Sener has been declared a finalist for the European Rail Congress Awards in the category of ‘Large Rail Station of the Year’ for its Puerta del Sol commuter rail station project in Madrid.
Sener has been the only Spanish company selected in its category, in which other projects also compete for the final prize, namely, the Saint Pancras and Kings Cross stations, both in the U.K., the Westbahnhof station in Vienna, Austria and the Grandi Architetti a Confronto project from Italy.
The winner of these awards will be announced at a gala dinner on November 12, as part of the European Rail Congress, the most important European rail industry meeting, which will be held on November 12 and 13 in London.
The Sol suburban rail station, a project promoted by the Spanish Ministry of Public Works and Transport was judged to have been a success by all the administrative bodies involved and it aroused enormous public expectations from the moment it opened. In addition, Sol suburban rail station is the largest cavern excavated in city soils in the entire world, being also the largest underground cavern in Europe. SENER’s design has allowed to construct in a very difficult urban environment as Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, especially if we consider the occupation both on surface and underground, the geotechnical conditions, the interference with existing buildings, an extremely airy and spacious station, which is comfortable and easily accessible for the user; so far, its operation with increasing traffic has been excellent.
This is not the first time that Sener is recognized for this project. In 2009, the Madrid branch of the Spanish Association of Civil Engineers granted the company the “Award for Best Public Work of the Year” for this rail station.
The Sol suburban rail station is divided into two distinct parts. Firstly, there is the platform cavern, just over 200 meters long, 20 meters wide indoors and almost 15 meters high, which includes two side platforms linked via escalators to a suspended platform (or mezzanine) located above the tracks; secondly, the Sol entrance hall, structured with five levels, which guarantees access from the outside and connects with Metro lines 1, 2 and 3. The project also includes a connection to the Gran Vía metro station, which itself has to be adapted before the link can be opened.
