Spanish railway train service
Alta Velocidad Espanola (AVE) is a service of high-speed trains operating
at speeds of up to 300 kms/h on dedicated
track in Spain. On the line from Madrid to Seville, the service guarantees
an arrival within five minutes of the
advertised time, and offers a full refund if the train is delayed further, although only 0.16% of trains have been so.
In this regard, the punctuality of the AVE is exceptional in comparison
to other non-long-distance Renfe services.
Unlike the rest of the Spanish broad-gauge network, the AVE uses a standard
gauge, permitting direct connections
outside Spain in the future. On the run to France, using the cross-border
Ferro TP tunnel, and after the complete rail
link between Barcelona and Figuere, the high-speed Madrid-Barcelona-Lyon-Paris service might be in operation by
the late 2012.
 
The EuRail pass and a reserved-seat ticket from Madrid Atocha to Valencia,
Spain
Madrid Atocha station
Madrid Atocha is the largest railway station in Madrid. It is the primary
station serving commuter, intercity and
regional trains from the south, and the AVE high-speed train to Barcelona,
Catalonia and Sevill, Andalusia.
Interior of the Madrid Atocha station
  
(L) Madrid Atocha station, departure floor (M)(R) A tropical garden inside
the train station
 
Atocha railway station with a tropical garden and cafe
  
(L) Turtles in a tiny lake at the Atocha station
(M) A luggage safety-control gate at the Madorid Atocha station ( For a
security reason, no large photograph can be open to the public )
(R) An express train of Talgo, operating from Valencia to Balocerona, is
waiting here for the oncoming train to pass through,
with the guard of electric token systems to avoid the incident.
 
Renfe express train runs along the beautiful beach line east of Sitgea,
Spain
 
(L) A reserved-seat ticket
(R) A seashore resort of Sitges, 35kms southwest of Barcelona, along the
railroad from Valencia
Photographed in May, 2010.
The Madrid-Barcelona high-speed rail line is 621 kms in length, The superexpress train service inaugurated in
February 2008. It is designed for speeds of 300 kms/h and compatibility
with the rail systems of neighboring
countries. It connects the cities of Madrid and Barcelona, majorcities
of Spain. There is a total of 20 trains per
day from Madrid to Barcelona, and the same number for the return journey in 2010. The Siemens S-103 train
travels at speeds of up to 300Km/h and the shortest journey time is 2 hours
38 minutes.
Barcelona Franca Station
The Barcelona Franca Station was first built in 1929. The station is considered
Barcelona’s the most beautiful
station, containing marble, bronze and crystal decorations. We can also
notice the uniqueness in that the
plateform with a gentle curve and an attractive glass roof top.
Renfe Clase 130 at the Barcelona Franca station
 
Renfe commuter trains are waiting for departure at curved plateform of
the Barcelona Franca Station.
 
(L) The plateform of the Barcelona Franca Station (R) A shock absorber
to use most of the collision energy at the terminal station.
 
(L) England-made shock absorber at the Barcelona Franca station (R) A ticket
office and the main gate to the plateform
 
Station hall and the sign board of Estacio de Franca Photographed in May,
2010.
Barcelona Sants Station
Barcelona Sants (Estacio de Sants) is the name of the main railway station
in Barcelona, operated by Renfe.
It has become the Catalan capital's most important transportation hub - being the centre of commuter and
medium-distance train services, as well as the inter-city train station
for national and international destinations.
New parts of the station have recently been remodeled to accommodate the
Spanish high-speed train AVE
in the city, which started serving the city in February 2008.
 
(L) A total view of the Barcelona Sants station (R) A passenger service
section at the Sants station
 
(L) An underground plateform of the Barcelona Sants (R) A reserved-seat
ticket from Barocelona Sants to Madrid Atocha
  
(L) An electric sign board, showing that this train is for Madrid Atocha
(M) A meal tray served in the preference-class train to Madrid.
(R) A mountainous countryside at the southeast of Madrid
 
A rich firm land and Spanish old town viewed from the high-speed train
window.
  
(L) The maximum train speed exceeded 300kms/h. (M) Many business travelers
use the preference class of this high-speed train.
(R) A train is approaching to the Madrid Atorcha
  
Multiple track lines near to the Atocha station
  
The Renfe's high-speed train, now, arrived at the Madrid Atocha station.
Photographed in May, 2010.
New High Speed Train AVE, Madrid to Albacete
Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Spain attend the presentation of
the New High Speed Train which serves
between the cities of Madrid and Albacete. A new railway track runs in
the length of 391 kms, with the average
speed of 246 kms/h. The construction fee was about sixty hundred million
Euros.
  
Picture source: Spain TVE channel
It informed us the newly constructed high speed train, AVW, started to
run between Madrid and Albacete, Spain
on December 15, 2010. High-speed train, Renfe Clase, departed from Atocha
station runs behind a wind turbine in the hill.
 High-speed train, Renfe 120, Madrid-Segovia
マドリットからバレンシア経由でバロセロナに向かう。マドリットを少し離れると途中駅構内近辺にはプラチックの袋に
入れられた多量のゴミが捨てられていた。列車は更に南東へ速度を上げたが、車窓からは広々とした畑が広がる。
バレンシア地方では鉄道線路に沿って豊かなバレンシア・オレンジの木々がどこまでも続く。デンマークなどと同じように、
風力発電の塔は20から30くらいの単位で丘の上に立ち並ぶ。バロセルナに近づくにつれ青い地中海が右手に見え隠れする。
きれいな海面を眺めながら過ごすのであろう、海沿いに建てられた個人邸宅とコンドミニアムがかっては豊であった生活
水準の高さを物語る。海の断崖をかすめて走りいくつかのトンネルを過ぎると、そこはバロセロナだ。
AVE（アベ）は、スペイン国鉄（RENFE）が運行する高速鉄道システムの名称で、スペイン語で鳥の意味、翼を広げた鳥が
列車のシンボルマークになっている。車両は最初に開通したマドリードとセコビア間の高速新線ではフランスのTGVの技術
供与を受けて造られたものが運用されているが、軌道・信号システムはドイツの技術が導入されている。専用軌道上の設計
最高速度は350km/hだが、信号システムの不具合のため300km/hにとどまっている。 将来の延伸時、フランスのTGVを
はじめとする欧州各国の高速鉄道網へ接続することを考慮し、スペインの他の広軌ネットワーク（レール幅1668mm）と
異なり、（日本の新幹線と同じ）世界標準軌（レール幅1435mm）を採用している。 座席数320で、club（特等車）と、
preferente（1等車）と、turista（2等車）の3クラスに分かれており、クラブとプレフェレンテでは食事サービスがあり、
天井に設置されたモニターでビデオサービスが行われるなど、 航空機の構造と共通点もある。他のヨーロッパの高速列車で
同様の一等車乗客へのサービスは、ユーロスター、タリス、スウェーデンのX2000(追加料金あり）などで行われている。
バロセロナからスペインまでの高速鉄道は今、旅行者は勿論、ビジネスで両都市間を移動する最も人気の高いものとなって
いる。2007年の開通以来、航空機利用の客の減少をもたらしている。筆者の利用した車両も全席満席であり、しばしば時速
300キロを越えて走行していた。車両の大きな揺れはない。所要時間は2時間38分で定刻通りの運行であった。南欧の国で
30分以上の延着で料金の100%払い戻し、15分から30分以内の延着で料金の50%払い戻しの制度があるのは驚きだが、
AVE以外の列車でも遅れは少なく、ほぼ時刻表通りの運行が行われているようである。
Reference: Wikipedia
Railway Travel around the World
All railway trains should be completely smoke -free.
 Smoking ban in the railway trains of the world
鉄道全面禁煙化は世界の常識
 Introduction of Spain: The first Spain's law to restrict smoking enforced
in 2006.
Spain enforced a total smoking ban in indoor public space in 2011.
Spain 2006-2011
 Madrid tour Barcelona tour Gaudi's masterpiece Barcelona metro and railway Segovia
High-speed train in Spain Smoking ban in Spain in 2010
 スペイン高速鉄道
 2010年5月執筆 2010年12月加筆 医学博士 宮本順伯
★This Web site is link-free.
This information was provided by the Smokefree Hotel and Travel.
The photographs were taken and the article was written in May 2010,
and revised in December 2010, by Junhaku Miyamoto, M.D., PhD.
Copyright (C) 2010 Junhaku Miyamoto, All rights reserved.
Madrid, Spain
 Lisbon, Portugal
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