As of the closing of this issue, we are immersed in the greatest health crisis in recent history. An unprecedented event that is forcing us to adapt, change how we work and bring out the best in ourselves. I want to express my solidarity and appreciation to everyone with the firm conviction that together, we will overcome it.

Nevertheless, our dedication and commitment to the improvement of mobility and safety of infrastructure, spurs us on to continue carrying out our activity. One example of this is the comprehensive renovation of the Recoletos tunnel, which traverses Madrid from north to south and is a key element in improving the comfort and safety of this infrastructure, which carries the most rail traffic of the entire Spanish network. Designed and managed by Ineco on behalf of Adif, our technicians have played a crucial role in tackling one of the most important railway mobility projects in little more than five months, given that several commuter lines run through this tunnel, serving more than 250 million passengers a year.

Knowledge and input for improving urban mobility and promoting its sustainable development were combined at the recent World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi. With the objective of facing the future with more sustainable and inclusive transportation, the companies of the Group of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda presented their innovative projects at this international meeting convened by UN-Habitat.

Our dedication to improving the safety of transport and mobility has led us to participate in important studies and projects with major social benefits

Experience in the modernisation of railway lines, and in particular in the development and deployment of the ERTMS system, together with more than 14 years of collaboration in European innovation projects, led to Ineco’s participation in ERSAT GGC, an ambitious project financed by the European Satellite Navigation Agency which will make it possible to implement satellite technology in the European rail traffic management system ERTMS by means of virtual balises.

This same dedication to innovation to improve air and land safety is also behind the efforts by our experts to develop the ‘Factor Humano’ methodology, which has received several different awards, including the Canso ‘Global Safety Achievement Award 2019’.

Ineco’s international activity also prompted its involvement in the supervision of new trains for Quito’s first metro, and in the aeronautical field, to the design of the Master Plans for 12 airports of the Pacific Airport Group, a client to whom we are grateful for the comments made by its Network and Regulated Business Director, Jose Ángel Martínez.

As for Spain, in this issue we cover two road projects recently opened by the Ministry of Transport, which will reduce travel times and increase safety levels: the complex stretch of the A-23 highway as it passes through the Monrepós mountain pass, and the new Gaznata bridge over the Burguillo reservoir in Ávila.

Lastly, we highlight the launch of Ineco’s new Equality Plan, which includes important initiatives aimed at achieving real and effective equality, and which will have a Monitoring Committee to measure its degree of implementation and impact.

For Dr. Jorge Yunda, Mayor of Quito, the city’s first metro line is more than just emblematic infrastructure; it’s “an excellent opportunity for people to change the way they relate to each other”. The city’s authorities hope the new mass transport system will consolidate ‘Metro culture’. They also believe it will improve quality of life by saving time for residents, enabling them to be more supportive of one another, and allowing them to breathe cleaner air by reducing the thousands of tons of CO₂ they currently release into the atmosphere.

More than 400,000 people will benefit from the new sustainable transport system every day

With just a few months to go until its opening, Line 1 of Quito’s publicly-owned Empresa Metropolitana de Metro de Quito will be completely underground, have 22 kilometres of track built with cutting-edge technology and will be equipped with modern trains manufactured by the Spanish company CAF in the north of Spain. The line will have 15 stations stretching from the El Labrador station at the south terminal station of the old airport to the Quitumbe station south of the city, and a total travel time of 34 minutes. Four hundred thousand people are expected to use the new infrastructure every day.

The success of the Medellín Metro prompted representatives of Metro de Quito to sign a rail transport cooperation agreement with the Empresa de Transporte Masivo del Valle de Aburrá Limitada-Metro de Medellín (the Valle de Aburrá Limited-Medellín Metro Mass Transit Company). The agreement provides a framework for joint contribution, knowledge transfer and work in different areas related to the metro’s operation. Similarly, in August 2019, a cooperation agreement was also signed between the Central University of Ecuador and Metro de Quito. The ambitious construction project is supported by the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the CAF-Development Bank of Latin America and the European Investment Bank.

SUPPLYING THE TRAIN UNITS. Ineco has experience in provisioning many different types of large equipment projects, such as the construction of new EMUs, DMUs and locomotives, overhauling rail stock, freight cars, auxiliary equipment such as draisines, specialised infrastructure maintenance vehicles and on-board equipment.

Thirty years of experience

Just as it did with the trains built by CAF for Metro de Medellín Metro, at the start of 2017 Ineco began supervising the complete rolling stock acquisition process for the Empresa Pública Metropolitana Metro de Quito (EPMMQ – the Quito Metro Metropolitan Public Enterprise). The order included 18 trains with six cars each, plus auxiliary vehicles, equipment and tools for the depot, and spare parts. The railway experts from the Spanish engineering firm provided technical supervision and management of the design, build and tune-up of the trains, a task that involves monitoring compliance with production deadlines, the issuing of deliveries in running order, and ensuring maximum consistency throughout the design, manufacturing and factory testing processes.

The company’s extensive experience in supervising the design, manufacture and commissioning of all types of rolling stock, comes from its work dating back to the 90s in Spain, as well as its contributions to metro and commuter trains abroad, in the cities of São Paulo, Medellín and Santiago de Chile. Ineco’s qualified personnel and exhaustive knowledge of regulatory issues have made the company a household name in the world of railway rolling stock.

COMPREHENSIVE BUILD SUPERVISION. Metro de Quito commissioned Ineco, as a company specialised in subway-type rail transport systems, to supervise, evaluate and ensure full contract compliance throughout the stages of design, manufacture, transport and at tune-up at the final destination.

A long and painstaking process

The Ineco division responsible for the supervision of the design of the rolling-stock, which has an operating life span of 35 years, oversaw the process from the company’s Madrid office. Meanwhile, specialists from the company’s leading teams were present for approval tests carried out on-site at the installations of each of the main train equipment suppliers (in South Korea, China, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Finland, Portugal and Spain).

Ineco inspectors supervised train manufacture and assembly at CAF’s manufacturing plants

Build supervision, train unit assembly and factory tests were completed in the presence of inspectors at CAF’s manufacturing plants in Irún, Beasain and Castejón. The acceptance phase for the trains, auxiliary vehicles, depot equipment and spare parts took place at EPMMQ’s installations in Quito.

Ineco also provided technical assistance to FEEP (the Ecuadorian Public Railway Company) by inspecting three TD2000BB locomotives supplied by Euskotren, to verify their suitability to the track and traction conditions of the country’s lines.