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.
High Impact Projects Worldwide
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.