AVE Madrid–Seville

Spain’s first AVE, built for Expo ’92 in standard gauge, the line that reset Spanish railways.

Spain’s high-speed age began here in April 1992, when a brand-new standard-gauge line opened for Seville’s Expo: bypassing the single-track Despeñaperros pass that had throttled Andalusian trains for a century. The S-100 sets, French TGV cousins built in Spain, drop out of Madrid across La Mancha, thread the Sierra Morena in a chain of tunnels near Brazatortas, then run down the Guadalquivir valley with a stop beneath Córdoba’s old town. Renfe still honours its founding promise on the route: more than five minutes late and the fare comes back.

Stations

1. 0 kmPuerta de Atocha
2. 210 kmPuertollano
3. 343 kmCórdoba
4. 470 kmSevilla - Santa Justa

The stations OpenStreetMap lists for this service, in order, with the distance along the line as drawn here. A train may skip some of them.

Along the way

• Atocha’s tropical palm house
• La Mancha plains
• Sierra Morena tunnels
• Córdoba — stop for the Mezquita
• Guadalquivir valley orange groves
• Santa Justa arrival

How this line was checked

• Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 1254828 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
• Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 7 m from it
• Checked against the running timetable via ÖBB Scotty: our line sits under 100 m from the shape of AVE 2070
• Wikipedia has an article for this line
• See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it

Questions and answers

How long is the AVE?

The AVE runs 471 km from Madrid to Seville.

How long does the AVE take?

The fastest scheduled journey is 2 h 20 min for the 471 km. That is an average of 202 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 300 km/h.

Who runs the AVE?

Renfe, with S-100 (Alstom).

How old is the AVE?

The line has been in service since 1992. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.

How often does the AVE run?

Roughly hourly.

View on the world railway map →

Read more on Wikipedia ↗