National
More than 300,000 travel high speed Madrid-Barcelona
By m.p.
Mar 19, 2008 - 9:54 PM

More than 300,000 passengers have travelled on the new high speed link between Madrid and Barcelona since the line first opened on 20th February. The number at this stage is forecast to be substantially higher, as figures had reached 308,000 on Wednesday last week, 12th March, by which time the trains themselves had made more than 1,000 journeys.

Quoting figures from Renfe Spanish Railways, Europa Press said almost 200,000 people used the line within its first two weeks of operation, when occupancy was put at around 67%. The company hopes to carry 6.1 million passengers on the line in its first year of operation, almost double the figures for last year on the previous rail connection between the two cities.

The service came into being after 12 years of construction beset by problems, including long delays and cancellations on Barcelona’s commuter train network caused by subsidence during construction of the high speed line in the Catalan capital. Current journey time for the direct service is two hours and 38 minutes, one hour and 17 minutes less than it previously took. There are 17 trains in each direction every day, with plans from Renfe to increase the service to one train almost every hour by the end of the year, which will mean 25 each way on the trip between Barcelona and Madrid.

Photo – RENFE.

La Vanguardia newspaper reported on Wednesday that the airlines which cover the route between the two cities, while still maintaining flight frequency, are now using smaller planes with fewer places, due to the success of the new rail connection.