Another books

In the early decades of the 20th century, a new type of transport, the intercity bus, spread throughout Europe, quickly reaching Catalonia thanks to modern companies that established regular routes in almost every region. These lines served towns and villages without railway access, reaching areas that had previously been virtually inaccessible, and revolutionized society with new ways of living, interacting, and achieving economic growth. Now, a century later, the bus is once again playing a vital role in Catalonia's mobility system, with strong growth prospects and having become a key player in the fight against climate change.

Innovative public transport systems have emerged throughout the world, essentially new urban rail networks, which have become one of the axes of sustainable progress in cities. The large investments necessary to build these networks have allowed the concession model to emerge, which offers a solution to the structural problems of the public sector and efficiency in the development and management of projects. This book presents the examples of the new networks in Barcelona, Madrid, Málaga and Parla, analysing the possibilities of this concession model.

The high-speed line between Figueres and Perpignan in December 2010 start service has marked a milestone in European railway history that represents the end of the secular railway isolation of the Iberian Peninsula. This book reports the long and exciting phase of planning, administrative management, project and construction of this line, offering a historical and technical overview as well as for its integration into the European rail network.

The train was a key factor in the emergence of the Industrial Revolution society of the 19th century and now, as a fundamental piece of the new Ecological Revolution necessary to combat global warming, it is once again one of the means of transport with a brighter future. Louis Armand’s words, pronounced in the 1950s, gain value today: "The railway, if it survives the 20th century, will be the means of transport for the 21st century."

Since 1906 the funicular has facilitated communication between Vallvidrera and the rest of Barcelona, in such a way that the growth of Vallvidrera is clearly linked to it. Throughout almost a century of service, the funicular got renovated in different occasions to get adapted to the needs of each time, but in 1998, with the total renovation of the boxes and machinery, it completed the last section of the Vallès Metro.

The current company COMSA was founded in Reus in 1891, mainly dedicated to railway infrastructure works. Given the quality of the work made, the company soon gained recognition from the main railway companies and, from Barcelona, its radius of action gradually extended throughout Catalonia and the rest of Spain. Thus, throughout its first hundred years of history, the company has participated in the execution of numerous projects, both railway, road, urban, hydraulic and maritime, including the construction of the Madrid-Seville high-speed line and the transformation of Olympic Barcelona.

This reference book is an introduction to the history of railway traction in Spain, a technical and historical description of each series of the Renfe rolling stock and an exhaustive inventory of every existing locomotives and railcars, indicating their main characteristics and where they are assigned.

The Núria rack railway, after going through a spectacular route through the Pyrenees, is the only gateway to a magical valley that invites us to reflection and contemplation. Since ancient times, Núria has been a remote place, protected from invaders in the past and from the madding crowd in the present, only accessible on foot until 1931, when this spectacular train started circulating. This book describes and reviews the history and technical characteristics of the Ribes-Núria rack railway line.