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In December 1988, the Spanish government decided to build a new line from Madrid to the French border (via Barcelona). A line that would link up with the new Madrid-Seville line, having a total length (Seville-French border) of approximately 1200 km. This paper succinctly describes the path followed by Spanish railways for the purpose of being able to offer a high speed service. The main features of the Madrid-Seville line are described, and the plans currently envisaged for linking this line up with the French high-speed network via the new Madrid-Barcelona-Perpignan line are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of railway transportation, especially through the gradual implementation of high-speed European network, is inciting railway companies to design railway movements command and control systems to enhance technical performance in terms of throughput and control of disturbances while simultaneously minimizing operational costs. The new command-control systems must be modular, adaptable and evolutive structures from both functional and geographical viewpoints if they are to satisfy all operational needs. Concurrent research into performance enhancement and cost reduction prescribes a system in which the majority of the 'real time' components are aboards the locomotives. This is particularly true for those components used by the train to indicate its own position on the network as well as those enabling it to converse with operational control centers. The initial task is to design a global architecture of the command-control system that satisfies modularity and availability criteria followed by the development of numerous technical components including radar self-location systems and cellular radio transmission networks. The French (SNCF) and German (DB) national railways have implemented a vast program of co-operation aimed at providing valid, proven answers to these problems so as to allow their trains to travel freely on either network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]