This article is about the train. See also Advanced Vehicle Engineers, a short-lived aviation company

AVE, short for Alta Velocidad Española (literally, "Spanish High Speed" but also "bird" in Spanish) is a high speed train that can achieve speeds of up to 300 km/h on dedicated track. Three different corporations have made or will make train sets to run on the high-speed network: Spanish firm Talgo, French firm Alstom (makers of the TGV), and German firm Siemens which makes the ICE high speed trainsets for Germany.

Unlike the rest of the Spanish broad-gauge network, the AVE uses European standard gauge, permitting direct connections outside Spain in the future. All AVE trains are operated by RENFE (Spanish State Railways). Under consideration, however, is the possibility of granting private companies the right to run several lines which are under construction or in the planning process.

History and Extensions

The AVE started running between Madrid and Seville on 21 April 1992, a distance of 471 km. Construction of a high-speed line connecting Madrid and Barcelona is under way, with the first section from Madrid to Lleida, via Zaragoza, having opened on 11 October 2003 and inauguration of the remainder currently planned for 2007 (present forecasts are that it will reach Tarragona by 2006). When completed, the Madrid-Barcelona line will be the world's fastest in commercial operation with trains reaching a top speed of 350 km/h and covering the 600 km between the two cities in just 2.5 hours.

Construction of segments to Valladolid and Malaga are underway, and there are firm plans for extending the system to Valencia and Alicante, and eventually to interconnect with the French TGV network as well. Further expansions to Galicia, the Basque Country and Portugal will also eventually be built.

The Spanish government has an ambitious plan to have 7000 km of high-speed rail operational by the end of the decade. The overall goal is to have all provincial capitals at most only four hours away from Madrid, and 6 hours 30 minutes from Barcelona.

As of January 2005, it is not practical to use the AVE to go from Madrid to Barcelona via LLeida. The reason is that, after arriving at LLeida at noon, the next train to Barcelona is the Altaria train from Madrid, which departed from Madrid at about the same time as the AVE.

Lines

Currently, four lines make up the AVE system:

• AVE Larga Distancia (long distance) Madrid-Sevilla (Madrid, Ciudad Real, Puertollano , Córdoba, Sevilla)
• AVE Larga Distancia Madrid-Zaragoza-Lleida (Madrid, Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza, Lleida)
• AVE Lanzadera (shuttle) Madrid-Puertollano (Madrid, Ciudad Real, Puertollano)
• Talgo 200 Madrid-Málaga (Madrid, Ciudad Real, Puertollano, Córdoba, Málaga)

In Madrid, AVE operates out of Puerta de Atocha station.

External links

• AVE (Renfe) http://www.renfe.es/ave/index.html (in Spanish)
• High Speed trains in Spain http://www.altavelocidad.org/index_en.htm
• AVE fan pages (last updated: 1999) http://www.railfaneurope.net/ave/en-ave.htm