A BRAND-NEW high-speed AVE train has finally opened after over 20 years of delays, and acting president Pedro Sánchez cut the red tape on it today (Tuesday).
The AVE links up Granada with Madrid, about a seven-hour journey by car, but which takes just three hours on the express train.
It will also stop off in Antequera (Málaga province) en route.
The first-ever Madrid-Granada AVE left the former's Atocha station at 09.15 today and reached Antequera's Santa Ana station at 11.27 as scheduled, then was due to arrive in Granada, 122 kilometres further east, at 12.36.
This means a time saving of 50 minutes on the current system, which involves a s30lower, regional train followed by a bus link.
Trains will leave three times daily in either direction, and cost €35 one way.
For the future, the Granada AVE will extend to Barcelona, a trek which will take six-and-a-half hours and cost €118.
Works on the Granada AVE line had been delayed and finally stopped over a period of 10 years, at one point – up until very recently – leaving the Alhambra Palace city with no rail link at all.
In total, from approving the plans to the first train leaving, the Madrid-Granada AVE has taken 20 years to get off the ground.
This is the first AVE line to have been opened in Spain in 18 months, following the link between Valencia and Castellón in January 2018.
