The first AVE service was inaugurated in 1992, with the introduction of the first Spanish high-speed railway connecting the cities of Madrid, Córdoba and Seville.
In addition to Renfe's use of the Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias-managed rail infrastructure in Spain, Renfe offers two AVE services partially in France, connecting respectively Barcelona-Lyon and Madrid-Marseille.[7]
Alta Velocidad Española translates to "Spanish High Speed", but the initials are also a play on the word ave, meaning "bird". AVE trains operate at speeds of up to 300 km/h (186 mph).[8][9]
Services
As of 2024[update] Renfe offers the following AVE services:[10]
Alicante–León via Albacete, Cuenca, Madrid Chamartín, Valladolid and Palencia.
Alicante–Ourense via Albacete, Cuenca, Madrid Chamartín and Zamora.
Barcelona–Granada via Tarragona, Lleida, Zaragoza, Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Córdoba and Antequera.
Barcelona–Málaga via Tarragona, Lleida, Zaragoza, Ciudad Real, Córdoba, Puente Genil-Herrera, and Antequera.
Barcelona–Seville via Tarragona, Lleida, Zaragoza, Ciudad Real, Puertollano and Córdoba (trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
Burgos–Murcia via Valladolid, Segovia, Madrid-Chamartín, Elche and Orihuela.
Gijón–Castellón via Oviedo, Mieres Del Camín, La Pola, León, Palencia, Valladolid, Segovia, Madrid-Chamartín, Cuenca, Valencia and Sagunto.
Gijón–Vinaros, via Oviedo, Mieres Del Camín, La Pola, León, Palencia, Valladolid, Segovia, Madrid-Chamartín, Cuenca, Valencia, Sagunto, Castellón, Benicàssim, Oropesa del Mar and Benicarló (only in summertime).
Huesca–Seville via Tardienta, Zaragoza, Calatayud, Guadalajara, Madrid-Puerta de Atocha and Córdoba
Madrid–A Coruña via Zamora, Ourense and Santiago De Compostela.
Madrid–Alicante via Cuenca, Albacete, and Villena (non stop trains and trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
Madrid–Barcelona via Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza, Lleida, and Tarragona (non stop trains and trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
Madrid–Castellón via Cuenca, Requena-Utiel and Valencia.
Madrid–Figueres via Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza, Lleida, Tarragona, Barcelona and Girona (trains are scheduled with selective stops).
Madrid–Gijón via Valladolid, Palencia, León and Oviedo.
Madrid–Granada via Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Córdoba, Puente Genil-Herrera, Antequera and Loja (trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
Madrid–Huesca via Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza, and Tardienta.
Madrid–León via Segovia, Valladolid and Palencia.
Madrid–Málaga via Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Córdoba, Puente Genil-Herrera, and Antequera (non stop trains and trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
Madrid–Murcia via Elche and Orihuela (some trains are arriving to Alicante and then reversing towards Murcia).
Madrid–Ourense via Zamora.
Madrid–Seville via Ciudad Real, Puertollano, and Córdoba (non stop trains and trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
Madrid–Valencia via Cuenca and Requena-Utiel (non stop trains are also scheduled).
Madrid–Vigo via Zamora, Sanabria, A Gudiña, Ourense, Santiago De Compostela and Pontevedra.
Valencia–Burgos via Requena-Utiel, Cuenca, Madrid Chamartín and Valladolid (trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
Valencia–León via via Requena-Utiel, Cuenca, Madrid-Chamartín, Segovia, Valladolid and Palencia (trains with selective stops are also scheduled).
Valencia–Seville via Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Puertollano, and Córdoba.
Talgo 350 train (Renfe Class 102) at Lleida Pirineus station
AVE "Alstom" (Renfe Class 100) trainset at Córdoba.
A RENFE AVE S-103 (Siemens Velaro E) at Figueres Vilafant railway station in 2013.
AVE Talgo Avril train (Renfe Class 106).
Passenger usage
The still-growing network transported a record 32.4 million passengers in 2023.[14] Though the network length is extensive, it lags in ridership behind comparable high-speed rail systems in Japan, France, Germany, China, Taiwan, and Korea.
AVE passengers in millions from 2006 to 2023[15][16]
2000s
2006
2007
2008
2009
4.878
5.559
11.461
11.250
2010s
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
10.851
12.563
12.101
14.697
17.967
19.428
20.352
21.108
21.332
22.370
2020s
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
7.603
12,282
23,562
31,784
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.