The high-speed railway network in Spain currently consists of four dedicated passenger train main lines, in Spain named L.A.V. abbreviation for linea de alta velocidad. The total length of the network up to 2.665 km, making it the longest in Europe, and the second in the world after China.[1]
Connecting the capital Madrid with several of Spain's largest cities, the four lines are named according to their terminus cities. The first line to open was the Madrid-Seville high-speed rail line (L.A.V. Madrid-Sevilla), followed by the Madrid-Valladolid high-speed rail line (L.A.V. Madrid-Valladolid), the Cordoba-Málaga high speed rail line (L.A.V. Córdoba-Málaga) and the Madrid-Barcelona high speed rail line (L.A.V. Madrid-Barcelona). The network is to be greatly expanded during the next decade with most of the Spanish peninsula being connected.
Currently there are four main lines in operation with two spur lines connecting the cities of Toledo with the Madrid-Seville main line and Huesca with the Madrid-Barcelona main line.
The Madrid–Seville high-speed railway line connects Madrid with Seville in the south of Spain, passing through the cities of Ciudad Real, Puertollano and Córdoba, where the Cordoba-Málaga high-speed railway line branches off towards Málaga just outside of Los Mochos near Almodóvar del Río. The route travels across the plains of Castile, travelling through the Sierra Morena mountains just before reaching Córdoba, before going onward towards Seville through the largely flat land surrounding the Guadalquivir river. The Madrid-Seville line was the first dedicated passenger high-speed rail line to be built in Spain and was completed in time for Seville's Expo 92. With a length of 472 km, the fastest train journey between the two cities takes 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Madrid–Barcelona high-speed railway line connects Madrid with Barcelona in the north east of Spain passing the cities of Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza, Lleida and Tarragona where the future Tarragona-Valencia high-speed railway line will connect. The line has a length of 621 km and a travel time of roughly two and a half hours for the direct trains using the route avoiding entering Zaragoza and Lleida.
Madrid–Valladolid high-speed rail line connects Madrid with Valladolid to the north of the capital passing the city of Segovia. The line is 179 km long and supports the longest railway tunnel in Spain at 28 km in length.
On April 24, 2010, it was announced a 55 km high-speed spur would leave the Madrid-Valladolid route at Segovia and continue to Avila. Initial plans are expected to be complete by the end of 2010.[2]
Cordoba–Málaga high-speed rail line connects the city of Cordoba with the city of Málaga. The line is a 155 km long spur line to the Madrid-Seville high-speed rail line, but with the characteristics of a main line. Apart from the traffic to and from the city of Málaga, the line also handles the traffic to the cities of Granada and Algeciras. In the future, the line will also support the traffic between Madrid and the Costa del Sol high-speed rail line.
The Madrid-Toledo high-speed rail line branches off from the Seville and Málaga routes around the depot at La Sagra. The Avant service between the two cities offers journey times of half an hour on trains with a maximum speed of 250 km/h.
The 350 km/h Madrid-Valencia line was officially finished on Friday 10 Dec 2010,[3] with commercial trips starting on Saturday 18 Dec 2010. It is serviced by 30 AVE S-102, trains, assembled by the Talgo-Bombardier consortium. Direct trains cover the 391 km in 95 minutes. It is part of the Madrid-Levante lines (see below).
The 350 km/h line branches off from the Madrid-Valencia Line, and brings the total length of the network up to 2,665 km, making it the longest in Europe and the second-longest in the world after China.[4] It is part of the Madrid-Levante lines (see below). Direct trains Toledo-Albacete are also scheduled, combining four of the existing lines.
The Madrid-Levante high-speed rail is a network of railways connecting the capital with the Mediterranean coast. Consisting of 940 km of railways with an estimated cost of 12.5 billion euros, it is the most expensive high-speed railway project in Spain. The network will consist of both dedicated passenger high-speed railways designed for trains running above 300 km/h and high-speed railways shared with freight trains. The network is to be opened in stages, starting with the Madrid-Valencia/Albacete section, which was opened in December, 2010[5][6] followed by Albacete/Valencia-Alicante in 2012 and finally reaching the cities of Murcia and Castellón in 2015. A branch line to Cartagena is also included in the network, but no opening date for that line exists.
The high-speed rail line connecting the two capitals on the Iberian peninsula; Portugal's section will be the first "standard gauge' railway in that country as it shares the same broad gauge standard as Spain. Designed as a mixed use railway line shared between passenger and freight rail, it will have a length of 439 km on the Spanish side, of which 48 km are part of the already- built Madrid-Seville high-speed rail line. Construction on the Spanish side began in late 2008 on a segment between the cities of Badajoz and Mérida. Once built, the travel time between the two cities will be drastically reduced to around 3 hours.
A new interconnecting tunnel is planned between Atocha and Chamartín stations. Currently, trains going to Valladolid leave from Chamartín and trains going to Seville, Málaga and Barcelona leave from Atocha station. Also, there is a single daily service in each direction running along the Barcelona-Seville and Barcelona-Málaga routes, which uses the high-speed bypass around Madrid (the only alternative is to have the driver walk from one end of the train to the other, which would have a negative effect on journey times). The tunnel will allow services serving northern cities to travel non-stop through Madrid and onward to southern cities (or vice versa), without the driver having to change ends or bypass Madrid, a valuable source of passengers: currently, someone wanting to travel from Valladolid to Málaga, for instance, must travel from Valladolid Campo Grande station to Madrid Chamartín station before taking a Cercanías service to Atocha; then finally taking an onward train to Málaga.
On April 24, 2010, tunneling started on the 7.3 km route connecting Atocha and Chamartin.[7]
This high-speed railway line will be part passenger-dedicated high-speed railway (Madrid-Alcázar de San Juan) and part shared with freight trains (Alcázar de San Juan-Jaén). The first 99 km of the line will use the already existing Madrid-Seville high-speed railway line. From there, a 67,5 km branch line will be constructed towards Alcázar de San Juan.
From Alcázar de San Juan the existing railway line will be uppgraded to allow passenger trains to run up to 250 km/h; a new double-tracked route through the Despeñaperros mountain range will be built to replace the existing single-tracked route. This part of the high-speed railway also forms part of the Madrid-Algeciras freight corridor. An extension of the line to Granada is being investigated; however, the complicated terrain between Jaén and Granada might make it uneconomical.
The high speed line LGV Perpignan-Figueres (44,4 km) was opened in December 2010. Since then, French TGV trains operate from Paris. The railway Barcelona–Figueres is expected to be opened in 2012.
The extension of the Madrid-Valladolid high-speed railway line began construction in 2009. This 223,4 km railway line will run parallel to the 244,8 km long existing railway line. Originally it was to be used as a mixed-use high-speed railway line, but it has since been changed to a passenger-dedicated railway line, leaving the existing railway line for freight trains. The line is forecast to open the Valladolid-Burgos part around 2013 and the Burgos-Vitoria-Gasteiz part in 2014 or 2015. At Vitoria it will connect to the Basque high-speed railway line, thus reaching the French border. Once opened, the travel time between Valladolid and Vitoria will be around an hour.
The Basque high-speed railway line connecting the three Basque capitals, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Bilbao and San Sebastián. Construction began in 2007 and the railway line is forecast to open in 2016.
The 424 km long high-speed railway line connecting Madrid with Santiago de Compostela and the Atlantic axis high speed railway line in Galicia in the North West of Spain. The line starts at Olmedo 130 km to the north of Madrid on the Madrid-Valladolid high-speed railway line. Construction on the northernmost part of the line between the cities of Ourense and Santiago de Compostela began late 2004 and is slated for completion 2012.
The high-speed railway line connecting Madrid to the cities of León, Oviedo and Gijón in the north of Spain. The line starts at Venta de Baños: 205 km north of Madrid on the Valladolid-Vitoria high-speed railway line. It includes the 24,7 km long Pajares Base Tunnel which runs under the Asturian mountain range.
The Andalusian transversal high-speed railway line is a 503.7-kilometre railway running between the cities of Huelva and Almeria, passing the cities of Sevilla and Granada. The line is designed for speeds up to 250 kilometres per hour, except for the 130-kilometre Antequerra-Granada and the 103-kilometre Seville-Huelva parts of the line, which are designed for speeds in excess of 300 kilometres per hour; A connection between Huelva and the Portuguese border is being studied.
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