Adif has put out to tender a contract to install the GSM-R communications system on Madrid’s Cercanías C-5 line (Móstoles–Humanes) and maintain it for 48 months. The tender budget totals €11.26 million, including VAT.
The contract covers the works required to deploy the system along approximately 52 km of railway infrastructure and integrate it with shared installations serving other existing lines. GSM-R enables radio communication between trains and the signaller’s control centre and is the European standard replacing the classical Tren-Tierra.
The contract includes corrective maintenance, involving fault repairs, and preventive maintenance carried out at defined intervals or in accordance with established criteria. It also covers specific maintenance interventions, together with measures to monitor and ensure radio coverage and service quality.
The installation is necessary because the line’s signalling system is reaching the end of its service life. The plan provides for the replacement of the LZB system with ETCS Level 2, the European signalling standard.
The contract forms part of the C-5 Action Plan, presented in March by Transport Minister Óscar Puente. Total investment amounts to €1.35 billion. Of this, approximately €650 million is allocated to Adif, which is carrying out 28 infrastructure-related projects. The remaining €700 million is assigned to Renfe, principally for the procurement of new trains, including Class 453 units, and the construction and adaptation of maintenance facilities. C-5 is the busiest Cercanías line in the country, carrying 72 million passengers last year.