SPAIN: Infrastructure manager ADIF has awarded Alstom and Técnicas Eléctricas Asturianas a €25m, 13-month contract to upgrade the signalling and train control systems on the 51 km single track electrified metre gauge line between Gijón, Aviés and Pravia.
The existing system of telephone block working is to be replaced by electronic block, and the interlocking systems and power supplies modernised.
The work is broadly similar to that currently being undertaken on other parts of the ex-FEVE narrow-gauge network, and will enable train movements to be monitored and controlled from El Berrón.
The eastern part of the line supports a half-hourly passenger service as far as Avilés, with some steel coil freight traffic. Between Avilés and Pravia the passenger service is generally hourly, and freight traffic is sparse.
