Madrid–Barcelona (- Figueres) high-speed rail line
AVE Class 103 (Siemens Velaro) near Vinaixa
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Adif
Locale	Spain (Community of Madrid,Castilla–La Mancha, Aragon,Catalonia)
Termini	Madrid Puerta de Atocha Barcelona Sants/Figueres–Vilafant
Service
Type	High-speed rail
Operator(s)	Renfe Operadora,SNCF (Ouigo),Trenitalia (Iryo)
Rolling stock	AVE Class 103,100, and112
Ridership	4.4 million (2019)[1]
History
Opened	2008 (first section in 2003)
Technical
Line length	620.9 km (385.8 mi) (as far as Barcelona) 748.9 km (465.3 mi) (as far as Figueres)
Number of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)standard gauge
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz
Operating speed	300 km/h (190 mph) 2011 to 2016: 310 km/h (195 mph)[2]
Route map Legend km 0.0 Madrid Atocha Madrid–Seville high-speed rail line toSeville–Santa Justa 24.7 Jarama (2,236 m) 64.4 Guadalajara–Yebes 116.0 Las Inviernas 182.7 Ariza AV 221.1 Calatayud Paracuelos (4,763 m) 272.9 toPlasencia de Jalón 294.9 Moncasí Junction 306.7 Zaragoza–Delicias 311.7 315.8 Canal Imperial Tardienta Huesca 356.5 Bujaraloz 396.8 Ballobar 403.7 Cinca (870 m) 434.6 Les Torres de Sanui 442.1 Lleida Pirineus 452.5 toLleida 448.6 Artesa 452.5 toSegrià (formergauge conversion) 456.6 Les Borges Blanques 488.9 L'Espluga de Francolí 509.3 L'Alcover 512.8 Mediterranean Corridor toValencia 520.9 Camp de Tarragona 534.7 Montornès 549.3 La Gornal 552.7 L'Arboç 565.9 Vilafranca del Penedès 579.6 Gelida Martorell Llobregat Castellbisbal Barcelona avoiding line Llobregat (Pallejà) 595.8 Sant Vicenç dels Horts Llobregat (Sant Joan Despí) 610.4 Llobregat (Sant Boi) Barcelona–Vilanova line El Prat de Llobregat Llobregat to Can Tunis Provença Tunnel, Sants–La Sagrera 620.9 Barcelona Sants 000.0 Perpignan–Barcelona high-speed rail line   000.0 Perpignan–Barcelona high-speed rail line Barcelona Sagrera Barcelona avoiding line Montmeló 662.1 Llinarscrossover 678.1 Riells 703.5 Viloví d'Onyar 714.7 Girona Vilademulscrossover Barcelona–Cerbère railway (conventional line) 748.9 Figueres–Vilafant 752.4 International section Spain France border toPerpignan andTGV network This diagram: view talk edit

TheMadrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line is a 621-kilometre (385.9 mi)standard-gauge railway line inaugurated on 20 February 2008. Designed for speeds of 350 km/h (217.5 mph) and compatibility with neighbouring countries' rail systems, it connects the cities ofMadrid andBarcelona in 2 hours 30 minutes. In Barcelona the line is connected with thePerpignan–Barcelona high-speed rail line leading into France which connects it to the European high speed network.

Trains are operated by the national railwayRenfe under theAVE andAvlo brands, and by private competitorsOuigo España andIryo.

In 2003 construction of the first phase of a new standard gauge line from Madrid to the French border (Madrid–Zaragoza–Lleida) was completed and on 11 October of that year commercial service began. This service also stopped at Guadalajara–Yebes andCalatayud. The service began running at only 200 km/h (124.3 mph). On 19 May 2006, after two years of operation, speed was increased to 250 km/h (155.3 mph) when the SpanishASFA signalling system was replaced with level 1 of the new EuropeanETCS/ERTMS system. On 16 October 2006 the trains on this line increased their operating speed to 280 km/h (174.0 mph).

On 18 December 2006 theAVE started operating toCamp de Tarragona, and on 7 May 2007 the service increased its speed to the maximum allowable for the line, 300 km/h (186.4 mph). This puts Tarragona at 30 minutes from Lleida. The extension to Barcelona was delayed various times due to technical problems; the Ministerio de Fomento having originally forecast the AVE's arrival in Barcelona by the end of 2007.^[3]

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The complete line was opened February 2008. As of 2012, seventeen trains now run every day between the hours of 6 am and 9 pm, covering the distance between the two cities in just 2 hours 30 minutes for the direct trains, and in 3 hours and 10 minutes for those calling at all intermediate stations. Before the high-speed line was built, the journey between the two cities took more than six hours.

It was originally forecast that, after reaching Barcelona in 2004, the line would run at 350 km/h (217.5 mph), the maximum capable speed of the new Siemens AVE trainsS103 which have replaced the Talgo Bombardier AVE S102, after the installation of level 2 of theETCS/ERTMS. But on the AVE's first day of operating at 300 km/h (186.4 mph) to Tarragona the Minister of Public Works, Magdalena Álvarez, stated that the maximum commercial operating speeds of the AVE on all lines would be 300 km/h (186.4 mph).^[4]

On 11 December 2011, the speed was raised to 310 km/h (192.6 mph) on a 60 km (37.3 mi) section of the railway (between km 64.4, near Guadalajara, and km 124.4), with plans to further increase the speed to 320 km/h (198.8 mph) on a 24 km (14.9 mi) sub-section (from km 81.0 to km 105.24) and plans to rapidly extend the 310 km/h (192.6 mph) speed throughout the Spanish high-speed network.^[5][2][6][7] Nevertheless, after almost 5 years of operation with S103 trains running at up to 310 km/h (192.6 mph) on this section, the speed was decreased back to 300 km/h (186.4 mph) on 17 August 2016.^[2] The tests performed by ADIF had revealed that, at speeds exceeding 300 km/h (186.4 mph), the air which the trains were moving underneath was causing some stones of the ballast to rise, hitting the trains and causing damage of various kinds (the Spanish high-speed railways follow the French high-speed rail model of laying the rails on a bed of stones known as ballast, instead of laying the tracks on concrete plates, as is done for high-speed rail in Germany).^[8] Due to this technical limitation and the substantial increase in costs and power necessary to break the 300 km/h (186.4 mph) barrier, the AVE in Spain abandoned prospects of operating at speeds over 300 km/h (186.4 mph) in the short or medium term.^[8]

It was forecast that the AVE would substantially replace air traffic on the Madrid – Barcelona route (in the same way that theEurostar has on theLondon–Paris/London–Brussels routes and France'sTGV has on theParis–Lyon route). Indeed, by the end of 2017, the line had already taken 63% of the traffic, taking most of it from aircraft.^[9] A few years before the Madrid–Barcelona route was theworld's busiest passenger air route in 2007 with 971 scheduled flights per week (both directions).^[10] Similarly more than 80% of travelers between Madrid and Seville use the AVE, with fewer than 20% traveling by air.^[11]

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There was criticism during the construction of the Madrid–Barcelona line. A critical report by the consulting firmKPMG, commissioned by ADIF (Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias) at the behest of the Ministry for Development (Ministerio de Fomento) on 23 June 2004, pointed to a lack of in-depth studies and over-hasty execution of works as the most important reasons for the problems that dogged construction of the AVE line. For example, during the construction of theAVE tunnel near Barcelona, a number of nearby buildings suffered damage from a sinkhole that appeared near a commuter rail station, damaging one of its platforms. The construction committee of Barcelona's famedSagrada Família church lobbied for a re-routing of the tunnel – it passes within metres of the massive church's foundations. It also passes equally near theUNESCO-recognizedCasa Milà also designed byAntoni Gaudí.

Until 2005 bothSiemens andTalgo/Bombardiertrain sets failed to meet scheduled speed targets, although in a test run during the homologation tests of the new S102 trains ofRenfe, a train-setTalgo 350 (AVE S-102) reached a speed of 365 km/h (226.8 mph) on the night of the 25/26 June 2006, and in July 2006 aSiemens Velaro train-set (AVE S-103) reached the highest top speed ever in Spain: 403.7 km/h (250.8 mph). At this time, it was a record for railed vehicles in Spain and aworld record forunmodified commercial service trainsets, as the earlierTGV andICE records were achieved with specially modified and shortened trainsets, and the 1996Shinkansen record of 443 km/h (275.3 mph) was using a test (non-commercial) trainset.

Originally planned to open in 2009, the extension of some Madrid–Barcelona routes toFigueres–Vilafant railway station viaGirona, opened on 9 January 2013.^[12] This made possible upon the completion of the 131-kilometre (81.4 mi) Barcelona–Figueres section of thePerpignan–Barcelona high-speed rail line that connected for the first time the SpanishAVE high-speed network with the FrenchTGV high-speed network.^[13] There have been delays in building a four-kilometre tunnel inGirona, the first phase of which was finished in September 2010,^[14] and controversy over the route betweenSants andSagrera stations in Barcelona.^[15] As of January 2013^[update] there are eight trains a day running from Madrid, connecting at Figueres Vilafant with two TGV services to Paris.^[16]

This is an internationalhigh-speed rail section between France and Spain. The section connects two cities on opposite sides of the border,Perpignan inOccitanie, France, andFigueres inCatalonia, Spain. It consists of a 44.4-kilometre (27.6 mi) railway which crosses the French–Spanish border via thePerthus Tunnel, an 8.3-kilometre (5.2 mi) tunnel bored under the Perthus Pass.^[17] The section is open to high speed trains and freight. Construction was completed in February 2009, although services did not run until a station was built on the line at Figueres. As of March 2015, a daily TGV service connects Paris to Barcelona Sants via Perpignan-Figueres with 2 pairs of trips, plus other connections involving Lyon, Marseille, and Toulouse.^[18]

• High-speed rail in Spain
• LGV Méditerranée
• TER Languedoc-Roussillon
• List of highest railways in Europe

• Brunhouse, Jay (July 2009)."All Aboard » New high-speed Barcelona–Madrid".International Travel News. Archived fromthe original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved2 April 2013.

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41°36′34″N0°13′15″E / 41.6094°N 0.2207°E /41.6094; 0.2207

• Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line
• Railway lines opened in 2008
• Railway lines in Catalonia
• Standard-gauge railways in Spain
• Transport in Alt Empordà
• Rail transport in Barcelona
• Transport in Figueres
• Transport in Girona
• Transport in Lleida
• Rail transport in Madrid
• Transport in Tarragonès
• 2008 establishments in Spain
• 25 kV AC railway electrification

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