The first commerical AVE high speed trains left Madrid's Atocha and Barcelona's Sants stations at 6am this morning, arriving at their respective destinations eight and five minutes early, shortly after 8.30am.

A large number of journalists were among the 250 passengers hurtling southwest at speeds of up to 300km an hour and the 160 travelling in the opposite direction.

Owing to the proximity of the general election and the problems in Barcelona caused by the final construction phase, there was no official ceremony to mark the opening.

From today, there will be a total of 17 trains in each direction every day between the hours of 6am-9pm.

Seven trains leaving Barcelona and eight from the capital will be direct with an estimated journey time of 2 hours, 38 minutes.

Tickets for this service are priced at €120.40 for a one-way Tourist class ticket, €180.60 in Preferential class and €216.70 in Club class.

However, it is possible to travel for as little as €40.55 if you book in advance, on-line for a train that stops at every station, or as much as €245 for the Puente AVE Club class direct service, which does not require pre-booking.

Madrid-Barcelona fast train link to open next week
By: thinkSPAIN
Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Two months later than planned, and thirteen years since construction work began, the AVE high speed train link between Madrid and Barcelona will open next Wednesday, 20th February.

Development minister Magdalena Álvarez apologised to the people of Barcelona for the inconvenience caused by problems experienced during the final phase of construction when she announced the date at a press conference yesterday following a meeting with regional president of Cataluña, José Montilla.

Tickets for the new service will go on sale tomorrow, when Renfe will also confirm prices and timetables.

Since work began in 1995, 659km of track have been laid and 149 bridges and 162 tunnels built.

The route crosses six provinces - Madrid, Guadalajara, Zaragoza, Lleida, Tarragona and Barcelona - and there are six stations - Madrid-Puerta de Atocha, Guadalajara Yebes, Calatayud, Zaragoza-Delicias, Lleida-Pirineus, Camp de Tarragona and Barcelona-Sants.

The new service will cut journey times between Spain's two biggest cities from almost four hours to just two and a half.

First AVE fast train arrives in Barcelona
By: thinkSPAIN
Friday, February 8, 2008

A Siemens S-103 commercial test train towing eight wagons, but with no passengers on board, arrived at Barcelona's Sants station at 12.20pm today to start final testing before the opening of the Madrid-Barcelona AVE high speed train link, possibly later this month.

When it does open, trains from Sants station will depart every half hour at peak times between 6-10am and 3-8pm.

The direct service will take approximately 2 hours 35 minutes though trains that stop at every station will take an extra half hour.

There will also be a 'semi-direct' service, which will only stop in Zaragoza, that will take 2 hours 45 minutes.