The opening of the Madrid–Seville AVE was, certainly, a technological revolution for the world of Spanish railways, a leap forward that put us at the international cutting edge of the technology and construction of track and rolling stock. In a short time, high speed revitalised the railway and changed the modes of transport competing successfully with road and air travel. Through the trust of the Ministry, Renfe, and later Adif, Ineco began to participate in the development of high speed, working alongside many other Spanish engineering and construction firms.

In the start-up of the high-speed line, it was necessary to draw on practically all disciplines of civil engineering and architecture: alignment, geology and geotechnical engineering, structural calculation and design, underground works, hydrology and drainage, environmental recovery, railway infrastructure and superstructure, station design and remodelling, demand and traffic studies, the inspection of bridges, waterways and viaducts, load testing, track inspection and instrumentation, energy and substations, signalling, control centres, operation, etc.

In the start-up of the high-speed line, it was necessary to draw on practically all disciplines of civil engineering and architecture

That is why when Spain’s first high-speed line (and one of the first in the world) was inaugurated 25 years ago, the 250 km/h journey between Madrid and Seville (471 kilometres in under three hours) was for many people a triumph, a celebration almost as important as Expo’92, the major event with which the inauguration was timed to coincide.

Remembering these dates, we also recall those young Ineco engineers and technicians who, taking Renfe’s lead, had the opportunity to participate in this great project. Thanks to these humble beginnings and the expertise, rigour and talent of our professionals, companies in the Spanish rail sector today are more competitive and enjoy a well-deserved international recognition. An example of this is our participation in high-speed projects in Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Turkey and India.

The UN’s Habitat III conference in Quito and the future role of transport in cities; the study of Europe’s main transport routes; modernisation works for a railway line in Turkey and the latest innovations in improving European air traffic; these are also important themes to analyse, and we hope that our readers find them enjoyable and interesting.

The environment, which takes centre stage on this autumn’s cover, increasingly influences our projects and activities in Spain and around the world. With the support of Ineco, Ecuador’s capital Quito has launched initiatives to reduce waste and foster a circular economy of resources; this will without a doubt translate into improved welfare and quality of life for the city’s inhabitants.

Public policy is key in the move towards more sustainable cities. We are honoured with the opinion of María Verónica Arias Cabanilla, Environment secretary for the Municipality of Quito, the highest authority for environmental policy in the Ecuadorian capital. The city’s environmental policy includes the ‘Cero Basura’ programme, based on the integrated management of resources; this is an ambitious project in which Ineco was responsible for the Master Plan for Comprehensive Waste Management and its legal framework. This coincides with Quito’s selection by the UN to host the Habitat III Sustainable Cities Conference in October 2016. In addition to this, as Verónica Arias points out in her interview, Quito is Ecuador’s most sustainable city and one of the 17 finalists for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) award for the world’s most sustainable city.

Optimal management of an environmental resource such as the sky is another area of interest that we will address in these pages. Specifically, we have a report dedicated to ENAIRE’s significant technical efforts and investment to guarantee air safety with the highest levels of efficiency. The high concentration of flights in Europe requires a complex new automated air traffic control system: SACTA (so-called for its initials in Spanish) is a series of systems and equipment which ENAIRE is investing over 16 million euros to renovate. Ineco engineers, who are collaborating in the project, offer us a detailed description of the function of these services and what they bring us.

Public policy is key in the necessary move towards more sustainable cities

Also worth highlighting is Ineco’s more than 20 years of experience in supervising the manufacture of trains. This issue features an in-depth article on rolling stock design validation, supervision and testing, particularly in Spain, Chile, Brazil and Colombia, where we have recently renewed our contract.

Finally, I am proud to present the new modernisation project at Chiclayo airport in Peru, where a new terminal is being designed. This large aeronautical project will complement our existing project at Lima’s Jorge Chávez airport. These are big jobs and big challenges in a globalised world where we want to demonstrate the skills and capabilities of Spanish engineering.

The Bus Transport Strategic Plan for the Sultanate of Oman will provide the country with a public transport that is modern, efficient, sustainable and equipped with smart technology. The project involves a complete overhaul of both the supply –including new urban and interurban routes– and management of this means of transport in the Sultanate, where the use of private vehicles is heavy.

Throughout these pages we are privileged to have the perspective of Ahmed Al Bulushi, who is piloting the transition towards the future of the company Mwasalat, the national bus operator of Oman. We also address other works abroad, such as that carried out with Aena Internacional at the airport in the capital of Angola –4 de Fevereiro International Airport (Luanda)– the only international airport in the country for which Ineco conducted the operational safety study. Finally, we have dedicated an extensive report to the aeronautical study conducted for the expansion of the Port of Kaohsiung in Taiwan, where the installation of high-altitude cranes may interfere with international airport operations.

Internationalisation has irrefutably been a key event in recent years, a result of the experience and knowledge acquired over the course of decades developing Spanish infrastructure. In this regard, I am pleased to announce the contract signing with the Costa Rican Ministry of Public Works and Transport for management of the Transport Infrastructure Programme (PIT). It is a new opportunity to strengthen ties with a country that Ineco has collaborated with for years, and that we wish to continue supporting in its development.

We are privileged to have the perspective of Ahmed Al Bulushi, who is piloting the transition of the company Mwasalat towards the future

With Ineco’s new showroom –described on the inner pages– we strive to reflect the know-how of Spanish construction and engineering firms and their experience and impact around the world. The new Centre for Interpretation –which I invite our clients and friends to come visit– was recently inaugurated at our central headquarters in Madrid. It is a visit that I am sure will provide great insight into the scope of our works.

Finally, we complete this space with articles from our experts on highly-specialised projects such as variable gauge facilities –a technology pioneered by Spain–, water studies to protect high-speed lines or Big Data and transport. With the publication of these studies and works we hope to contribute to the dissemination of these new technologies in addition to engaging our readers.

In our first issue of 2016 we have made way for news articles and reports regarding major projects that are key to the future of Ineco and other companies from Spain. Both the study for the construction of a high-speed railway between New Delhi and Kolkata as well as the waste management contracts in Panama and Ecuador exemplify the headway made in overseas markets as a result of the years of training, work and rigour that Spanish engineering has brought to fruition in various infrastructure-related fields.

The value of these studies lies not only in their irrefutable technical and financial magnitude, but also –and almost more importantly– in the role they play in the socio-economic development of the countries where they are carried out in addition to the unique, exclusive experience that, having been designed for and applied to the Spanish market, is proving to yield excellent results in countries all around the world.

Although it was only a short time ago that we were strategizing how to export the technological capacity of the Spanish High-Speed Rail (AVE), we can now talk about some real-life examples. We are not only working in Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom and Turkey, but over the last few months, Ineco has also begun to carry out studies for the implementation of this sophisticated rail technology in both Egypt and India. We are backed by more than 30 years of experience –the first high-speed railway in Spain was inaugurated in 1992– a rail network spanning 3,100 kilometres and a series of challenges that we have successfully overcome. The work that we are carrying out in India is featured both on our front page and in an article including an interview with the managing director of the HSRC, the body responsible for the development and implementation of high-speed rail projects in this Asian country.

We are not only working in Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom and Turkey, but over the last few months Ineco has also begun to carry out studies for the implementation of this sophisticated rail technology in both Egypt and India

Tourism and air transport are also activities that carry an important weight in Spain. This is apparent in the record seen by the tourism industry with a total of 68 million visitors in 2015, wherein eight out of ten tourists arrived to Spain via one of the 46 Spanish airports. We are grateful for the participation and opinions of the secretary-general of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in an article covering this topic. The aviation section of this issue also features another article which addresses the technical challenges faced in the design of control towers. Finally, I should like to mention the pages that we have dedicated to the colossal engineering project that spanned the 155 kilometres of the Atlantic Axis, crossing over rugged Galician terrain: 37 tunnels and 32 viaducts highlight the enormity of this project that has now become a reality.

With these and other articles, as well as an updated design, I am certain that we are conveying the high quality standard of Spanish engineering to our clients and readers without neglecting, of course, to inform and entertain.