The Train in Spain

Madrid, SPAIN, January 2, 2008 –  It’s now easier to travel around Spain. Just in time for the New Year three Alta Velocidad Española, AVE, or high-speed trains are now traveling even faster from Madrid to the north and to the south.

      On December 21 travel time from Madrid to Barcelona on the AVE train shrunk from the previous four-hour trip to only three hours. And once the final section of the high-speed track is completed between Camp de Tarragona and Barcelona, the train will travel at 186 miles per hour (mph).  When the latest version of the European Train Control System (ETCS) is in place, the AVE trains will operate at 199 mph and eventually reach speeds of 219 mph, reducing the trip to only two hours and 30 minutes.

      The Madrid-Segovia trip time has now been reduced from two hours to only 30 minutes, and the Madrid-Valladolid trip from two and a half hours to 55 minutes thanks to the 17 miles of high-speed track that has been built through tunnels – one the fourth longest in Europe – under the Sierra de Guadarrama.

      Two days before Christmas, the last section of the Córdoba-Málaga AVE line opened and the current four-hour trip from Madrid to Málaga in the southern region of Andalusia dropped to two and a half hours.

      The Spanish government plans to have 4350 miles (7000 kilometers) of high-speed track operational by 2010 with all the provincial capitals only four hours from Madrid and  six and a half hours from Barcelona.

      For information about traveling by train through Spain contact RENFE. America travelers can contact Rail Europe or go to www.raileurope.com.  For further information about Spain, contact the Tourist Office of Spain in New York (212-265-8822); Miami (305-358-1992); Chicago (312-642-1992) or Los Angeles (323-658-7195) or go to www.spain.info