The Spanish Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility is taking the first steps in the project to provide Barajas airport (Madrid) with an independent connection for high-speed trains. Apart from a tunnel that could connect with other lines, as revealed by ElEconomista.es, the plan includes building an exclusive station, separate from the existing one.
As José Luis Ábalos indicated at FITUR 2021, the solution currently being implemented is provisional. It consists of constructing a new single international-gauge track of 3.5 km between Chamartín and the former Hortaleza station. From there, trains will run on the current dual-gauge tunnel track, equipped with a switchable catenary.
However, this will require sharing the Aeropuerto T4 station, which has only two tracks, with Cercanías trains, potentially worsening their frequencies. Also, between the tunnel exit and Chamartín there will be a single track limiting infrastructure capacity.
The new independent connection, which still has no set date, will separate traffic and leave the current infrastructure solely for Cercanías trains. Moreover, the new station (to be built west of the current one) may be better adapted for long-distance traffic.
The new tunnel will connect this station with Chamartín and continue northward, ending in a stub track. Nonetheless, it would be feasible to connect it to the Madrid-Barcelona high-speed line, making the new station an intermediate stop.