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Spanish high speed train, AVE, reaches Barcelona
By h.b. - Feb 20, 2008 - 7:35 AM
ALSO SEE : • AVE high speed train to reach Valencia in 2010 - Jun 5, 2008 - 10:59 PM
• Row over the upkeep of the Murcia station in Alicante - Apr 30, 2008 - 8:28 AM

Photo RENFE
enlarge photo

The new service is expected to affect the 'puente aereo' with promises of punctuality and easier transfers
The first AVE high speed train to run from Madrid to Barcelona has run today and the service is proving to be the most popular line for RENFE Spanish railways yet with as many as 13,000 tickets being sold in a single day and 70,000 sold since tickets went on sale on February 14.

On the train today the travellers have paid between 163€ 50 for the most expensive seat to 40 € 80 for the cheapest internet offer. Nearly half of all sales so far have been on the net.
Trains now run daily between the two cities between 6am and 9pm every hour and the objective is to make the service even more frequent. Current journey time is 2 hours 38 minutes with refunds for late arrivals in line with AVE policy. That journey time will be reduced slightly later in the future when new safety measures are introduced.

Today’s start of the service comes after 12 years of construction beset by problems, not least the land subsidence during construction in Barcelona which led to long delays and cancelation of the cercanias commuter trains in the city for a
time.

Given those problems and the closeness to the election, today’s service has started without any ceremony or protocol from the Government.


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ALSO SEE :
• AVE high speed train to reach Valencia in 2010 - Jun 5, 2008 - 10:59 PM
• Row over the upkeep of the Murcia station in Alicante - Apr 30, 2008 - 8:28 AM
• Madrid to Barcelona in two hours on the AVE in the autumn - Apr 21, 2008 - 1:10 PM
• High speed on foot - Feb 23, 2008 - 7:55 PM
• Idea of a single AVE train station to serve Elche and Alicante - Feb 15, 2008 - 8:18 AM
• Suicide confirmed in the death of two women hit by the AVE high speed train near Antequera - Jan 31, 2008 - 8:29 AM
• High speed rail link Seville to Barcelona, bypassing Madrid - Jan 30, 2008 - 9:31 PM
• Female couple die when hit by the AVE high speed train in Málaga in what was a suicide pact - Jan 30, 2008 - 8:12 PM
• RENFE Spanish Railways launch new website - Dec 19, 2007 - 8:25 PM
• Strike action may take the shine off new Spanish high speed train services this Christmas - Dec 12, 2007 - 9:43 PM