Iñigo Aguas Ardaiz (École nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Université Gustave Eiffel).
Conquering Europe at high speed: the TGV as a tool for the SNCF’s internationalization.

The French railway company, SNCF, was the first to deploy its own high-speed technology in Europe. This was the result of years of research, abandoning its previous business model, and ensuring it could outcompete intermodal rivals. In reality, upon assessing what they had at their disposal, the strategy quickly took on an international scope, extending beyond France’s borders. This is clearly evident in the Channel Tunnel project, which was rapidly shaped by the TGV’s vision. In fact, reaching Brussels and Northern Europe by replacing the express trains of that era was one of the core objectives of the original high-speed project. To achieve this, joint ventures were created with the national rail companies of the countries involved, though the French side always maintained a particularly strong technical presence: Eurostar and Thalys. A similar approach was taken in parallel with the trains from Lausanne and Bern, once again following the route of a TEE, now known as the TGV Lyria.
In parallel with the sale of technological development to countries such as Spain, Belgium, or to some extent Italy, the SNCF created joint ventures with the rest of its neighboring countries: Artesia with FS or Elipsos with RENFE, companies that served as the foundation for the SNCF to provide services directly in these countries. The only exception is Alleo, the Franco-German alliance that maintains the balance. This was perhaps the most important formula, as it allowed SNCF to have authorized rolling stock, gain firsthand knowledge of the country’s network, and attract personnel with the aim of eventually launching its own operation—all within the framework of European liberalization. A long-term business strategy to ensure the company’s health, which in reality takes us back to France’s ambitions regarding how to lead the railway world—ambitions that were very real at the time of the UIC’s creation. PDF

Rodolfo Ramos Melero (Alfonso X El Sabio University).
European Public Railways on the Expansive: Internationalization and Liberalization Strategies in the 21st Century.

The internationalization of European railway companies has evolved significantly from the models of the 19th and 20th centuries, which focused on the expansion of capital, technology, and knowledge from industrialized countries into recipient markets. Within the European Union, market liberalization, regulatory reforms, and growing competition have led to distinct strategies among the major public operators, combining historical continuity with adaptations to current challenges.
This paper compares the strategies of SNCF (France), Trenitalia (Italy), Deutsche Bahn (Germany), and, as a case of contrast, Renfe (Spain) in the passenger market. SNCF is committed to direct penetration of liberalized markets; Trenitalia focuses on public contracts and acquisitions; Deutsche Bahn maintains a regionalized presence through bilateral agreements; and Renfe, with limited internationalization, is simultaneously facing one of the most aggressive domestic liberalizations on record.
Internationalization strategies are classified according to conceptual frameworks from the strategic management literature, adapted in a novel way to the public railway sector. PDF

Domingo Cuéllar (Rey Juan Carlos University) and Aurora Martínez-Corral (Polytechnic University of Valencia).
Innovation, computers, and train tickets. RENFE: an example of external technical assistance during the Franco regime.

In the summer of 1968, the world’s first computerized system for selling train tickets and reserving seats was launched. This meant that, for the first time, rail passengers could purchase their tickets in advance through electronic terminals, providing travelers with greater assurance and allowing railway companies to better manage the seats available. The company behind this milestone was the Spanish public railway company (RENFE), nationalized in 1941 at the start of Franco’s dictatorship, which operated a network of just over 13,000 km and became, for most of the second half of the 20th century, the country’s largest company, both in terms of number of employees and economic assets.
This technological innovation was as significant as it was surprising. Its significance lies, naturally, in the pioneering fact that it was the first time computer automation techniques were applied to the reservation and sale of rail tickets worldwide. From then on, this complex process would become more streamlined, allowing railway companies to manage their train seats more efficiently and thus improve operational performance. But it can also be described as surprising, because Spain at that time was immersed in a rigid military dictatorship, in place since 1939, which had not been characterized by innovation and transformation, but quite the opposite: economic backwardness and reactionary policies did not constitute a good foundation for the development of research and progress.
Furthermore, given Spain’s economic and technological backwardness, the technology required to carry out this process had to be imported in its entirety. Interest in computing was already present in Spain, albeit only in very specific departments and companies, a trend to which railway companies were no strangers. However, the uniqueness of this isolated event should not be overlooked, as it did not represent a paradigm shift in the company’s management model until many years later, nor did the country as a whole embark on a path of modernization through this avenue.
This text examines this unique process of implementing a system of technical and managerial innovation within the framework of the growing number of technical consulting agreements coming to Spain from Europe and the United States for mining, railway, and steel industry activities, among others. We used as research sources the available documentation from studies and projects related to this process in the Historical Railway Archive and the General Administrative Archive, as well as oral accounts from some of the technicians who participated in this process and who provided us with their testimonies and highly relevant information. We also consulted various specialized publications and diagrams at the Railway Library regarding the work carried out and the results published in the reports issued on the subject. PDF

José Conrado Martínez Acevedo (ADIF).
European collaboration among railway companies in the field of technological innovation since the late 20th century: a review of its evolution and the results achieved.

Collaboration on technological innovation among various European railway companies—including both public entities responsible for operating railway networks and industrial firms that supply the technology—has been a defining feature of the sector since the end of the last century. It should be noted that, previously, in this European context, the technological and innovative dominance of the railway sector was largely limited to Franco-German collaboration.
Since the late 1990s, successive research programs promoted by the European Commission have facilitated increased collaboration in the railway sector among a greater number of countries. Although the form of collaborative participation has changed over the years, the objectives pursued have always focused on the joint development of new technological solutions for the railway sector.
Regarding this participation, it is worth noting that it has evolved from the development of specific collaborative projects between different companies to the creation of joint innovation ventures governed by a long-term collaboration agreement between a large number of companies and the European Commission itself.
Among these collaborations, the EMSET consortium project (European Madrid–Sevilla Eurocab Test), created in 1994 to address the European Commission’s request to conduct full-scale cross-testing to demonstrate the feasibility of European railway interoperability through a new signaling system (ERTMS [European Rail Traffic Management System]), deserves special mention.
Another project of strategic interest is the AEROTRAIN collaborative project (AEROdynamics Total Regulatory Acceptance for the Interoperable Network), carried out between 2009 and 2012, in which several European railway companies investigated the various aerodynamic effects produced when traveling at high speeds. PDF

Magda Pinheiro (ASIHF).
Challenges and Failures of Early Railway Construction in Portugal – English Capital.

Investment by English capital was one of the first strategies adopted by Portuguese officials to build railroads in Portugal. It soon became clear that credible English investors and builders had little interest in Portuguese railroads. The English were well aware of the country’s financial and economic situation and dominated maritime transport. They also knew there was no industrial support and that, at the local level, they could count on little more than sand, unskilled labor, and a few engineers capable of overseeing construction. Hardy Hislop had neither sufficient capital nor the credibility to secure it for the project to connect Lisbon to Porto and Spain. These objectives were only achieved by the company led by Spaniards and with predominantly French investments. They entailed a significant burden on public investment and difficulties resulting from industrial backwardness, which we will examine in detail. PDF

Jorge Alonso Rodríguez Ortiz (Czech Technical University in Prague).
Colombian Dewhurst-Skoda steam locomotives. Production and marketing dynamics in a global context.

This proposal addresses a topic that has not been explored in depth. It concerns the steam locomotives for Colombia, designed by British engineer Paul Dewhurst and built by Škoda in Czechoslovakia between 1926 and 1929.
The novelty of this proposal, which is part of the doctoral project currently underway, lies in the unprecedented use of primary sources from the General Archive of the Nation of Colombia and the Škoda Archive in Pilsen, Czech Republic.
The objective is to illustrate and describe processes related to the circulation of knowledge based on the contributions of the British engineer who joined the Ministry of Public Works in Colombia as Chief Engineer in the 1920s and who was responsible for the designs of several steam locomotives for Colombia, seeking to adapt a model to the specific geographical conditions of the country. However, in this case, the focus is on the designs for locomotives manufactured by Škoda in the newly formed Czechoslovak nation following World War I.
Through previously unpublished documentation and photographs, the study seeks to describe processes related to the circulation of knowledge, technology transfer, and the production and commercial dynamics of steam locomotives within an international context.
This specific case examines a particular Colombian context when the railways came under state administration, which sought to promote and propel the country toward integration into the international market by streamlining the transport of raw materials to ports for shipment to industrialized nations.
Likewise, the case of the Škoda company is examined; after a distinguished history in the arms industry and with the end of the world war, the company turned to diversifying its production, finding an opportunity in the international trade of steam locomotives. PDF

Ana Cardoso de Matos (University of Évora).
The internationalization of railway companies and the French engineers, drivers, and contractors involved in them: The case of the Companhia de Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses da Beira Alta (CCFBA).

The concession for the construction of the Beira Alta Railway, which was expected to have a direct connection to Paris, was awarded to the Société Financière de Paris in 1878. This company established the Portuguese Beira Alta Railway Company, to which it transferred the concession. As was the case with most French companies that invested in the Portuguese railway, this company imported technological expertise, management models, and materials. Furthermore, it entrusted the supervision of the works to French engineers, awarding the contracts to contractors who were also of French origin. This paper will analyze some of these actors who were involved in the construction of the Beira Alta railway line. PDF 

Oswaldo Escobar Muriel (Bogotá Academy of History and Colombian Academy of the History of Engineering and Public Works).
Foreign involvement in the construction of railroads in Colombia.

Foreign involvement was evident from the very first incursions of the Spanish conquistadors into Colombian territory, whether in the clearing of paths that served as the basis for future railway routes or, later in the 19th century, in the design, construction, and operation of those lines, particularly those intended to connect Bogotá with the Magdalena River.
This was a consequence of the lack of technical resources and local professionals to plan the routes; subsequently, due to the difficulty in securing funds to undertake these projects, the costs of which the Colombian government was unable to bear; then, the lack of technical capacity to carry out the work with the assurance of achieving results that met the expectations of an entire nation; and finally, the lack of experience to operate the railway systems optimally, which in some cases forced Colombia to seek professional personnel and companies abroad with the capacity to design, finance, build, and operate railway transportation enterprises, from those countries where the global railway boom originated—a consequence, first of the invention of the steam engine and later, throughout the 19th century, of technological advances that in some way contributed to the development of the Colombian railway system.
In the design phase, first France—with the hiring of engineer Antoine Poncet—and later England—with the hiring of William Ridley—established the routes that were ultimately built by companies led by the Cuban-American engineer Francisco Javier Cisneros on the Girardot Railway, by British firms on the Northern Railway (The Colombian Northern Railway), a German company on the Cundinamarca line (Phillipp Holzmann), and a Belgian company on the Northeast line (Société Nationale de Chemin de Fer en Colombie). PDF