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.

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.

Spain is the third most popular tourist destination in the world in terms of revenue and for another year it has beaten its own record by exceeding 68 million visitors in 2015, three million more than the previous year. According to all of the analyses carried out, a factor that has benefited the sector is the situation of political instability from 2011 in Mediterranean destinations such as Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey. They all compete with Spain, which mainly receives European tourists: seven out of ten are British, French, German or Italian although, in relative terms, the increase in arrivals from the US and Asian countries is notable. According to Turespaña data, almost 80% of the total number came by air (half on a low-cost airline); a determining factor in this figure is that the Balearic and Canary Islands, for example, which are amongst the most touristic destinations in the world, are islands. As such, in 2015 all of the 46 airports in Spain registered more than 207 million passengers, 5.9% more than the previous year.

During 2015, eight out of ten visitors came to one of the 46 Spanish airports

Besides the two major Spanish airports, Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas and Barcelona-El Prat, which between them accounted for 41.7% with 86.5 million, more than 101.7 million passengers –49.1% of the total– were counted in the 14 airports classified as “touristic”, coinciding with the most touristic destinations: the Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca; the Valencian community, with Valencia and Alicante airports; Andalusia, with Málaga and Seville; the Canary Islands, with the airports of Gran Canaria, Tenerife South, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and La Palma; and Catalonia, with Girona and Reus airports.

They all underwent processes of improvement and enlargement in the 2000s in order to increase their capacity, closely linked to the growth in tourism, known as the Barajas Plan, Barcelona Plan, Levant Plan, Málaga Plan, Canary Islands Plan, etc. During this time, Ineco has provided its services to the Ministry of Development and Aena in the planning and execution of the activities. Since 2008 it has also been in charge of the Traffic Forecast Office, which plays a key role in airport planning. A few times a year, a team of engineers and technicians updates the forecasts, and this is carried out with a macroeconometric model called PISTA (Integrated Prognosis of Air Traffic Systems), also developed by Ineco, with a specific methodology based on the concept of a ‘network’ and independent models for the national and international segments, based on significant economic variables. Furthermore, in preparing the specific forecasts for each airport and for the short-medium-term, other factors are taken into account such as competition from other means of transport (mainly AVE), the existence of other airports in the area of influence, changes in offers from airlines (new destinations, greater frequency, new models of airplanes used, etc.), special events (sports competitions, summits, etc.) and others.

Since 2008, Ineco has also been in charge of the Traffic Forecast Office, which plays a key role in airport planning

Not only are volumes of passengers, operations and goods for each airport in the network forecast, but the design values (DHP, design hour passengers; and DHA, design hour aircraft) that are essential for adequate planning of the infrastructure are also considered, since they allow detection of the needs that airports will have and, furthermore, when it will be necessary to carry out the activities. The results of the traffic forecasts are used to prepare Aena’s business and investment plans, as well as to design commercial strategies in airports and, as such, they are very important.

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.

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.