Resumen
The extension works of the Panama Canal expected in 2017 will allow the crossing of great merchant ships coming from Asian harbours. The predicted rise of freight transport in the ports of Sines and Algeciras will require a comprehensive renewal of a great part of the peninsular railway infrastructure. The Badajoz-Caceres-Madrid high speed railway designed for a mixed passengers-freight traffic, is under construction without a closing date, so a necessary adaptation of the conventional Sines-Badajoz-Puertollano railway line will be necessary to allow freight transport until Brazatortas and its subsequent distribution to the rest of Spain. This research analyses infrastructure and exploitation conditions marked by European Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSIs). Subsequently it carries out a detailed study of the current situation of the conventional Sines-Badajoz-Puertollano railway line with the aim of planning the steps required to transform this network into an upgraded freight railway line and be able to quantify and program in time the necessary investments. For the commissioning of the 300 km corridor from Badajoz to Puertollano, the research concludes that it is necessary to invest 161M? in three years so freight train traffic of 25 t/axle can circulate over the corridor, and 80 M? more to electrify the line and supply a train overtaking and parking post which allows the circulation of 750 meter-long trains. The cost of the upgraded railway infrastructure adds up to 640,000 ?/km which compared to the average cost of 8.51 M?/km of the Madrid-Badajoz high speed railway, allows to come to the conclusion that the investment in 1 km of high speed railway is equal to adapting more than 13 km of conventional line for the upgraded freight line.