AVE
Main station(s)Madrid Atocha, Barcelona Sants, Seville-Santa Justa, Zaragoza–Delicias
Other station(s)Madrid Chamartín, Valencia-Joaquín Sorolla, Málaga-María Zambrano, Granada, Alicante Terminal, Valladolid-Campo Grande, A Coruña-San Cristóbal, Santiago de Compostela railway station, Ourense, Córdoba
Fleet size24 S-100
16 S-102
26 S-103
30 S-112
Stations called at30
Parent companyRenfe
Technical
Track gaugeStandard (1435 mm)
Previous gaugeIberian (1668 mm)
Electrification25 kV AC (some sections on 3 kV DC network)
Length3,966 km (2,464 mi)[1]
Other
Websitehttps://www.renfe.com

Alta Velocidad Española (AVE)[lower-alpha 1] 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.[2]

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).[3][4]

Services

As of 2023 Renfe offers the following AVE services:[5]

  • 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).
  • Madrid–Alicante via Cuenca, Albacete, and Villena (non stop trains and trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
  • Madrid–Barcelona via Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza, Lleida, and Tarragona (non stop trains and trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
  • Madrid–Castellón via Cuenca, Requena-Utiel and Valencia.
  • Madrid–Figueres via Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza, Lleida, Tarragona, Barcelona and Girona (trains are scheduled with selective stops).
  • Madrid–Granada via Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Córdoba, Puente Genil-Herrera, Antequera and Loja (trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
  • Madrid–Huesca via Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza, and Tardienta.
  • Madrid–León via Segovia, Valladolid and Palencia.
  • Madrid–Málaga via Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Córdoba, Puente Genil-Herrera, and Antequera (non stop trains and trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
  • Madrid–Murcia via Elche and Orihuela (some trains are arriving to Alicante and then reversing towards Murcia).
  • Madrid–Ourense via Zamora.
  • Madrid–Seville via Ciudad Real, Puertollano, and Córdoba (non stop trains and trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
  • Madrid–Valencia via Cuenca and Requena-Utiel (non stop trains are also scheduled).
  • Valencia–Seville via Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Puertollano, and Córdoba.
  • Valencia–Burgos via Requena-Utiel, Cuenca, Madrid Chamartín and Valladolid (trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
  • International:[6]
    • 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–León, Madrid–Burgos, Madrid–Galicia, Madrid–Alicante and Madrid-Murcia lines, that terminate at Chamartín station.[7][8]

Trains

Currently, there are several series of high-speed trains that run the AVE service:

Passenger usage

The still-growing network transported a record 21.3 million passengers in 2018.[9] Though the network length is extensive, it lags in ridership behind comparable high-speed rail systems in Japan, France, Germany, China, Taiwan, and Korea.

AVE passengers in millions from 2006 to 2019[10][11]
2000s
 2006200720082009
4.8785.55911.46111.250
2010s
 2010201120122013201420152016201720182019
10.85112.56312.10114.69717.96719.42820.35221.10821.33222.370
2020s
 2020202120222023202420252026202720282029
7.60312,28223,562

    Rail infrastructure in Spain and Europe

    Notes

    1. ↑ Spanish pronunciation:
      [ˈalta βeloθiˈðað espaˈɲola], [ˈaβe]

    References

    1. ↑ "Red de Alta Velocidad". ADIF. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
    2. ↑ "Renfe empieza a operar en Francia con un AVE entre Barcelona y Lyon". rtve.es. 13 July 2023.
    3. ↑ "Madrid — Barcelona at 310 km/h with ETCS Level 2". Railway Gazette International. London. 18 October 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
    4. ↑ "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.
    5. ↑ "Renfe". Renfe. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
    6. ↑ "Renfe places AVE (high-speed) tickets on sale in France". Renfe. 21 June 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
    7. ↑ "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. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
    8. ↑ "El AVE Madrid-Murcia comenzará el servicio comercial el próximo 20 de diciembre". Renfe. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
    9. ↑ "El AVE suma su sexto récord anual al cerrar 2018 con 21,3 millones de viajeros, un 3,7%". Europa Press (in Spanish). 8 February 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
    10. ↑ Railway Gazette International, https://www.railwaygazette.com/in-depth/high-speed-open-access-comes-to-spain/56641.article
    11. ↑ "Spain: high-speed rail passenger traffic 2022". Statista. Retrieved 2023-12-24.
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