Within the context of the ongoing global health crisis, we must all play our part in the search for innovative, solidarity-based solutions that will enable us to lay the foundations for a solid and sustainable recovery. To help meet this critical challenge, at the national level, Ineco is firmly committed to aiding the efforts of the Ministry of  Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda by providing technical support to help implement the Spanish Government’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

The main aims of this Plan are to modernise the economy, restore economic growth and create jobs, and as such, it will play a key role in consolidating and boosting the activities of the engineering and consultancy sector, which will have to offer a sound and technologically innovative response to the challenges that are looming in the short and medium term.

These are challenges that our company is tackling head-on, following a positive end to the 2020 financial year and prospects for 2021 that allow us to remain fairly optimistic, based on most solid guarantee of all: the enormous talent of our professionals. The award that one of our team recently received from the Madrid Association of Civil Engineers, along with the development of the innovative EOS project to help make flight procedures safer, are clear examples of Ineco’s entrepreneurial and forward-looking response capacity.

At Ineco we are firmly committed to aiding the efforts of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda by providing technical support to help implement the Spanish Government’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan

At the international level, the contracts we have recently signed – such as the one for the Tren Maya, in Mexico, not only boost Ineco’s economic outlook for the coming years, but also reinforce the leading role played by Spanish engineering around the world.

Further examples of our strength and competitiveness include the commission to produce the Master Plan and design for what will become the second-largest airport in Greece, at Kasteli on the island of Crete; and the extension of the renovation works on the rail link between Samsun and Kalin, in Turkey.

This work is the result of the knowledge we have acquired through the projects we have implemented in Spain over recent decades. Among them, the addition of gauge changeovers to the high-speed rail network: a highly successful experience, particularly useful in terms of helping us export our know-how to other countries. At the international level, examples include highly specialised projects such as the development of new rail regulations for the Empresa de Ferrocarriles del Estado de Chile (EFE).

We have also made progress in fulfilling our commitment to the 2030 Agenda and the 17 SDGs: a commitment that continues to encourage us to promote actions and initiatives designed to improve quality of life for society as a whole. This has led us to continue supporting solidarity-based projects such as IngenioSOS which has helped to improve essential services in Kenya, Ethiopia, Guatemala, South Sudan, India and Haiti over the course of its two editions.

The line from the Black Sea port of Samsun to the city of Kalin is one of six rail routes in Turkey that have been selected to improve connections between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, to promote the development of regional transport and to reduce road accidents. This is a 377.8 kilometres railway line (plus the branch between Samsun and Gelemen, which is just over 10 km long) that links the cities of Samsun, on the Black Sea coast, and Kalin, in the centre of the country, where it connects to the Ankara-Sivas line.

29 STATIONS. With a total length of 378 kilometres, the line was built in the first half of the 20th century; it runs through a mountainous area and has 29 stations and 47 tunnels.

The project, run by the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, is funded by the European Union as part of its Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). The scope of the project consists of modernising a conventional line, which was completed in 1932 on single track without electrification and without signalling. This is a very long line running through a mountainous area: it has 29 stations and 47 tunnels, the longest of which is 556 metres long, for a total of 7,259 metres.

The installation of the ERTMS L1 signalling system will increase the maximum speed from 70 km/h to 120 km/h on the entire line

The work of the consortium in which Ineco is involved includes the monitoring and control of the modernisation of the infrastructure, superstructure and installations. Within the consortium, the Ineco’s main role has been to supervise the signalling, communications and power supply works, as well as coordinating the electromechanical installations team.

Other activities carried out by the consortium include track extension supervision, tunnel renovation, platform and station upgrades, and new signalling and train protection systems, including the ERTMS Level 1 system.

Ineco will continue to provide technical assistance in 2021 to complete the signalling and telecommunications work on the line, a necessary step to reduce travel times and increase speeds. The ERTMS L1 train protection system installation will increase the maximum speed from 70 km/h to 120 km/h on the entire line. The new system will be able to perform train traffic operations at 5-minute intervals.

The line, which runs between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, was selected to promote the development of regional transport and reduce the number of road accidents

Provisional acceptance of the works took place in December 2019. Over the course of 2020, runs with test trains and trackside signalling were planned, as well as the completion of the installation and testing of the ERTMS L1 system. These plans were delayed due to the impact of COVID-19, so this work will continue in 2021.

Ineco will continue working until the end of 2020 on the final stage of the renovation of the 377.8 km railway line (in addition to the branch between Samsun and Gelemen, which is just over 10 km long) that links the cities of Samsun, on the Black Sea coast, and Kalin, in the centre of the country, where it connects to the Ankara-Sivas line. After almost five years, the work is now in its final stages. In 2019, construction work was completed on the entire line, except for the Gelemen branch. Once completed, the fault notification period can begin, with an expected duration of 12 months, followed by the acceptance and commissioning of the line. Ineco’s work will last until December 2020.

In 2015, Ineco in collaboration with consultancies UBM and Mott MacDonald, won the contract to supervise and direct the modernisation works on the 377.8 kilometre-long railway line (and the branch line between Samsun and Gelemen, of just over 10 km) which links the cities of Samsun, on the coast of the Black Sea, and Kalin, in the centre of the country, where it intersects with the Ankara-Sivas line.

With this project, Turkey continues to work on modernising its railway network, for which it receives funds from the European Union via the IPA (Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance), aimed at financing economic development projects in candidate countries for EU membership.

Ineco will supervise the signalling and Communications and energy supply works for 46 months and coordinate the electromechanical installations team

The aim of the project, under the Turkish Ministry of Transport, is to improve the connections between the interior of the country and the Black and Mediterranean Seas. Its construction was completed in 1932 and it is a conventional, single-track, non-electrified, non-signalled, international gauge line running through a mountainous area. It has 47 tunnels –the largest of which is 556 metres long– which add up to a total of 7,259 metres and 29 stations.

As part of this consortium, Ineco will supervise the signalling and communications and power supply works for 46 months and coordinate the electromechanical installations team.

The ERTMS/ETCS-L1 signalling system will be implemented over the entire line, which will increase the maximum speed from 70 to 120 km/h. The new system will be capable of conducting train traffic operations with intervals of five minutes.

As concerns the works on the track infrastructure, the alignment and drainage will be improved and the ground stabilised; the platform expanded; the bridges, viaducts and overpasses restored, as well as the retaining walls and structures.

In terms of the superstructure, the ballast, track and sleepers will be renovated, as well as level crossings –of which there are more than 124– and turnouts will be replaced. As regards stations, 40,800 metres of track will be restored and another 800 built, as well as new platforms at Turhal, Zile and Kizoglu stations.

In 2010, Ineco won another similar contract to supervise the high speed adaptation of the Inönü-Köseköy stretch at the centre of the Ankara-Istanbul line (see IT46 and IT51)

Ineco, the Turkish company UBM and the consultancy Mott McDonald have been awarded the tender to supervise the modernisation of the railway line that operates between Samsun and Kalin. The rail line that runs from the Port of Samsun, on the Black Sea, to the city of Kalin is one of the six railway lines chosen in Turkey to improve connections between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, to encourage regional transport development and to reduce the rate of road accidents.

Although it is not currently operational, this single-track, non-electrified line reaches a length of 378 kilometres. The updates to be carried out will afford this rail line the electrification and signalling needed to both reduce travel times and increase train frequency. The project entails monitoring and controlling modernisation of the infrastructure, the superstructure and railway line installations. The work to be carried out includes track extensions, tunnel restorations, improvements to platforms and stations, and new signalling systems and safety equipment, among others.