The Madrid–Málaga high-speed rail line is a

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

High-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...

line of in length that links the city of

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

with the city of

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

in Spain. The line was inaugurated on 24 December 2007. At the time the service opened,

Renfe Operadora Renfe (, ), officially Renfe-Operadora, is Spain's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. It was created in 2005 upon the split of the former Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Españoles, Spanish National Railway Netwo ...

was running 22 trains daily between Madrid and Málaga.

History

The first high-speed rail line in Spain was opened in 1992 when Madrid–Seville high-speed rail line was inaugurated as a part of the NAFA project (Nuevo Acceso Ferroviario a Andalucía, New Rail Access to Andalusia). In January 1993 the Talgo 200 Madrid–Málaga service began, using

AVE is a Latin word, used by the Roman Empire, Romans as a salutation (greeting), salutation and greeting, meaning 'wikt:hail, hail'. It is the singular imperative mood, imperative form of the verb , which meant 'Well-being, to be well'; thus on ...

lines as far as Córdoba and then Spanish-gauge conventional track to reach Málaga. The new high-speed section from Córdoba to Málaga, which is considered as a part of the New Rail Access to Andalusia, was projected in 1999 and integrated into the PEIT (Strategic Infrastructure Plan of the Ministry of Development, 2005-2020) with an estimated investment of €2.1 billion. Construction and operation were entrusted to Adif. The first of the new section between Córdoba and Antequera-Santa Ana was put in service on 16 December 2006. The line was completed on 23 December 2007 reaching the city of Málaga and the new station Málaga María Zambrano.

Line

The line is built to

supporting compatibility with neighbouring countries' rail systems and is designed for speeds of . It connects the cities of Madrid, Córdoba and

, and also includes stops at Puente Genil and

Antequera Antequera () is a city and municipality in the Comarca de Antequera, province of Málaga, part of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is known as "the heart of Andalusia" (''el corazón de An ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, Spain. For the part between Madrid and Córdoba the line shares a common section with the Madrid–Seville high-speed rail line inaugurated in 1992. Outside Córdoba a spur railway branches off towards Málaga (the total distance between Córdoba and Málaga on the line is ).

Route

The stations along the line are

Madrid Atocha railway station Madrid Atocha (), also named Madrid Puerta de Atocha–Almudena Grandes, is the oldest major railway station in Madrid. It is the largest station serving commuter trains (Cercanías Madrid, ''Cercanías''), regional trains from the south and sou ...

, Córdoba Central, Puente Genil-Herrera, Antequera-Santa Ana and Málaga María Zambrano. The high-speed line towards Granada starting at Antequera was inaugurated in June 2019. The line runs along a double track section in the few kilometres after Córdoba Central and later becomes quadruple track. Eventually, just outside a town called Los Mochos (a few kilometres east-north-east of Almodóvar del Río), the

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

and

branches become separate. The line takes a different route to the existing slower single-track line, but starts to run parallel to it between the towns of Doñana and Santa Rosalia Maqueda, running alongside it for the rest of the journey to Málaga-María Zambrano station. The section between Córdoba and Málaga runs through precipitous terrain in the Sierra Nevada and several viaducts and tunnels were necessary to complete the connections, including the Guadalhorce viaduct (), the Abdalajís Tunnel (the 3rd longest in Spain after the Guadarrama and Pajares tunnels at in the Cordillera Bética), the Arroyo de las Piedras viaduct ( long and high, making it the highest viaduct along the line), the

Arroyo del Espinazo Arroyo often refers to: * Arroyo (watercourse), an intermittently dry creek Arroyo may also refer to: Places United States * Arroyo, Pennsylvania * Arroyo, Puerto Rico, a municipality * Arroyo, West Virginia Spain * Arroyo (Santillana del M ...

and Jévar viaducts (the longest viaduct along the line when the two are considered together) and the Álora, Espartal, Tevilla, Gibralmora and Cártama tunnels that exist in a long chain. The precipitous terrain is one possible reason why the Córdoba–Seville section was opened in 1992, but the Córdoba–Málaga section wasn't opened until December 2007.

Services

The AVE service (using the AVE Class 102) offers Madrid–Málaga journey times of 2 hours and 20 minutes with direct services. The average speed of for this journey is not particularly high (the fastest Madrid–Barcelona journey is 2 hours and 30 minutes over , giving an average speed of ): - trains are restricted to in the Sierra Morena (here, the curvature drops as low as , meaning the maximum safe speed without tilting technology is approximately , as a curvature of at least is needed for and for

. The trains also slow down to for the Abdalajís Tunnel, Abdalajís and Gobantes tunnels, even though the tunnel radii are high enough to support . Two low cost Avlo high speed services per day are also offered by

Renfe Renfe (, ), officially Renfe-Operadora, is Spain's national state-owned railway company. It was created in 2005 upon the split of the former Spanish National Railway Network (RENFE) into the Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias ( ...

on the Madrid–Málaga route on 438 seat S-112 trains (Pato, max speed ) calling at all intermediate stations. The line is also used by the Iryo Madrid–Málaga service calling at Córdoba station. Direct

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

–Málaga AVE services are also offered by combining the Madrid-Málaga line and Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line on the same route. S-112 trains are used for these services and cover the distance between Barcelona and Málaga in 5 hours and 50 minutes without making a stop in Madrid but with additional intermediate stops at

Camp de Tarragona Camp de Tarragona () is a Natural region, natural and historical region, as well as one of the nine Vegueries of Catalonia, regions (''vegueries'') of Catalonia. It is the third most populated region, with 536,453 inhabitants as of 2022. The re ...

, Lleida Pirineus and Zaragoza-Delicias. The

Avant Avant can refer to: People * Avant, part of music production team Bloodshy & Avant * Avant (singer), Myron Avant, an American singer * Clarence Avant, a music executive * Jason Avant, is a US American football player Places * Avant, Oklahoma, ...

services transport passengers directly from

to Málaga and vice versa, with intermediate stops at Córdoba, Puente Genil-Herrera and Antequera-Santa Ana stations and between Málaga and

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

calling at Antequera-Santa Ana.

References

External links