Three-phase current operation Gérgal-Santa Fe-Alhama

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Three-phase current operation Gérgal-Santa Fe-Alhama
Freight train in Santa Fé-Alhama in 1911
Freight train in Santa Fé-Alhama in 1911
Route length: 21.2 km
Gauge : 1668 mm ( Iberian track )
Power system : 5000 V 25 Hz  ∆
Maximum slope : 29  ‰
Top speed: 25 km / h

The three-phase power company Gérgal-Santa Fe-Alhama near Almería in Andalusia was the first electrification of a Spanish broad-gauge line . The trains ran from 1911 to 1966 with small locomotives in double traction , after which the operation of the single-track route was taken over by diesel locomotives until the route was converted to 3 kV direct current operation in 1987 .

history

The Compañía de los Caminos de Hierro del Sur de España (CCHSE), often just called Sur , built the Linares Baeza-Almería railway , which went into operation in 1899. Its main task was to transfer the production of the lead ore mines in Linares and the iron ore mines at Alquife near Guadix to the port in Almería. The iron ore was brought from the loading point to the La Calahorra-Ferreira ▼ station, 15 km away , by the mine’s own works railway , where the trains were taken over by the Sur . But this was not able to cope with the discharge of the pit. This was due to the railway's chronic lack of locomotives and the difficult route from the plateau near Alquife at 1200  msnm down to the Mediterranean , with an average gradient of 14 ‰, the steepest section being between the Gérgal ▼ and Santa Fe-Alhama ▼ stations . There the gradient is continuously 25 ‰, in some places even 29 ‰. The empty trains from Almería only reached a speed of 10 km / h on this section of the route.

The Gérgal-Santa Fe-Alhama was electrified in 1911 in order to increase efficiency and transport speed. Three-phase current with a frequency of 25 Hertz and a voltage of 5200 volts was used as the power system . Seven two-axle electric locomotives were purchased, which usually ran in double traction. In 1918 electrification was extended to Gádor – Nacimiento (30.5 km). In 1963 four four-axle locomotives were procured and the line to Almería was electrified (Almería – Gádor – Santa Fe – Gérgal – Nacimiento 46.8 km), but electrical operation was discontinued in 1966.

In 1987 the Gérgal – Doña María section was re-routed and in 1989 the section used by the ore trains was electrified with 3000 volts direct current. But in October 1996 the mines closed. The electrical operation ended again and the utilization of the railway line fell sharply, passenger traffic continues to this day, albeit to a small extent. Currently, two pairs of Talgo trains run daily to Madrid Chamartín via Madrid Atocha and two pairs of Media Distancia trains on the Seville Santa Justa – Almería route. The catenary was retained. The Madrid – Levante high-speed line is to be expanded by a branch to Almería by 2016 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ángel Rivera: Los pequeños "trifásicos" de Almería (RENFE 1 a 7). In: Trenes y tiempos. June 28, 2017, Retrieved July 11, 2020 (Spanish).