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Cercanías Madrid Line C2

Started by colinw, July 25, 2011, 19:43:19 PM

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colinw

I am working from our Madrid office for a month, so thought it was time I posted some photos of the trains here.

These photos were taken on Line C2 (Chamartín <-> Alcalá de Henares) of the Cercanías Madrid electric commuter rail system. This is a 5'6" (1668mm) gauge commuter rail system, electrified at 3KV DC, run by RENFE, the Spanish national rail system. It should not be confused with the Madrid Metro, which is a separate operation.

Photos in this post are from Wednesday July 20, a trip into central Madrid after work. I am staying at suburban Torrejón de Ardoz, about 20km out of Madrid.

General impressions are of a tidy and well utilised system which reminds me somewhat of Melbourne's system, possibly due to the broad gauge and heavy weight DC electric catenary. Top speed of the trains is similar to Brisbane, around 100km/h with some classes going up to 140 km/h. Travel time over the 20km from Torrejón into the city is just over 30 minutes, but with far fewer stops than over the same distance in Brisbane. Brisbane trains accelerate & brake better, but the being on broad gauge the Madrid trains ride smoother. My one complaint about the trains here is that they are VERY noisy - louder even than an original Brisbane EMU - to the point that conversation can be difficult.

Platforms are moderate level, and the trains are not set up for disabled boarding. Some trains have flip-down steps that automatically deploy at stations, but that doesn't seem to be universal. At some stations the gap & step up are as bad or worse than Indooroopilly.

Ticketing is magnetic strip paper tickets, available in single & ten trip saver. There is some kind of travel card available, but rather than being used directly it is used to dispense a paper ticket from the vending machine, which then is used to activate the gates. There is no fare integration with the Metro or private buses, and a system like Go Card seems a long way off - possibly not even on the agenda.

Navigability of the system is ok, with easy to read maps. On board announcements are in Spanish only, backed by LED displays over each door.

The ticket machines support four languages, and are a touch screem of similar design & ease of use to a TransLink AVVM.

There is little or no attempt to convey local bus information, although nearly all stations appear to have bus interchange. Interchange with the Metro is announced on the train, but I have seen no combined Metro & suburban train map.  The maps for the Metro and the trains each give symbols for interchange with the other.

Service frequency is better than Brisbane on some lines, e.g. line C2 is every 10 minutes even on Sundays. Some of the longer lines, e.g. C7 to Guadalajara, which shares the C2 corridor, are only half hourly, and some of the branches further out can be as poor as every 2 hours.

There is a lot of quad track, because the system is shared by long distance & freight trains. I have seen quite a few freight trains come through, even in peak hours. Junctions are a mix of flat and grade separated. There are a couple of freight only (or long distance passenger?) branches which are electrified, but do not carry Cercanías service. There is also an alternative loop route to Chamartín bypassing Atochal, which carries express services branded CIVIS.  The quad track runs quite a long way out of the city, but there are some double track sections closer in after freight only branches and the express line junction off.

Over all, Cercanías is a decent electric suburban rail system that is quite similar in standard to an Australian system. The over all level of development of the system seems comparable to Melbourne. If Brisbane brought the frequency up to every 15 minutes we would have something quite comparable, but with far better ticketing.

I haven't taken particularly many photos, because I am conscious that they are sensitive about security. Line C2 is the line that was bombed in 2004, the bombs all originating on trains that came from or passed through Alcalá.

More to come ...

cheers,
Colin

colinw

Line C2, Torrejón de Ardoz.

colinw

Madrid - Atocha Railway Station.

colinw

1st photo is Puerto del Sol railway station. This is a new station, integrated with the Metro, in central Madrid. It opened less than a year ago. It is on a new relief line joining Atocha and Chamartin, which supplements the original 1950s tunnel under central Madrid.

2nd photo is Atocha again.

colinw

Diesel hauled regional train with Talgo carriages, at Atocha.

colinw

Saturday, July 23.

These photos are from a trip to the end of the C2 line, at Alcalá de Henares. Approximately 35km from the 0km post at Madrid Atocha.

Being the station where the bombs were planted, security was very much in evidence and I had to be discreet taking my photos.

Alcalá, pop 200,000, is the 2nd largest city in the Madrid area. It is a UNESCO world heritage site due to the well preserved medieval town centre. It is also known as the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, and of Catherine of Arragon - first wife of Henry VIII. A much classier suburban rail terminus than Beenleigh or Caboolture!

colinw

Alcalá. Haven't had a ride on the double decker stock yet. On this line it seems to only come out in peak hour.

ozbob

Thanks for these updates Colin, very interesting!  Enjoy!

:-c
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