The advancement of societies towards sustainable mobility is one of the fundamental goals in the fight against climate change, as it involves reducing and transforming current energy consumption while redefining the role of infrastructures in general, and transport infrastructures in particular, with a special focus on railways.

In this regard, the Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda designed and approved a roadmap called the Indicative Railway Strategy 2021-2026, allocating investments amounting to €24.2 billion to promote the development, maintenance, and renewal of Spanish railway infrastructures. The aim is to meet the country’s future mobility needs, ensure system sustainability, and, particularly, rationalize the European railway network through a single continental space.

We believe that the challenge posed by the Ministry reflects the advancement toward sustainable mobility and demonstrates a clear commitment to combating climate change.

More specifically, the strategy seeks to strengthen the freight transport network, European corridors, and interoperability to create a unified space within the EU. It also aims to address the deficiencies in the current railway network, where very modern infrastructures coexist with relatively outdated ones.

Our Mission
At Magtel, we fully share the guidelines of the Ministry’s strategy and align closely with European policies in this field. This alignment is reflected in our company mission: “To drive an efficient and sustainable world by providing comprehensive and technologically transformative solutions” and in our goal to become a reference in designing, constructing, and developing projects that generate value for sustainable and technological development.

For this reason, we are developing a program of initiatives through our railway division, implementing a series of projects that span our main divisions—energy, infrastructure, and telecommunications—as part of our strategic plan.

A Pioneering Project
Perhaps the most notable initiative, recently publicized by our client, is the design and development of a pilot photovoltaic plant to supply traction energy to Renfe trains. This project focuses on a self-consumption model with surplus generation.

The project, pioneering in Spain, involves designing and developing a pilot plant that will serve as a testing ground, calibrating parameters and performing other operational tests. In this initial plant, the actual level of self-consumption will be analyzed, which is expected to be high due to the significant alignment between the energy generation curve of a photovoltaic plant and the traction energy consumption curve of Renfe trains. Additionally, the surplus energy will be sold to the electricity market, creating an additional revenue stream for the company.

Through this project, the railway company aims to achieve greater independence in electricity supply, increase renewable energy production, and proactively enhance the environmental sustainability of the trains, which already consume 100% renewable energy.

The pilot plant will be located in Olmedo (Valladolid) on approximately 35 hectares, near the Adif electrical substation that supplies the northern high-speed corridor Madrid–Valladolid–northern Spain.

Other Examples
As mentioned, we also work on sustainable mobility in infrastructure, such as the “Playa de Vías” project at the Port of Seville, which involves constructing a three-track yard capable of accommodating 750-meter-long train traffic for access to the port area in Palmas Altas. The project will be carried out over 16 months between 2024 and 2025.

In telecommunications, we are developing the Signaling, Safety, and Communications Installations for the BLAU Construction Project with CTC in the Arahal–Fuente Piedra section in Andalusia, currently in its final execution phase, and the Installation of Automatic Block BAB and CTC in the La Gineta–Socuéllamos section of the Madrid–Alicante line, planned for 2024–2025. Both projects are for CAF Signalling and ADIF.