| A Renfe C-102 next to a Renfe C-103 | |
| Main stations | Madrid Atocha, Barcelona Sants, Seville-Santa Justa, Zaragoza–Delicias, Málaga-María Zambrano |
|---|---|
| Other stations | Madrid Chamartín, Valencia-Joaquín Sorolla, Granada, Alicante Terminal, Valladolid-Campo Grande, A Coruña-San Cristóbal, Santiago de Compostela railway station, Ourense, Córdoba |
| Fleet | 22 S-100[1] 16 S-102[2] 26 S-103[3] 20 S-106[4] 25 S-112[5] |
| Stations called at | 52 |
| Parent company | Renfe |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | Standard (1435 mm) |
| Electrification | 25 kV AC (some sections on 3 kV DC network) |
| Length | 3,966 km (2,464 mi)[6] |
| Other | |
| Website | https://www.renfe.com |
Alta Velocidad Española (AVE)[a] is a high-speed rail service operated by Renfe, the Spanish State railway company. The first AVE service was inaugurated in 1992, with the introduction of the first Spanish high-speed railway connecting the cities of Madrid, Córdoba and Seville. In addition to Renfe's use of the Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias-managed rail infrastructure in Spain, Renfe offers two AVE services partially in France, connecting respectively Barcelona-Lyon and Madrid-Marseille.[7] Alta Velocidad Española translates to "Spanish High Speed", but the initials are also a play on the word ave, meaning "bird". AVE trains operate at speeds of up to 300 km/h (186 mph).[8][9]
Services
As of 2024 Renfe offers the following AVE services:[10]
Eastern corridor
- Madrid–Alicante via Cuenca, Albacete, and Villena (non stop trains and trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
- Madrid–Castellón via Cuenca, Requena-Utiel and Valencia.
- Madrid–Murcia via Elche and Orihuela (some trains are arriving to Alicante and then reversing towards Murcia).
- Madrid–Valencia via Cuenca and Requena-Utiel (non stop trains are also scheduled).
Northeast corridor
- Madrid–Barcelona via Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza, Lleida, and Tarragona (non stop trains and trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
- Madrid–Figueres via Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza, Lleida, Tarragona, Barcelona and Girona (trains are scheduled with selective stops).
- Madrid–Huesca via Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza, and Tardienta.
Northern corridor
- Madrid–Gijón via Valladolid, Palencia, León and Oviedo.
- Madrid–León via Segovia, Valladolid and Palencia.
Northwest corridor
- Madrid–A Coruña via Zamora, Ourense and Santiago De Compostela.
- Madrid–Ourense via Zamora.
- Madrid–Vigo via Zamora, Sanabria, A Gudiña, Ourense, Santiago de Compostela, Vilagarcía de Arousa and Pontevedra (trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
Southern corridor
- Madrid–Granada via Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Córdoba, Puente Genil-Herrera, Antequera and Loja (trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
- Madrid–Málaga via Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Córdoba, Puente Genil-Herrera, and Antequera (non stop trains and trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
- Madrid–Seville via Ciudad Real, Puertollano, and Córdoba (non stop trains and trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
Cross-country
- Alicante–León via Albacete, Cuenca, Madrid Chamartín, Valladolid and Palencia.
- Alicante–Ourense via Albacete, Cuenca, Madrid Chamartín and Zamora.
- Barcelona–Granada via Tarragona, Lleida, Zaragoza, Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Córdoba and Antequera.
- Barcelona–Málaga via Tarragona, Lleida, Zaragoza, Ciudad Real, Córdoba, Puente Genil-Herrera, and Antequera.
- Barcelona–Seville via Tarragona, Lleida, Zaragoza, Ciudad Real, Puertollano and Córdoba (trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
- Burgos–Murcia via Valladolid, Segovia, Madrid-Chamartín, Elche and Orihuela.
- Gijón–Castellón via Oviedo, Mieres Del Camín, La Pola, León, Palencia, Valladolid, Segovia, Madrid-Chamartín, Cuenca, Valencia and Sagunto.
- Gijón–Vinaros, via Oviedo, Mieres Del Camín, La Pola, León, Palencia, Valladolid, Segovia, Madrid-Chamartín, Cuenca, Valencia, Sagunto, Castellón, Benicàssim, Oropesa del Mar and Benicarló (only in summertime).
- Huesca–Seville via Tardienta, Zaragoza, Calatayud, Guadalajara, Madrid-Puerta de Atocha and Córdoba
- Málaga–Murcia via Madrid-Puerta de Atocha, Cuenca, Albacete, Villena, Alicante, Elche and Orihuela.
- Valencia–Burgos via Requena-Utiel, Cuenca, Madrid Chamartín and Valladolid (trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
- Valencia–León via Requena-Utiel, Cuenca, Madrid-Chamartín, Segovia, Valladolid and Palencia (trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
- Valencia–Seville via Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Puertollano, and Córdoba.
International services
Source:[11]
- Barcelona–Lyon via Girona, Figueres, Perpignan, Narbonne, Montpellier, Nîmes, and Valence.
- Madrid–Marseille via Guadalajara, Zaragoza, Tarragona, Barcelona, Girona, Figueres, Perpignan, Narbonne, Béziers, Montpellier, Nîmes, Avignon and Aix-en-Provence.
The central hub of the AVE system is Madrid's Puerta de Atocha, except for the Madrid–Asturias, Madrid–Burgos, Madrid–Galicia and Madrid–Alicante lines as well as the majority of the services on the Madrid-Murcia and Madrid-Valencia lines, that terminate at Chamartín station.[12][13] Madrid Atocha and Chamartín station are linked by Madrid Metro (Line 1) and Cercanías Madrid services but As of 2025 not by any standard gauge lines, making it difficult for high speed trains to serve both.
Trains
There are several series of high-speed trains that run the AVE service:
- S-100, manufactured by Alstom, based on the TGV family trains.
- S-102, manufactured by Talgo and Bombardier, marketed globally as Talgo 350.
- S-103, manufactured by Siemens, marketed globally under the brand Siemens Velaro.
- S-106, manufactured by Talgo, marketed globally as Talgo AVRIL.
- S-112, manufactured by Talgo and Bombardier, an improved version of the S-102 with a different seat layout.
| Unit | Top speed | Seating
capacity | Number in Service | First
built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| km/h | mph | ||||
| S-100 | 300 | 186 | 329 | 22 | 1991 |
| S-102 | 350 | 220 | 318 | 16 | 2005 |
| S-103 | 350 | 220 | 404 | 26 | 2007 |
| S-106 | 380 | 240 | > 500 735 (low cost version | 20 | 2012 |
| S-112 | 350 | 220 | 365 | 25 | 2010 |
Passenger usage
The still-growing network transported a record 39.0 million passengers in 2024.[14] Though the network length is extensive, it lags in ridership behind comparable high-speed rail systems in Japan, France, Germany, China, Taiwan, and Korea.
| 2000s | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.878 | 5.559 | 11.461 | 11.250 | |||||||
| 2010s | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| 10.851 | 12.563 | 12.101 | 14.697 | 17.967 | 19.428 | 20.352 | 21.108 | 21.332 | 22.370 | |
| 2020s | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 |
| 7.603 | 12.282 | 23.562 | 31.784 | 39.019 |
Rail infrastructure in Spain and Europe
- Rail transport in Spain
- High-speed rail in Spain
- High-speed rail in Europe
- Train categories in Europe
Notes
- Spanish pronunciation:
- [ˈalta βeloθiˈðað espaˈɲola], [ˈaβe]
References
- "S-100". Renfe.
- "S-102/112". Renfe.
- "S-103". Renfe.
- "Renfe pone en circulación los S-106 con un incremento de 14.400 plazas para los servicios Avlo que circulan entre Madrid, Aragón, Cataluña, Comunitat Valenciana y Murcia" (in Spanish). Renfe. 26 April 2024.
- "Flota de trenes". Renfe.
- "Red de Alta Velocidad". ADIF.
- "Renfe empieza a operar en Francia con un AVE entre Barcelona y Lyon". rtve.es. 13 July 2023.
- "Madrid — Barcelona at 310 km/h with ETCS Level 2". Railway Gazette International. London. 18 October 2011. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020.
- "Velocidades máximas de los trenes y de las líneas" (maximum speeds of the trains and of the lines), last updated on 10 December 2022, accessed on 7 May 2023.
- "Renfe". Renfe.
- "Renfe places AVE (high-speed) tickets on sale in France". Renfe. 21 June 2023.
- "Renfe reorganiza la oferta de los servicios AVE Madrid-Alicante tras el traslado de la cabecera de Puerta de Atocha a Chamartín Clara Campoamor" (in Spanish). Renfe. 19 August 2022.
- "El AVE Madrid-Murcia comenzará el servicio comercial el próximo 20 de diciembre". Renfe. 12 December 2022.
- "Transport. Total passengers by type, transport means used (ground, air and maritime) and distance". ine.es.
- "High Speed: Open access comes to Spain". Railway Gazette International.
- "Spain: high-speed rail passenger traffic 2022". Statista.