Valencia-Madrid high-speed rail link to open in

December.
By: ThinkSpain , Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The Minister for Public Works, José Blanco, announced today that the high-
speed rail link (AVE) between Valencia and Madrid would open between
December 15th and 20th this year.

Blanco emphasized that the introduction of the new service would be a

huge bonus for people in both Valencia and Madrid, with the journey time
between the two cities being reduced to just an hour and a half.

The Valencia-Madrid AVE line is 438km long and passes through Cuenca
and also connects with Albacete, meaning that all the provincial capitals in
Castilla-La Mancha will now have a high-speed train link.

The Valencia-Madrid high-speed rail link is just part of a larger

infrastructure project to link Castilla-La Mancha, the Comunidad
Valenciana and Murcia, equating to a total of 955 km of track and an
inversion of over 12 million euros, which the government hopes will be "an
engine for economic growth".

The Ministry of Public Works anticipates the high-speed rail link reaching
Alicante in 2012 and Murcia two years later, from where it will link into the
rail network covering the south eastern part of Andalucia.

No date has been set for the arrival of the AVE in Castellón, although the
Ministry is adamant that "it will arrive" and thus open up the
"Mediterranean corridor" towards the border with France.