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Madrid-Seville: 30 years of Thales' commitment to the Spanish High Speed Railway

On 21 April it will be 30 years since the inauguration of the high-speed line (AVE) linking Madrid and Seville. A milestone in the history of rail transport in our country, and the beginning of the great challenge of modernising Spain's railway network.

That adventure did not begin in 1992, but a few years earlier, in 1986, when a project began to take shape in which Thales was involved from the outset, introducing new technologies. Such as the signalling and train protection systems based on electronic technology for high-speed lines, with which the line to Seville was inaugurated.
A line with which we have remained in close contact thanks to the work of our installations maintenance team, which has ensured the correct operation of the systems at all times during these thirty years.

Since 1992 there have been many technological capabilities developed by Thales and implemented in the different Spanish railway lines.
In fact, today we are present on more than 2,800 km of the high-speed network in Spain.
We contribute to a better travel experience for train passengers on their journeys to Madrid, Toledo, Ciudad Real, Cordoba, Seville, Malaga, Granada, Cadiz, Tarragona, Barcelona, Albacete, Cuenca, Valencia, Orense, Santiago de Compostela...
And we don't stop there.
Thales' relationship with Spanish high-speed rail continues, as evidenced by the imminent start of renovation work on all signalling installations, train protection systems with the ERTMS Level 2 system and landslide detection equipment on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line.

And the future is promising. A future in which new challenges will arise in terms of intelligent and sustainable Mobility for Rail Transport, in which Thales will also have a lot to say thanks to new technologies in which we are at the forefront, such as those related to cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, 5G and biometrics.

This is an exciting challenge.