European Tribune - Comments - Delays come to an end (EU HSR 2009)

Delays come to an end (EU HSR 2009) | 19 comments (19 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

The trains operated first only with ASFA
...which was installed after Ansaldo's L2 tests didn't go well, resulting in a ten-month delay in the line's opening.

Do you have any source for this? When was that?

by pcrail on Tue Dec 29th, 2009 at 11:56:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: ETCS Level 2 (none / 1)

This was from notes I took following Spanish media reports and some personal communication, so the links in the reconstruction below are ones I searched now (in the archive of a single paper). Some details are different. To sum up the events in short:

After some other delays, the date for opening in regular service was finally set for 22 December 2002. For lack of own 300km/h+ trains, RENFE planned to lease ICE3 sets from DB.
The inoperability of Ansaldo's ERTMS and the switch to ASFA was reported in January 2003, when the delay was still expected to be short. Also the failure of the DB ICE3 lease was announced, at the time, the (also abandoned) alternative plan was to use some of the TGV-derived AVE sets from the Madrid-Sevilla line.
ASFA installation itself proved problematic. Regular service, with Altaria (locomotive-pulled Talgos) only, finally started on 11 October 2003.

Links (all in Spanish, I read them with help of Google translate):

El GIF mantiene que el AVE unirá Madrid y Lleida este año en Cincodias.com, 14/11/2002: reports that the head of track authority GIF insists that the line will open at the end of December, and says 350 km/h has been achieved in tests.
Renfe negocia una fórmula para pagar los AVE sin que se dispare su deuda en Cincodias.com, 09/12/2002: reports in a box that the ministry still insists on keeping the December date of opening, though RENFE is selling tickets for the old conventional line trains, the planned two leased DB ICE 3 sets are nowhere to be seen and RENFE is installing new signalling on three Alsthom-built AVE sets.
Cascos anuncia que el AVE a Lleida se retrasa hasta enero en Cincodias.com, 12/12/2002: reports the announcement of the delay of inauguration from 21 December 2002 to January the next year, blaming it on signalling testing, saying the conventional system will be ready by January but not ERTMS.
Problemas de señalización y seguridad impiden inaugurar el AVE a Lleida en Cincodias.com, 27/01/2003: notes the opening that didn't happen in December, quotes sources that the problem is ERTMS, with communication failures and inoperational parts. This article says that ASFA was installed as backup on the line, but has to be enhanced to function as primary system [I take that means it was installed only in stations or with long blocks reducing capacity].
Renfe, forzada a lanzar el servicio con trenes convencionales en Cincodias.com, 27/01/2003: reports the failure of the lease of two 330 km/h ICE 3 sets from DB and the idea to use the Alsthom-built AVE trains.
El AVE Madrid-Lleida tendrá que circular a sólo 200 kilómetros por hora hasta 2004 en Cincodias.com, 11/02/2003: reports opening now planned for April 2003, continued problems with Ansaldo's ERTMS, and recounts the history of pushing back the date from summer 2002, and the delay caused by the installation and commissioning of ASFA. (It also reports problems with the homologation of the catenary, which was a new technology too.)
Cascos desvela que la seguridad del AVE a Lleida falla por la informática en Cincodias.com, 20/02/2003: quotes the transport ministry saying that ERTMS problems are with the software, the radio beacons and the interlockings.
Cascos retira al GIF la gestión del AVE a Lleida por los problemas de seguridad en Cincodias.com, 27/02/2003: reports that after GIF didn't manage to get even ASFA operational, the ministry fired GIF's head and passed the signalling system's supervision from GIF to RENFE; recounts Ansaldo's failure to get ERTMS operational by Q4/2002 and the decision to switch to ASFA.
Renfe necesita un mínimo de seis meses para poner en marcha el AVE a Lleida en Cincodias.com, 01/03/2003: reports on the various problems, and claims that ASFA problems are connected to ERTMS problems because of shared equipment.
El Gobierno dice que la señalización del AVE a Lleida estará operativa a final de mayo en Cincodias.com, 24/03/2003: reports that the new target to get ASFA operational is now the end of May.
La inmadurez del sistema de seguridad obligará a bajar la velocidad del AVE en Cincodias.com, 09/06/2003: reports a blame game between the ministry and GIF on one side and Ansaldo on the other side, again links ASFA installation problems to Ansaldo, Ansaldo now promises only ETCS Lev 1 operational for 300 km/h by July. Also reports that GIF considers the annullment of the ERTMS contract and the installation of a 'mature system' ( = LZB). (Also refers to the removal of ETCS L2 on the Seetal line, as something seen in Spain as lack of faith in the sytem.)
Nuevo cruce de acusaciones entre Ansaldo y el GIF en Cincodias.com, 26/06/2003: Ansaldo, for its part, deflects blame back to GIF, for being late with the fixed installations where it was supposed to install its equipment.
El AVE Madrid-Lleida empieza a funcionar el 11 de octubre a una velocidad máxima de 200 km/h en Cincodias.com, 18/09/2003: announcement of the 11 October 2003 date for opening.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Wed Dec 30th, 2009 at 07:11:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Delays come to an end (EU HSR 2009) | 19 comments (19 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

. Home
. About
. Contact
. New User Guide
. FAQ
. ET Editorial Guidelines
. Search
. Search (Google)

Username:
Password:

. Make a new account
. Reset password

Recommended Diaries

Socratic Economics XII: Utopian Government Finance
by Zwackus - May 25
266 comments

A Star is Born
by ChrisCook - May 23
23 comments

The French newspaper Le Monde reports 1.5 million living the...
by Democrats Ramshield - May 27
6 comments

$1,000,000,000,00
0 or what we must remember
by Metatone - May 19
69 comments

The balance of anger and fear
by Frank Schnittger - May 17
44 comments

Stable pricing is to metaphysics as variable pricing is to...
by Upstate NY - May 16
8 comments

Another NRW election
by DoDo - May 13
118 comments

Bundesrat saves PV (and loses Röttgen)
by DoDo - May 12
18 comments

Recent Diaries

The French newspaper Le Monde reports 1.5 million living the...
by Democrats Ramshield - May 27
6 comments

Socratic Economics XII: Utopian Government Finance
by Zwackus - May 25
266 comments

A Star is Born
by ChrisCook - May 23
23 comments

$1,000,000,000,00
0 or what we must remember
by Metatone - May 19
69 comments

The balance of anger and fear
by Frank Schnittger - May 17
44 comments

Stable pricing is to metaphysics as variable pricing is to...
by Upstate NY - May 16
8 comments

A little American intercine battling
by rootless2 - May 14
27 comments

Another NRW election
by DoDo - May 13
118 comments

Bundesrat saves PV (and loses Röttgen)
by DoDo - May 12
18 comments

The mainstream German Magazine Spiegel asks, has the US mixed ...
by Democrats Ramshield - May 10
27 comments

Short Term Climate Forces: Black Carbon, Methane, and...
by gmoke - May 9

Twenty days of Crisis for Cameron
by ceebs - May 9
22 comments

SYRIZA and the Eurocrats: a letter of intent
by talos - May 9
363 comments

French Parliamentary Elections: a look under the hood
by Bernard - May 8
59 comments

Sunday Train: The Rock Island Line is a Mighty Fine Iowa...
by BruceMcF - May 6
18 comments

Why haven't we had WWIII yet?
by Migeru - Apr 30
258 comments

More Diaries...

Occasional Series

Click for full list