Loading AI tools
Major Spanish train link From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Madrid–Barcelona railway is the conventional railway line linking the Spanish capital Madrid with the country's second largest city of Barcelona, Catalonia. It now primarily serves local commuter rail services and regional traffic since the opening of the Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line in 2008, prior to which only 1.98 million annual passengers travelled between the two cities.[1]
Madrid–Barcelona railway | |
---|---|
![]() Madrid–Barcelona railway | |
Overview | |
Status | Operational |
Owner | Adif |
Termini | |
Service | |
Operator(s) | Renfe Operadora |
History | |
Opened | 2 June 1859 |
Technical | |
Line length | 699.7 km (434.8 mi) |
Track gauge | 1,668 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in) Iberian gauge |
Operating speed | 160 km/h (99 mph) |
The line serves important Spanish cities including Guadalajara, Zaragoza, Lleida, Reus and Tarragona. At Casetas the line forms a junction with the Casetas–Bilbao railway. Prior to the high-speed railway opening, journeys between Madrid and Barcelona on this railway took up to seven hours.[2]
The line is used by Cercanías Madrid services C-2 and C-7, C-1 of Cercanías Zaragoza, and Rodalies de Catalunya's R2 line; along with numerous regional services along various stretches of the line. The Regional Express service runs the full distance between Madrid and Barcelona, taking 9 hours and 24 minutes;[3] since the opening of the AVE high-speed rail line travel has been reduced to 2 hours and 30 minutes non-stop, freeing up the older slower line for other traffic.
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.