EXCITING: Adif AV launches works to connect the high-speed network to Barajas airport, with an investment of EUR 26 million

Adif AV has launched the tendering process for the construction of a new connection for high-speed traffic from Madrid-Chamartín-Clara Campoamor station to Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport, backed by NextGenerationEU funds with an initial budget of EUR 26 million.

The project includes the construction of a high-speed network connection with Terminal 4 of Barajas airport, in addition to maintaining the existing Cercanías services. The high-speed trains will cover the distance between Chamartín and the airport in just over 10 minutes, enabling direct benefit to all traffic on the north-northwest and Levante corridors, which have their terminus in Chamartín. Adif AV promotes intermodality between rail and air transport and aims to create synergies between the two modes, encouraging the use of rail for short-haul journeys, further decarbonizing transport.

The new connection to the airport will take advantage of part of the platform already executed in the construction of the Cercanías line between Chamartín and T-4. The new route will be a single standard gauge track, which will be a double track once the A-1 is passed, and up to the airport access tunnel, which already has a 3-wire mixed track. Work will be carried out on 3.5 km of the railway line, and the estimated duration of the operations will be 17 months. The overall remodelling and expansion project represents an estimated global investment of 1,000 million euros, which will transform Chamartín station into a multimodal transport hub, fully integrated into the environment, promoting sustainable, intelligent, and connected mobility.