The Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line is a 621-kilometre (386 mi) standard gaugerailway line inaugurated on 20 February 2008. Designed for speeds of 350 km/h (217 mph) and compatibility with neighbouring countries' rail systems, it connects the cities of Madrid and Barcelona in 2 hours 30 minutes. In Barcelona the line is connected with the Perpignan–Barcelona high-speed rail line leading into France which connects it to the European high speed network.
Madrid–Barcelona (- Figueres) high-speed rail line
In 2003 construction of the first phase of a new standard gauge line from Madrid to the French border (Madrid–Zaragoza–Lleida) was completed and on 11 October of that year commercial service began. This service also stopped at Guadalajara–Yebes and Calatayud. The service began running at only 200 km/h (124 mph). On 19 May 2006, after two years of operation, speed was increased to 250 km/h (155 mph) when the Spanish ASFA signalling system was replaced with level 1 of the new European ETCS/ERTMS system. On 16 October 2006 the trains on this line increased their operating speed to 280 km/h (174 mph).
On 18 December 2006 the AVE started operating to Camp de Tarragona, and on 7 May 2007 the service increased its speed to the maximum allowable for the line, 300 km/h (186 mph). This puts Tarragona at 30 minutes from Lleida. The extension to Barcelona was delayed various times due to technical problems; the Ministerio de Fomento having originally forecast the AVE's arrival in Barcelona by the end of 2007.[2]
Complete operation
The complete line was opened February 2008. As of 2012, seventeen trains now run every day between the hours of 6 am and 9 pm, covering the distance between the two cities in just 2 hours 30 minutes for the direct trains, and in 3 hours and 10 minutes for those calling at all intermediate stations. Before the high-speed line was built, the journey between the two cities took more than six hours.
Madrid-Barcelona-Figueres line in red
Speed
It was originally forecast that, after reaching Barcelona in 2004, the line would run at 350 km/h (217 mph), the maximum capable speed of the new Siemens AVE trains which have replaced the Talgo Bombardier AVE S102, after the installation of level 2 of the ETCS/ERTMS. But on the AVE's first day of operating at 300 km/h (186 mph) to Tarragona the Minister of Public Works, Magdalena Álvarez, stated that the maximum commercial operating speeds of the AVE on all lines would be 300 km/h (186 mph).[3] Nevertheless, in October 2011 the speed was raised to 310 km/h on parts of the railway.[4]
Usage
It was forecast that the AVE would substantially replace air traffic on the Barcelona – Madrid route (in the same way that the Eurostar has on the London-Paris/London-Brussels routes and France's TGV has on the Paris-Lyon route). Indeed, by the end of 2017, the line had already taken 63% of the traffic, taking most of it from aircraft.[5] A few years before the Madrid-Barcelona route was the world's busiest passenger air route in 2007 with 971 scheduled flights per week (both directions).[6] Similarly more than 80% of travellers between Madrid and Seville use the AVE, with fewer than 20% travelling by air.[7]
Criticism
There was criticism during the construction of the Madrid-Barcelona line. A critical report by the consulting firm KPMG, commissioned by ADIF (Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias) at the behest of the Ministry for Public Works (Ministerio de Fomento) on 23 June 2004, pointed to a lack of in-depth studies and over-hasty execution of works as the most important reasons for the problems that dogged construction of the AVE line. For example, during the construction of the AVE tunnel near Barcelona, a number of nearby buildings suffered damage from a sinkhole that appeared near a commuter rail station, damaging one of its platforms. The construction committee of Barcelona's famed Sagrada Familia church lobbied for a re-routing of the tunnel – it passes within metres of the massive church's foundations. It also passes equally near the UNESCO-recognized Casa Milà also designed by Antoni Gaudí.
Furthermore, until 2005 both Siemens and Talgo/Bombardiertrain sets failed to meet scheduled speed targets, although in a test run during the homologation tests of the new S102 trains of RENFE, a train-set Talgo 350 (AVE S-102) reached a speed of 365 km/h (227 mph) on the night of the 25/26 June 2006, and in July 2006 a Siemens Velaro train-set (AVE S-103) reached the highest top speed ever in Spain: 403.7 km/h (250.8 mph). At this time, it was a record for railed vehicles in Spain and a world record for unmodified commercial service trainsets, as the earlier TGV and ICE records were achieved with specially modified and shortened trainsets, and the 1996 Shinkansen record of 443 km/h (275 mph) was using a test (non-commercial) trainset.
Planned services in 2012
At Paracuellos de la Ribera
Overview map of the high-speed connections from Barcelona towards France, with the year of opening
Originally planned to open in 2009, the extension of some Madrid-Barcelona routes to Figueres–Vilafant railway station via Girona, opened on 7 January 2013. This made possible upon the completion of the 131-kilometre (81.4 mi) Barcelona-Figueres section of the Perpignan–Barcelona high-speed rail line that connected for the first time the Spanish AVE high-speed network with the French TGV high-speed network.[8] There have been delays in building a four kilometre tunnel in Girona, the first phase of which was finished in September 2010,[9] and controversy over the route between Sants and Sagrera stations in Barcelona.[10] As of January 2013[update] there are eight trains a day running from Madrid, connecting at Figueres Vilafant with two TGV services to Paris.[11]
Figueres to Perpignan
This is an international high speed rail section between France and Spain. The section connects two cities on opposite sides of the border, Perpignan in Roussillon, France, and Figueres in Catalonia, Spain. It consists of a 44.4-kilometre (27.6 mi) railway which crosses the French–Spanish border via the Perthus Tunnel, an 8.3-kilometre (5.2 mi) tunnel bored under the Perthus Pass.[12] The section is open to high speed trains and freight. Construction was completed in February 2009, although services did not run until a station was built on the line at Figueres. As of March 2015, a daily TGV service connects Paris to Barcelona Sants via Perpignan-Figueres with 2 pairs of trips, plus other connections involving Lyon, Marseille, and Toulouse.[13]
^"AVE Barcelona-Madrid cumple 12 años acumulando más de 40 millones de viajeros". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 20 February 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
^. Archived from the original on 28 November 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
^Juan Carlos Martín and Gustavo Nombela, "Microeconomic impacts of investments in high speed trains in Spain", Annals of Regional Science, vol. 41, no. 3, September 2007
^"Spain completes Iberia's high-speed link to Europe". International Railway Journal. 1 August 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
^"Railway Gazette: Girona tunnelling makes progress". Retrieved 23 September 2010.
^"Perpignan-Barcelona AVE to open in 2012 or .... 2020?". Today's railways Europe, Issue 140. August 2007. p. 10.
^"Barcelona - Figueres high speed rail line to open on January 7". International Rail Journal. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2012.
^"Perpignan-Figueras High-speed Rail Line". Structurae. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
^"Spain—closer than ever before". SNCF. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
Further reading
Brunhouse, Jay (July 2009). . International Travel News. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line (Adif line 050).
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This article is about the AVE high speed rail line between Madrid and Barcelona For the conventional railway line see Madrid Barcelona railway The Madrid Barcelona high speed rail line is a 621 kilometre 386 mi standard gauge railway line inaugurated on 20 February 2008 Designed for speeds of 350 km h 217 mph and compatibility with neighbouring countries rail systems it connects the cities of Madrid and Barcelona in 2 hours 30 minutes In Barcelona the line is connected with the Perpignan Barcelona high speed rail line leading into France which connects it to the European high speed network Madrid Barcelona Figueres high speed rail lineAVE Class 103 Siemens Velaro near VinaixaOverviewStatusOperationalOwnerAdifLocaleSpain Community of Madrid Castilla La Mancha Aragon Catalonia TerminiMadrid Puerta de AtochaBarcelona Sants Figueres VilafantServiceTypeHigh speed railOperator s Renfe Operadora SNCF Ouigo Trenitalia Iryo Rolling stockAVE Class 103 100 and 112Ridership4 4 million 2019 1 HistoryOpened2008 first section in 2003 TechnicalLine length620 9 km 385 8 mi as far as Barcelona 748 9 km 465 3 mi as far as Figueres Number of tracksDouble trackTrack gauge1 435 mm 4 ft 8 1 2 in standard gaugeElectrification25 kV 50 HzOperating speed310 km h 193 mph Route mapLegendkm0 0 Madrid AtochaMadrid Sevilla high speed rail lineto Seville24 7 Jarama 2 236 m 64 4 Guadalajara Yebes116 0 Las Inviernas182 7 Ariza AV221 1 CalatayudParacuelos 4 763 m 272 9 to Plasencia de Jalon294 9 Moncasi Junction306 7 Zaragoza Delicias311 7315 8 Canal ImperialTardientaHuesca356 5 Bujaraloz396 8 Ballobar403 7 Cinca 870 m 434 6 Les Torres de Sanui442 1 Lleida Pirineus452 5 to Lleida448 6 Artesa452 5 to Segria former gauge conversion 456 6 Las Borjas488 9 La Espluga509 3 L Alcover512 8 Mediterranean Corridorto Valencia520 9 Camp de Tarragona534 7 Montornes549 3 La Gornal552 7 Arbos565 9 Villafranca del Panades579 6 GelidaMartorellLlobregatCastellbisbalBarcelona avoiding lineLlobregat Palleja 595 8 San Vicente dels HortsLlobregat San Juan Despi 610 4 Llobregat San Baudilio Barcelona Vilanova lineEl PratRio Llobregatto Can TunisProvenca Tunnel Sants La Sagrera620 9 Barcelona Sants000 0 Perpignan Barcelonahigh speed rail line 000 0 Perpignan Barcelonahigh speed rail lineBarcelona SagreraBarcelona avoiding lineMontmelo662 1 Llinars crossover678 1 Riells703 5 Vilovi de Onar714 7 GironaVilademuls crossoverBarcelona Cerbere railway conventional line 748 9 Figueres Vilafant752 4 International sectionSpainFrance borderto Perpignan and TGV networkThis diagram viewtalkeditTrains are operated by the national railway Renfe under the AVE and Avlo brands and by private competitors Ouigo Espana and Iryo Contents 1 First stages 2 Complete operation 3 Speed 4 Usage 5 Criticism 6 Extension to France 6 1 Barcelona to Figueres 6 2 Figueres to Perpignan 7 See also 8 References 8 1 Notes 9 Further reading 10 External linksFirst stages EditIn 2003 construction of the first phase of a new standard gauge line from Madrid to the French border Madrid Zaragoza Lleida was completed and on 11 October of that year commercial service began This service also stopped at Guadalajara Yebes and Calatayud The service began running at only 200 km h 124 mph On 19 May 2006 after two years of operation speed was increased to 250 km h 155 mph when the Spanish ASFA signalling system was replaced with level 1 of the new European ETCS ERTMS system On 16 October 2006 the trains on this line increased their operating speed to 280 km h 174 mph On 18 December 2006 the AVE started operating to Camp de Tarragona and on 7 May 2007 the service increased its speed to the maximum allowable for the line 300 km h 186 mph This puts Tarragona at 30 minutes from Lleida The extension to Barcelona was delayed various times due to technical problems the Ministerio de Fomento having originally forecast the AVE s arrival in Barcelona by the end of 2007 2 Complete operation EditThe complete line was opened February 2008 As of 2012 seventeen trains now run every day between the hours of 6 am and 9 pm covering the distance between the two cities in just 2 hours 30 minutes for the direct trains and in 3 hours and 10 minutes for those calling at all intermediate stations Before the high speed line was built the journey between the two cities took more than six hours Madrid Barcelona Figueres line in redSpeed EditIt was originally forecast that after reaching Barcelona in 2004 the line would run at 350 km h 217 mph the maximum capable speed of the new Siemens AVE trains which have replaced the Talgo Bombardier AVE S102 after the installation of level 2 of the ETCS ERTMS But on the AVE s first day of operating at 300 km h 186 mph to Tarragona the Minister of Public Works Magdalena Alvarez stated that the maximum commercial operating speeds of the AVE on all lines would be 300 km h 186 mph 3 Nevertheless in October 2011 the speed was raised to 310 km h on parts of the railway 4 Usage EditIt was forecast that the AVE would substantially replace air traffic on the Barcelona Madrid route in the same way that the Eurostar has on the London Paris London Brussels routes and France s TGV has on the Paris Lyon route Indeed by the end of 2017 the line had already taken 63 of the traffic taking most of it from aircraft 5 A few years before the Madrid Barcelona route was the world s busiest passenger air route in 2007 with 971 scheduled flights per week both directions 6 Similarly more than 80 of travellers between Madrid and Seville use the AVE with fewer than 20 travelling by air 7 Criticism EditThere was criticism during the construction of the Madrid Barcelona line A critical report by the consulting firm KPMG commissioned by ADIF Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias at the behest of the Ministry for Public Works Ministerio de Fomento on 23 June 2004 pointed to a lack of in depth studies and over hasty execution of works as the most important reasons for the problems that dogged construction of the AVE line For example during the construction of the AVE tunnel near Barcelona a number of nearby buildings suffered damage from a sinkhole that appeared near a commuter rail station damaging one of its platforms The construction committee of Barcelona s famed Sagrada Familia church lobbied for a re routing of the tunnel it passes within metres of the massive church s foundations It also passes equally near the UNESCO recognized Casa Mila also designed by Antoni Gaudi Furthermore until 2005 both Siemens and Talgo Bombardier train sets failed to meet scheduled speed targets although in a test run during the homologation tests of the new S102 trains of RENFE a train set Talgo 350 AVE S 102 reached a speed of 365 km h 227 mph on the night of the 25 26 June 2006 and in July 2006 a Siemens Velaro train set AVE S 103 reached the highest top speed ever in Spain 403 7 km h 250 8 mph At this time it was a record for railed vehicles in Spain and a world record for unmodified commercial service trainsets as the earlier TGV and ICE records were achieved with specially modified and shortened trainsets and the 1996 Shinkansen record of 443 km h 275 mph was using a test non commercial trainset Planned services in 2012 At Paracuellos de la Ribera Overview map of the high speed connections from Barcelona towards France with the year of openingExtension to France EditMain article Perpignan Barcelona high speed rail line Barcelona to Figueres Edit Originally planned to open in 2009 the extension of some Madrid Barcelona routes to Figueres Vilafant railway station via Girona opened on 7 January 2013 This made possible upon the completion of the 131 kilometre 81 4 mi Barcelona Figueres section of the Perpignan Barcelona high speed rail line that connected for the first time the Spanish AVE high speed network with the French TGV high speed network 8 There have been delays in building a four kilometre tunnel in Girona the first phase of which was finished in September 2010 9 and controversy over the route between Sants and Sagrera stations in Barcelona 10 As of January 2013 update there are eight trains a day running from Madrid connecting at Figueres Vilafant with two TGV services to Paris 11 Figueres to Perpignan Edit This is an international high speed rail section between France and Spain The section connects two cities on opposite sides of the border Perpignan in Roussillon France and Figueres in Catalonia Spain It consists of a 44 4 kilometre 27 6 mi railway which crosses the French Spanish border via the Perthus Tunnel an 8 3 kilometre 5 2 mi tunnel bored under the Perthus Pass 12 The section is open to high speed trains and freight Construction was completed in February 2009 although services did not run until a station was built on the line at Figueres As of March 2015 a daily TGV service connects Paris to Barcelona Sants via Perpignan Figueres with 2 pairs of trips plus other connections involving Lyon Marseille and Toulouse 13 See also EditLGV Mediterranee TER Languedoc Roussillon List of highest railways in EuropeReferences EditNotes Edit AVE Barcelona Madrid cumple 12 anos acumulando mas de 40 millones de viajeros La Vanguardia in Spanish 20 February 2020 Retrieved 5 January 2021 La Vanguardia 18 December 2006 Archived from the original on 28 November 2007 Retrieved 17 July 2008 La Vanguardia 7 May 2007 Madrid Barcelona at 310 km h with ETCS Level 2 Barcelona Madrid high speed line has had more than 85 million passengers 21 February 2018 Air passenger transport in Europe in 2007 Juan Carlos Martin and Gustavo Nombela Microeconomic impacts of investments in high speed trains in Spain Annals of Regional Science vol 41 no 3 September 2007 Spain completes Iberia s high speed link to Europe International Railway Journal 1 August 2013 Retrieved 30 December 2015 Railway Gazette Girona tunnelling makes progress Retrieved 23 September 2010 Perpignan Barcelona AVE to open in 2012 or 2020 Today s railways Europe Issue 140 August 2007 p 10 Barcelona Figueres high speed rail line to open on January 7 International Rail Journal 10 December 2012 Retrieved 18 January 2012 Perpignan Figueras High speed Rail Line Structurae Retrieved 30 January 2009 Spain closer than ever before SNCF Retrieved 3 March 2015 Further reading EditBrunhouse Jay July 2009 All Aboard New high speed Barcelona Madrid International Travel News Archived from the original on 4 February 2013 Retrieved 2 April 2013 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Madrid Barcelona high speed rail line Adif line 050 Coordinates 41 36 34 N 0 13 15 E 41 6094 N 0 2207 E 41 6094 0 2207 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Madrid Barcelona high speed rail line amp oldid 1134824240, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
