The Madrid – Alcázar de San Juan – Jaén high speed line is included in the actions contemplated in the Strategic Infrastructure and Transport Plan, and is part of the railway corridors of access to Andalusia. The Madrid-Aranjuez-Alcázar de San Juan-Linares-Jaén/Córdoba line was included within the basic freight and passenger network in the central corridor submitted to the European Commission in February 2012.

The section between Alcázar de San Juan and Manzanares comprising approximately 49.7 km had remained incomplete for administrative reasons and lack of budget, a consequence of the crisis suffered between 2008 and 2014. The objective of the present project consisted of resuming the analysis of the section and carrying out a construction project that would allow completing the renovation of this section and enable a traffic speed of 250 km/h.

This exercise has entailed the complete renovation of 13 km of railway between Herrera de la Mancha station and Manzanares station, involving the construction of a new route, definition of a new platform with all the elements it entails (definition of thicknesses, materials, width and slopes of slopes and cuttings, ditches, cross drainage works, fencing, electrification and signaling), demolition and replacement or reinforcement of existing overpasses for reasons of safety reasons, width and slopes of slopes and cuttings, ditches, transversal drainage works, fencing, electrification and signaling, mainly), the demolition and replacement or reinforcement of existing overpasses due to non-compliance with the interoperability of the new route with the existing one, and the construction of canopies for the station.

Additionally, in the previous 36 km, more specific actions were pending, such as the replacement of two viaducts, slope stabilization, expansion, rehabilitation and new execution of transversal drainage works, fencing, execution of service roads and electrification.

The challenges of this project can be summarized in the proposal of a constructible solution with the strong requirements of keeping the road in service during construction, touching the layout and therefore the platform. Additionally, it should be noted that the project was developed during the COVID period with strong restrictions that required special measures to carry out the field campaigns necessary for the definition of the project.