City to city
Bilbao to Madrid by train
Abando → Madrid-Puerta de Atocha
- Fastest
- ≈ 8h 31m
- Typical
- ≈ 9h 52m
- Direct trains
- No
- Fewest changes
- 2
- Operators
- Euskotren Trena, RENFE OPERADORA, Renfe Cercanias
Trains link Bilbao (Abando) and Madrid (Madrid-Puerta de Atocha) in about 8h 31m at best, with at least 2 changes along the way.
How long does the train from Bilbao to Madrid take?
The fastest trains cover Bilbao to Madrid in about 8h 31m; a typical journey takes around 9h 52m.
Is there a direct train from Bilbao to Madrid?
Usually not; expect at least 2 changes on this journey.
Is the train or a flight faster from Bilbao to Madrid?
A typical flight works out roughly 6h 15m quicker door to door (about 3h 55m against 10h 10m by train, once airport time is counted) — but the train emits about 3× less CO₂e, even on conservative official emission factors.
- Train, door to door
- ≈ 10h 10m
- Flight, door to door
- ≈ 3h 55m (est.)
- CO₂e per passenger
- ~14 kg train · ~44 kg plane
Flight time and emissions are transparent estimates, not airline schedules — method, factors and all 109 compared pairs on Train vs plane in Europe.
Legendary routes through Bilbao or Madrid
More train routes in Spain.
Journey figures are typical values sampled from public European schedule data; exact times vary by day. Always check the operator when booking.