Page 39 - Vía Libre Special - 25 Years of Spanish High Speed Rail

12-13-2009 A Coruña
Santiago - A Coruña
12-19-2010
Santiago 12-10-2011 León 09-30-2015 Figueres Figueres-Perpignan
03-29-2015 Santiago-Ourense Valladolid-León 12-23-2003 Huesca 12-19-2006
Santiago - Vigo Zaragoza-Huesca Lleida-C. Tarragona
Vigo Ourense Zaragoza 01-08-2013
Barcelona-Figueres
Zamora Valladolid 12-23-2007 Lleida Barcelona
Madrid-Valladolid C. Tarragona
12-17-2015 Bif. Medina 10-10-2003 02-20-2008
C. Tarragona-Barcelona
Bif. Medina-Zamora Madrid-Lleida
Madrid-Chamartín
Madrid-P. Atocha 12-18-2010
Bif. Torrejón de Velasco Madrid-Valencia/Albacete
11-16-2005 Toledo Bif. La Sagra
La Sagra-Toledo Valencia
Albacete

04-21-1992 Córdoba 06-17-2013 Alicante
Madrid-Sevilla Albacete-Alicante
Sevilla 12-23-2007
Córdoba-Málaga
09-29-2015
Sevilla - Cádiz Málaga
Cádiz Jerez Dates of entry into service

Renfe services on

the Spanish high speed network

S towns and cities. These are the Altaria, Alvia and In-

tercity services.
Alvia, introduced in 2006, is the name given
Since its entry into service in 1992, the term AVE has
to quality long distance services using self-prope-
been applied to pure high speed services in Spain
run exclusively on international standard gauge li-
nes at speeds of up to 300 km/h. These long distance lled rail cars designed for speeds of up to 250 km/h
capable of using high speed lines, conventional lines
services usually offered Turista, Turista+ and Prefe- or both. These services usually offer Turista, Turis-
rente class seats, cafeteria and video. The Preferen- ta+ and Preferente class travel, cafeteria and video,
te class provides additional services, although some although they may also offer only Turista class (Se-
are not available on Saturdays or other exceptional ries 121).
periods and dates. Since December 2016, Series 100R Altaria, introduced in 2001, refers to long
trains also provide wifi on the Madrid-Seville route. distance services provided by Series 6 and 7 Talgo
AV City trains have been in operation since trainsets running at speeds of up to 180-200 km/h.
2014; they are used to provide services complemen- They use high speed and conventional lines in both
tary to the regular high speed services and, espe- gauges or run exclusively on conventional lines (in
cially, services scheduled on peak demand days. Like the case of Series 4 trains) and offer Turista and
the AVE services, they run exclusively on high speed Preferente class travel with cafeteria service and
lines, usually at speeds of up to 250 km/h. Prices are video.
lower than AVE prices, as is the level of service. They Finally, in 2012 the Intercity (IC) category,
offer Turista and, on some services, Turista+ class which had disappeared in 2008 after 28 years, was
travel. reinstated. This category covers services previously
Regarding medium distance services, since marketed under other names, including some regio-
2004 these operate under the name Avant, which nal and long distance services. The present day IC
took over from the previously named Lanzadera trains use either conventional lines or high speed
trains. These regional services run exclusively on lines or both and, in general, provide a high level of
high speed lines, with rolling stock designed for quality in a lower price bracket than other services.
speeds of up to 250 km/h. Like all medium distance It is one of the services which uses the greatest va-
services, they offer only one class of travel. riety of train types: 120, 121, Talgo Series 4, type 2000
In addition to these services which run exclu- carriages, and even Series 599 DMUs. The services
sively on the high speed network, there are others provided with Talgo and Series 120 trains offer Pre-
which combine the use of this network with the ferente and Turista class travel, cafeteria and video, years of Spanish high speed rail
conventional network. They enable the advantages while those using Series 121 and 599 trains only offer
of high speed travel to reach a great many Spanish Turista class.

Vía Libre • Special 25th Anniversary of the AVE Edition 39