is not difficult to get a reservation on an Alfa. The trains were introduced in 1999 and have a top speed of 220 km per hour, but on one of my two journeys on them I saw 221 km per hour reached. At present there are no plans to expand the services.

For the future there are plans to construct High Speed Lines from Lisbon to Madrid via Évora and Elvas, with new stations at Lisbon, Évora and Elvas. Construction will start soon. Completion is expected in 2013. Lisbon to Porto will follow, but the exact route has yet to be decided. Projected are Porto to Vigo, Aveiro to Salamanca, and Évora to Faro and Seville. The two at least will have 350 km per hour running.

When the High Speed Lines from Paris to Barcelona and Madrid and Madrid to Lisbon are complete it is interesting to speculate if this will see the end of the Sud Express in the same way that the extension of TGV to Munich will see the end of the Orient Express.

31 IRS Annual General Meeting he second AGM of the Iberian Railways Society will be held on March 1st 2008. T The location of the AGM is the training room of Epsom Coaches who have very kindly donated the use of the room at no charge. The details are as follows:

DATE: SATURDAY 1st MARCH 2008 TIME: 1400 LOCATION: Epsom Coaches, Blenheim Road, EPSOM, Surrey, KT19 9AF

HOW TO GET THERE: By Train: Nearest station is Ewell West, it’s about a 10 minute walk. You can also go to Epsom and either walk, it’s about 20 minutes, or take a 418 bus from Epsom Clock Tower just outside the station. They leave at 04/34 past each hour and it takes about 5 minutes. By Bus: Bus 418 from Epsom or Kingston passes the end of Blenheim Road. The drivers will know Epsom Coaches and will help you. By Car: The best route in from the North or West is via the M25/A3 to Tolworth and then the A240 towards Epsom. From the South or East via the M25 J9 and take either the A24 or A243 and follow the signs for Epsom. A map is adjacent. Please park on the road not on the Epsom premises, there will be plenty of room. If you experience any problems my mobile phone is 07776 161780 and you can call me any time.

THE MEETING: There will be a short formal AGM with the usual agenda and will include elections to the Committee if required.

There will also be a small display of models, a slide show, a bring and buy sale as well as other attractions. Refreshments will be available such as tea and coffee but there are no facilities for food, other than biscuits etc. For those attending a small charge of £1.50 will be made for the refreshments. Any surplus will be added to our meagre funds!

After the AGM members are invited to join together for an evening meal at a local restaurant, the details of which are enclosed separately. We look forward to seeing as many as possible of you there.