Green light for high-speed trains to travel at 350 km/h between Madrid and Barcelona, reducing journey time to under two hours

From Madrid to Barcelona in under two hours - this is how fast passengers on this route will be able to arrive at their destination when the high-speed AVE trains' speed increases from 300 to 350 kilometres per hour. This was announced at a Europa Press-organised briefing by Spain's minister of transport Óscar Puente, who said that a renovation of the route will make Spain's rail service one of the fastest in the world, only comparable to China's.

Puente justified the renovation of this particular route with the record number of passengers that travel between Madrid and Barcelona: from two million in the year of its inauguration to the current 15 million. In addition, trains account for 85% of the travels done between the two regional capitals.

The investment and schedule have not yet been announced, but we can use the renovation of the Madrid-Seville line, which has just been completed, as a reference. This route took three years and cost around 750 million euros.

The tender for the Madrid-Barcelona line was launched this 17 November. The minister said that no major extra investment will be needed to increase the speed to 350 km/hour, because the route already allows this speed.

Puente said that it will not be necessary to wait for the entire line to be upgraded in order to run at higher speeds, as each section that is renewed will already be fitted with the sleepers required to reach the announced speed. During the three-year period, the journey will be reduced little by little until the two years promised by the minister are reached.

Puente said that, given the level of traffic saturation on this route, the department had no other option but to either "increase the speed of the trains or double or triple the number of tracks". According to the minister, the former is the better option, because it guarantees faster trips, while the train occupies less track space due to its speed.

The plan also includes a new high-speed train station in Parla, south of Madrid, so that passengers travelling from Andalucía to Barcelona do not have to go through Atocha or Chamartín. In addition, the minister also announced a new connection between Madrid Chamartín and Barcelona, so that there is no need to pass through Atocha.

In practice, this station will serve more than one million residents in Parla and neighbouring towns. In addition, this municipality will become another stop on the routes between Valencia, Alicante, Murcia, Seville or Malaga and Madrid.

The station will be located very close to the Parla Norte Cercanías stop and will be the fourth high-speed station in the region of Madrid. Chamartin and Atocha stations are currently in operation and the station at Barajas Terminal 4 will soon be added.

Minister Puente also addressed the amendment approved in Congreso on 13 November, according to which public railway operator Renfe will be obliged to refund tickets for trips delayed by only 15 minutes. Puente declared this amendment "unconstitutional", because it will decrease Renfe's capacity to compete with large private companies such as Iryo and Ouigo. According to the minister, this would lead to a 42-million hole in Renfe's annual accounts.

"If you impose a punctuality commitment on Renfe, you force it to work under different conditions to the other two," Puente said, adding that they are already studying this measure from a legal point of view. In theory, the minister believes that Renfe cannot be made to compete with two companies that do not have the same punctuality obligations.