(11/01/2024) 

The line begins in La Robla, León, and ends at Pola de Lena station in Asturias. Its 50 kilometres are the culmination of a four-billion-euro investment and include 12 tunnels and 10 viaducts, which allow crossing the Cantabrian Mountains and the important difference in level (500 metres) between Asturias and the Meseta, with maximum respect and integration into the environment.

80% of its route (40 kilometres) runs through tunnels, including the Pajares tunnel, which has become one of the most complex engineering works in Europe and the world. This bi-tube tunnel, 25 km long, is the seventh longest railway tunnel in Europe and is equipped with the most advanced protection and safety equipment. The infrastructure is an electrified double track, with ERTMS level 2 signalling system, and prepared to reach a maximum speed of 275 km/h. The 10 viaducts of its route add 1.8 kilometres.

Passengers and freight

The new route cuts the length of the current section through the Puerto de Pajares - which dates back to the 19th century - by 37 km and has a lower altitude and slope, facilitating winter maintenance work on the line. The new line will also be one of the most versatile in Spain, since it will be used by passenger trains, running in Iberian gauge and, in the future, in standard gauge, and freight trains.

With the commissioning of the Pajares Bypass, the Spanish high-speed rail network exceeds 4,000 kilometres and is consolidated as the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world. Adif is completing other high-speed lines that will connect Cantabria, the Basque Country, Navarre and Extremadura; most of them being part of the Trans-European Mediterranean and Atlantic Corridors.