Two months later than planned, and thirteen years since construction work began, the AVE high speed train link between Madrid and Barcelona will open Wednesday, 20th February.
Development minister apologized to the people of Barcelona for the discomfort caused by problems happened during the final phase of construction when she announced the date at a press conference yesterday following a meeting with regional president of Catalonia, Jose Montilla.
Since work began in 1995, 659 km. of track have been set and 149 bridges and 162 tunnels built. The route crosses six provinces - Madrid, Guadalajara, Zaragoza, Lleida, Tarragona and Barcelona - and there are six stations - Madrid-Puerta de Atocha, Guadalajara Yebes, Calatayud, Zaragoza-Delicias, Lleida-Pirineus, Camp de Tarragona and Barcelona-Sants.
A Siemens S-103 commercial test train having eight wagons, but with no passengers on board, arrived at Barcelona's Sants station at 12.20 PM today to start final testing before the opening of the Madrid-Barcelona AVE high speed train link, possibly later this month.
When it does open, trains from Sants station will depart every half hour at peak times between 6-10 AM and 3-8 PM.
The direct service will take about 2 hours 35 min. although trains that stop at every station will take an extra half hour.
There will also be a 'semi-direct' service, which will only stop in Zaragoza, that will take 2 hours 45 min.
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