The Madrid–Levante high-speed network is a network of high-speed rail lines that connects

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

with the Mediterranean coast of the Levante Region, specifically with Castilla-La Mancha, the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wi ...

and the Murcia Region autonomous communities. The network extends from Madrid to the east, with branches ending in Castellón,

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

Elche Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

, Cartagena and continuing from

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city g ...

. When fully operational the Madrid–Levante network will total 955 km of high-speed rail capable of top speeds of 350 km/h in the majority of its segments.

Segments

Madrid–Cuenca–Motilla del Palancar–Valencia

The first 28 km of this 391 km line are shared with the existing

Madrid–Seville high-speed rail line The Madrid–Sevilla high-speed line (NAFA or ''Nuevo Acceso Ferroviario a Andalucía'') is a Spanish railway line for high-speed traffic between Madrid and Seville. The first Spanish high-speed rail connection has been in use since 21 April 19 ...

. The section onwards to Valencia was inaugurated on 15 December 2010 and entered service on 19 December 2010. Thirty trains run every day, fifteen in each direction. 22 are non-stop services and eight call at intermediate stations. Non-stop trains between Madrid and Valencia cover the in 1 hour and 40 minutes, saving two hours on the previous service of Alaris trains on the classic line. The line is built to international gauge (1435mm), and electric powered at 25 kV AC, with signalling

ERTMS The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is the system of standards for management and interoperation of signalling for railways by the European Union (EU). It is conducted by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and is the ...

levels 1 and 2.

Valencia–Castellón

This segment was inaugurated on 22 January 2018 and is a part of the Mediterranean Corridor. With this extension to Castellón a new AVE service Madrid-Castellón was introduced which cut the journey time between the two cities by further 30 minutes to total 2 hours and 25 minutes. Four AVE trains per day are scheduled, two in each direction between Madrid and Castellón while this segment is also used by the

Alvia Alvia is a high-speed train service in Spain used by Renfe Operadora for long-distance service with a top speed of . The trains have the ability to use both Iberian gauge and standard gauge, which allows them to travel on the recently constructed ...

service Gijón–Castellón.

Valencia–Xàtiva

Segment under construction. Planned for mixed use (goods and passengers).

Xàtiva–Nudo de La Encina

This 41.2 km segment is in service with a maximum speed of 220 km/h.

Motilla del Palancar–Albacete

A 62.8 km segment between Cuenca and Albacete provinces. This section was inaugurated on 15 December and open to the public on 19 December 2010.

Albacete–Nudo de La Encina–Monforte del Cid–Alicante

The 171.5 km section from Albacete to Alicante opened in June 2013.

Monforte del Cid–Elche–Murcia–Cartagena

The segment between the municipality of Monforte del Cid in Alicante and

has a length of 61,7 kilometers, of which 46,2 are located in the province of Alicante and the remaining 15,5 in Murcia. It is a new segment of double track in standard gauge, suitable for speeds up to 350 km/h. The 8,9 km long access section towards the new segment to Murcia had been in service since 2008, and was only used for Iberian gauge trains until the 1st February 2021, when the section linking Monforte del Cid, Elche and Orihuela - 48.4 km in total length - was inaugurated. This section is fitted with three track rails, two of standard gauge and one of Iberian gauge.

Murcia–Almería

The main purpose of this line is to connect the Transversal Rail Line to the Madrid-Levante and Mediterranean Corridor rail lines. This segment is 184.3 km (108.1 km in

Almería Province Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city g ...

and 76.2 in Murcia Region).

Stations

Madrid-Atocha

Madrid Atocha ( es, Estación de Madrid Atocha, also named ''Madrid Puerta de Atocha'') is the largest

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

. Atocha also hosts

commuter train Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are cons ...

s (''

Cercanías The commuter rail systems of Spain's major metropolitan areas are called ''Cercanías'' () in most of Spain, ''Rodalia'' () in the Valencian Community, ''Aldiriak'' () in the Basque Country and ''Rodalies'' () in Catalonia. There are twelve ''Ce ...

''), intercity and regional trains from the south, and

AVE ''Alta Velocidad Española'' (''AVE'') is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . As of December 2021, the Spanish high-speed rail network, on part of which the AVE s ...

high-speed trains to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 ci ...

(

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

) and

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

(

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

). These services are run by the national rail company, Renfe. The station is in the Atocha neighbourhood of the Arganzuela district.

Cuenca-Fernando Zóbel

The Cuenca–Fernando Zóbel railway station is a new station, and is 5 km from the city centre. It is named after painter Fernando Zóbel to commemorate his links to the city. The station occupies 3.950 m² with 8.900 m² of parking space.

Albacete-Los Llanos

Albacete-Los Llanos railway station Albacete-Los Llanos railway station is a railway station serving the Spanish city of Albacete, Castilla–La Mancha. History The station was opened in 2010 replacing an older station in the city, ready for service on the AVE high-speed rail line ...

is 23.000 m² with a commercial area and parking space for 600 cars.

Requena-Utiel

A new 600 m² station called

Requena-Utiel La Plana de Utiel-Requena is a ''comarca'' currently in the province of Valencia, Valencian Community, Spain. Historically, the ''comarca'' was part of Castile and formed part of the province of Cuenca in the 1833 provincial division of Javier ...

was built with parking space for at least 250 cars. It brings the two small towns of Requena and Utiel on to the high-speed map./

Valencia Central Station

A new Valencia Central Station will be built that eventually replaces the existing Valencia North station. It will be 12 tracks wide in 2 subterranean levels.

Villena AV

Located 6.5 km from

Villena Villena () is a city in Spain, in the Valencian Community. It is located at the northwest part of Alicante, and borders to the west with Castilla-La Mancha and Murcia, to the north with the province of Valencia and to the east and south with the ...

town centre.

Alicante

Current terminus of the Alicante branch at the existing

Alicante railway station Alicante Terminal ( ca-valencia, Alacant Terminal) is the central railway station of Alicante, Spain. Commonly referred locally as the RENFE station, the station is part of Adif system, and is a terminal station. The station accommodates RENFE l ...

Elche AV

A 5,500 m² station was planned for opening at the end of 2019, with parking space for 500 cars and 50 motorcycles. This was subsequently delayed until 2021.

Orihuela

The existing railway station at

Orihuela Orihuela (; ca-valencia, Oriola ) is a city and municipality located at the feet of the Sierra de Orihuela mountains in the province of Alicante, Spain. The city of Orihuela had a population of 33,943 inhabitants at the beginning of 2013. The mu ...

is served by the AVE line.

Future expansion

The network is under construction to expand to

(and eventually Cartagena) by 2022, and to be connected to

in the Mediterranean Corridor by 2024.

Stations

Murcia

The new intermodal Murcia del Carmen railway station will be close to the present station. It will be 8 rail tracks wide and will serve buses and local trains.

Cartagena

It is yet unclear whether the current Cartagena railway station, located next to the old town, will be the final station for high speed services or a new station will be built on the outskirts of the city. Construction of the high speed railway between Murcia and Cartagena is scheduled to begin in 2018, and be complete by 2022.

References

External links

AVE at the RENFE
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madrid-Levante High-Speed Rail Line High-speed railway lines in Spain Rail transport in Madrid Rail transport in Barcelona Railway lines opened in 2010

Segments

Madrid–Cuenca–Motilla del Palancar–Valencia

Valencia–Castellón

Valencia–Xàtiva

Xàtiva–Nudo de La Encina

Motilla del Palancar–Albacete

Albacete–Nudo de La Encina–Monforte del Cid–Alicante

Monforte del Cid–Elche–Murcia–Cartagena

Murcia–Almería

Stations

Madrid-Atocha

Cuenca-Fernando Zóbel

Albacete-Los Llanos

Requena-Utiel

Valencia Central Station

Villena AV

Alicante

Elche AV

Orihuela

Future expansion

Stations

Murcia

Cartagena

See also

References

External links