OHLA Group’s specialist subsidiaries G&O and EyM celebrate 75th anniversary
November 29, 2023
OHLA is a benchmark in the rail industry. The company has more than seven decades of experience in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa, where it has promoted major projects such as the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed train, the Mecca-Medina AVE, the Medellin tramway and more than 200 high-speed projects in Spain.
OHLA was the first Spanish company to build a 206-kilometer section of the high-speed train between Ankara and Istanbul (Turkey), which has been in operation since 2009, and the first company to carry out a railway project in the United States, AirportLink, which extends the metro line from Miami to the international airport of this city in the state of Florida.
Projects in Latin America and Europe, with Spain at the forefront, are also very important. Its specialized subsidiaries, G&O and EyM, which are celebrating their 75th anniversary this year, have been involved in many of these projects.
Its origins date back to the merger of the Guinovart Group and Obras y Servicios Hispania. Guinovart was founded in November 1948 to carry out civil engineering and construction work. Subsequently, it specialized in the full range of railway works, both superstructure and infrastructure, and mainly in the maintenance, conservation, rehabilitation and renovation of tracks, bridges, overpasses, underpasses and stations.
Due to the strong development of its activities, the electrification, communication and signaling sectors were separated, creating Electrificaciones y Montajes (EyM).
Both subsidiaries were incorporated into the OHLA Group and are currently grouped in the company’s Construction Division, within the Railway Works Management Division.
Within its activities, G&O deals with railway infrastructure and superstructure works, while EyM focuses on electrification and signaling specialties in conventional lines, high speed, metro and light rail. Both companies focus on railway services and are a reference in the maintenance of public railways in Spain, both in Iberian gauge and international or UIC gauge lines.
Major High-Speed Rail Projects
Both subsidiaries have completed numerous projects in various regions. In the high-speed sector, G&O is participating in a joint venture for the first renovation of turnouts on a high-speed rail line in Spain, specifically the Madrid-Seville high-speed line.
In addition to this project, the company also worked on the Madrid-Segovia-Valladolid High-Speed Railway, in its new rail link to the north and northwest of Spain, and on the Girona-Figueras section of the Madrid-Barcelona-French Border High-Speed Railway. Also in Spain, it carried out the construction of the railway infrastructure at the Huelva station, with earthworks, the formation of the track and passenger platforms of 410 and 226 meters, and a technical platform.
High Impact Projects Worldwide
In Colombia, G&O provided the infrastructure, track superstructure and electrification for a double-track section of the Medellín Tramway, most of which runs through urban areas. With a length of 4.3 km and gradients up to 12.5%, it is the first modern tramway system in Latin America.
In Turkey, it undertook the construction of 206 km of double track for the high-speed train between Ankara and Eskisehir, carrying out everything related to track infrastructure and superstructure, infrastructure works, construction of buildings and platforms, track installation works, electrification, and signaling and communications.
While EyM has participated in the largest project of the Spanish industry outside our country, the AVE Mecca-Medina, where it has built and maintained 25% of the railway electrification. This consists of 225 km of 2×25 kV high-speed catenary; two 380 kV / 2×27.5 kV AC traction substations and associated auto-transformer centers: 8 ATIs and 1 ATF.aciones.
In Latin America, EyM’s work on Line 3 of the Guadalajara Light Railway in Mexico, an infrastructure in which 40 km of track has been electrified with two types of catenary: flexible in viaducts, workshops and depots, and rigid in the tunnel.
