My first several weeks as president of Ineco have given me a first-hand look at the excellent work of a team that stands above the rest. A team with a long history –this year marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the company– but above all, with enormous talent to continue designing the future.

Our condition as a public engineering firm drives us to continue contributing actively to the development of Spain’s infrastructure, and area where we will continue to focus a large part of our technical potential through the professionals who form part of Ineco, exporting the broad knowledge acquired in Spain to other parts of the world.

In this sense, within Spain, we continue to work with our shareholders on a very wide variety of projects throughout our country. This issue of ITRANSPORTE covers several examples, including the complex project to resolve the Bergara Junction in the ‘Basque Y’ and the comprehensive modernization of the railway line between Palencia and Santander.

The team of professionals who form part of the Ineco has enormous talent to continue designing the future

In parallel, Ineco’s participation in large-scale engineering projects around the world, such as the Makkah-Madinah high-speed line, which at the close of this issue is already a reality that is underway, or the recommendations for the design of a new model of railway management in Malaysia, continue to highlight Ineco’s position as a leader outside of our borders.

It is also important to emphasize our contribution in the development of new projects aimed at implementing efficiency, safety and digitization in transport systems. The designing of equipment that recovers and returns the surplus energy generated by train braking to the grid, wildlife control plans at airports, and the implementation of the Digital Transformation Plan 2018-2020, are clear examples of this.

The path of Ineco’s half-century of history parallels the history of Spain and its infrastructure.

We begin by marking an historic anniversary: 50 years since the founding of Ineco (1968-2018), half a century during which we are proud to have had the opportunity to contribute to the structuring of the country through our involvement in the design and construction of major road and rail routes, port and airport development, urban transport and intermodal transport in Spain as a whole. It has unquestionably been a decisive period for the history of Spain and its infrastructure, and also for our growth and consolidation as a high-performance, flexible and technologically advanced public works engineering firm, which enables us to act as a trusted consultant in the eyes of our shareholders and as a valuable partner in the foreign market.

In addition to this celebration, I would also like to add the positive close to the year, promising portfolio prospects and our eager anticipation to support two of the Ministry of Public Works’ major projects this year, namely the Innovation Plan and the Internationalisation Plan, programmes that will begin in February and will certainly provide a great boost to our technological and innovative capacity and open up new opportunities for collaboration with Spanish partners in order to continue with our expansion abroad. Both initiatives have enabled us to join forces and work together with other companies and institutions in the Public Works Group, and they will also soon be joined by the Sustainability Plan.

The 50 years since the founding of Ineco have unquestionably been a decisive period for the history of Spain and its infrastructure

As unity makes strength, this issue also celebrates the connection of the high-speed lines in the north of Spain with those in the south and east, our work with Acciona to improve Costa Rica’s infrastructure and the joint effort of all of Europe to give a final push for the implementation of BIM.

We thank Tomás Elejalde, general manager of Metro de Medellín, for giving us a full interview. And lastly, I would like to mention the exemplary efforts of our technical staff to make the advancement of high-speed rail a reality, as our readers will be able to see in the reports on the Central High-Speed Line in Madrid, the extension of the Basque Y in Guipúzcoa and the traffic control works on the line between Makkah and Madinah, a project that has successfully passed the first test of the entire 450 kilometres.