India and Spain put high-speed rail collaboration on fast track

New Delhi/Madrid, Oct 28 : India and Spain on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the field of rail transport that is expected to boost collaboration in the planning, deployment, operation and maintenance of high-speed and conventional railways.

The agreement was signed between the Ministry of Railways and Spain's Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility in Vadodara, within the framework of Spanish President Pedro Sanchez's India visit, in which he is accompanied by the country's Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Oscar Puente.

Madrid believes that the document, which also delves into the optimization of existing Railway infrastructure and promotes intermodality, confirms the growing good relations between both countries.

It will have an initial validity of five years and will automatically be renewable annually.

The areas of collaboration include planning, design, development, construction, start-up and operation of infrastructure, stations, railway facilities and equipment for long-distance networks (conventional, high-speed and high-speed), and the integration of services that circulate on them through interoperability, making traffic possible on different track gauges, optimising the benefits of investments in high-speed lines with improvements to existing ones.

Management and operation of rail transport and rail services and train maintenance, with special attention to improving safety, is also a key part of the MoU.

It supports the selection, deployment and integration process of on-board and ground-based equipment of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) and promotion of training initiatives to strengthen vocational training in the field of development and maintenance of railway infrastructure and facilities, as well as management of railway operations and railway traffic.

Within the framework of the MoU, India and Spain will be able to cooperate in exchange of good practices and development of pilot projects; Technical advice and assistance in the development and execution of projects; Research, technological development and innovation; Organisation of conferences, meetings and seminars besides training and exchange programmes for experts.

"These are areas in which Spain and Spanish companies have a great deal of experience, as they are at the forefront of international industry. It should not be forgotten that Spain has the second largest high-speed network in the world, connecting 70 per cent of the population," read a statement issued by Spain's Transport and Sustainable Mobility Ministry.

Sanchez is the first Spanish President to undertake an official trip to India in the last 18 years.

The Joint Declaration signed between the two leaders in Vadodara will serve as a roadmap for the coming years in the political, economic and commercial, cultural, scientific, technological, innovation, consular affairs, tourism and people-to-people relations fields.

It has also been agreed to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with the joint organisation of the India-Spain Year of Culture, Tourism and Artificial Intelligence in 2026.

"Today, together with the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, we signed a Joint Declaration and ambitious agreements to strengthen our bilateral and commercial relations. The celebration of the India-Spain Year of Culture, Tourism and Artificial Intelligence in 2026 is an example of the impetus that both countries want to give to this relationship. Our voice and influence in the world is multiplied when both countries work together," the Spanish President posted on X, as he arrived in Mumbai on the second leg of his two-day visit.