High speed train from Madrid to Granada opens to the public end of July

After two decades of delay the Madrid-Antequera-Granada AVE (High Speed Train) is open to the public from Wednesday, July 26.

The AVE will have three departures morning, noon and afternoon for each direction. Tickets will cost €35 and the train will make the trip one way in a time of between three hours and three hours and twenty minutes.

The new route of 122 kilometres of AVE connecting Granada to the established 3,100 kilometre AVE network, the second largest in the world, required the construction of seven tunnels and 31 viaducts.

One such viaduct built for the new line is now the second longest in Spain second to the viaduct built over the Guadalete river on the Sevilla-Cádiz high speed rail line.

The fastest route Madrid-Granada available by public transport before the train’s launch was a combination of multiple buses and trains. The Madrid-Antequera-Granada AVE will beat this route’s journey time by 50 minutes whilst offering a direct route.