Officially announced this afternoon, Madrid -Barcelona AVE
 

So here it is at last ! It will be running from February 20.
Renfe will begin selling tickets at their website February 14.

Can't believe it, kenderina, that they made it before their self-imposed March 9 (elections!) deadline. Wonder if Renfe will actually get those tickets loaded on the web by Feb. 14 and if they'll have any WEB or Estrella fares?

I foresee more frustrations with www.renfe.es!!!

Thanks for the heads up!

Great news. Wished I had found out about it before booking my flight beck to the states out of Barcelona. I would have taken the AVE to Madrid instead and flown out of there.

How long is the ride between Madrid and Barcelona?

I read it's initially to be 2hr. 50min. getting down to 2 hr. 30 eventually, correct, kenderina?

Correct, Maribel :) Well, Renfe still has not said a word...that's totally another question LOL

Elections time is the funniest season ...every four years, you actually can laugh watching at TV news.

Wow, that's quick. How long does it take now? I had to fly between the two in 2002. I didn't think that train was a viable option.

It takes around 4 hrs. Interesting, I just checked Renfe to book for Feb. 27 and it says "There are no trains for your date". They haven't loaded those fares yet and as kenderina says, RENFE is a whole other story!

It takes about 4 hours now..in 2002 it took about 6 hours and a half, if I remember OK. The difference is because now there is "high velocity" between Madrid and Zaragoza :)

Thanks. That's exciting. I'm glad you told us about it.

Just read in El Mundo that Renfe has established its pricing structure for the new AVE, Madrid-Barcelona.

They'll have the 60% discount WEB fares (purchased a minimum of 15 days out) for 40,8€ (with stops) and 48€ (non-stop).

There will also be "Turista" fares with 40% discount (purchased at least 7 days in advance) for 61€ (with stops) and 72€ (non stop).

The standard fare will be 102€ (with stops) and 120€ (non stop).

Renfe will also offer an open ticket, Puente AVE, for 168,50€, to be used any time within a year of purchase (similar to Iberia's walk up Puente Aereo fares).

The initial 34 daily trains will have a seating capacity of 13,498.

And if your train arrives between 15-30 min. late, Renfe states it will refunded half the price of your ticket. If it arrives more than 1/2 hr. late, a full refund.

The above info comes from today's El Mundo.

make that "will refund"

Yes, they have told the same on TV today :) Looks that there are two kind of trains on different schedules : one that stops in Tarragona, Lleida and Zaragoza..and another one without stops. The ones without stops will make it in 2h 38 minutes and the ones with stops in 2:50. Let's see how much money the have to refund..make your bets !! LOL

Thank you for posting this, kenderina.

MAD-BCN is one of the world's busiest airline market-pair, in terms of both frequency and total seats. This will definitely change.

Sure, it will change, rkkwan.

My understanding is that in Germany, when the high speed line between Cologne and the Frankfurt airport station opened, Lufthansa basically abandoned the air route between the two cities.

It will be interesting to see what happens in this case.

At least you actually HAVE a true "high speed" rail service; I wish we had one in the US. Actually, here in the US, we cannot even seem to build a rail link from the city of Washington to the international airport.

It would be interesting, for the sake of comparison, to compare the reduction in air traffic between London and Paris since the opening of the Chunnel and high speed trains. Prior to the Chunnel, I always flew, but since then I have always taken the train.

I have only flown a few times between MAD and BCN (b/c I have visited Spain less often than England and France), but I don't expect to fly that route in the future, if the train does meet its projected timetable.

This is great news.

I should also look up the distance between Madrid and Barcelona, and compare it to the distance between New York and Washington, DC. My guess is that the distance is greater between the two Spanish cities, and until the US develops true high speed trains (which likely will not happen in any of our lifetimes) there will still be plenty of air passengers on the NY-DC route (same goes for NY and Boston).

Its nice to see a country spending its resources on infrastructure (I only wish my country, the US, did likewise instead of wasting trillions overseas).

Michael

Michael, I can see searching on Internet that the distance between NYC and Washington DC is 250 miles. There are more or less 386 miles between Madrid and Barcelona.

hi kenderina and all,
Just read the article in La Vanguardia. It says the top speed will be 300 km per hr with an average speed now between 230-240.

From Madrid there will be 8 daily non-stops-from Barcelona, 7.

And according to the head of Renfe, Feb. 20 is the magic day for everyone. There won't be an official inauguration ride just for dignitaries as was the case with Segovia and Málaga. The Feb. 20 runs are supposed to be open to the general public.

Watch as Iberia, Spanair, Vueling and Air Europa web sites offer even more cheap web fares to match those Web and Estrella discounts offered by Renfe. This will really be interesting!