Page 4 - Laboratorios, Equipos e Instalaciones en España disponibles para el Sector Ferroviario

FOREWORD

The Spanish Railways Technological Platform (PTFE) is a public- Each laboratory listing includes the facilities, equipment, tools and
private working team structure led by the railway industry, in skills for the performance of testing, trials and experiments, which
which national science-technology-innovation stakeholders meet the needs and challenges of the railway sector and support
work together in a coordinated way, to identify and prioritize the the improved competitiveness of their companies. The document
technological, research and innovation needs of the sector in the has an interactive format which facilitates the incorporation of new
medium to long term. Its main aim is to support scientific and laboratories who wish to participate in the initiative on an ongoing
technological developments which strengthen the competitiveness, basis, through the PTFE website: www.ptferroviaria.es.
sustainability and business growth of the Spanish rail sector, in
Furthermore, this exercise of coordination and joining together of
strategic alignment with industry, administration, universities and
efforts, driven by the PTFE, contributes knowledge for the exchange
research centres, with a focused effort on R&D and innovation.
of skills and information, all of which supports the efficiency and
The Platform has been developing its activities since 2005, under skills of our organizations.
programmes driven by the Sub-Directorate General of Public-
In addition, considerable efforts will be made towards the
Private Collaboration under the Secretary of State for Research,
dissemination and communication of these skills, both at a
Development and Innovation of the Ministry of Economy and
national and international level, particularly amongst high profile
Competitiveness.
associations and organizations such as: UIC, ERRAC, UNIFE, EIM,
The PTFE, whose technical secretariat is held by the Fundación UITP, amongst others.
de los Ferrocarriles Españoles (Spanish Railways Foundation), has The availability of this document comes at a key moment in terms
carried out an extensive programme of activities and promotion of the technological needs of the international railway sector. On
of R&D and innovation, with a number of achievements related to the one hand, the development of the Horizon 2020 Research
driving the competitiveness and strategic positioning of the entire Programme and the Joint Undertaking Shift2rail and their projects,
Spanish railway sector. are going to require state of the art strategic equipment and
It is within this framework that the current document “Laboratories, facilities. Furthermore, the new contracts for initiatives required
Equipment and Facilities in Spain available for the Railway Sector” is by the international market, in many cases under extreme
presented. This document brings together the facilities, resources, construction and operation conditions, present technological
equipment and services belonging to research centres, universities challenges which until this point have never been tackled and
and companies working to develop cutting edge technology and require homologations, validation and verification.
research, applied to different subsectors of the railway system. Its
We trust that the development of this new document, available
primary objective is to provide the national and international rail
to the international railway community, strengthens the
industry and scientific community with information regarding the
competitiveness of Spanish laboratories and research centres, as
skills available in Spain in terms of homologation, trials, testing,
well as supporting the transfer of knowledge and technology.
validation and verification of safety systems, track, rolling stock,
communications, etc.
The document, produced in Spanish and English, presents over fifty
public and private laboratories and facilities distributed throughout
the whole of Spain, boasting prestigious research teams.