Low cost, high speed trains Madrid - Santiago

[ivar]

Starting Monday July 22nd 2024.

More here:

Los nuevos trenes Avlo de Renfe llegan este lunes a Galicia: más de 8.000 plazas semanales

Hasta septiembre, los billetes se venden a 7 euros

www.elcorreogallego.es

Tickets, prices from €7,- one way to/from Madrid

AVLO - Cargando

PAGINAS OFICIALES DE RENFE, HORARIOS, COMPRA, VENTA, BILLETES,

avlorenfe.com

 

[Varekai]

I posted about this here a couple weeks ago.

 

[Kiwi-family]

But not from Santiago

 

[Tortilla]

Thank you kindly for the information, Sir.
I just bought myself one of these AVLO tickets, not for €7 but €29, still cheap.
It seems like it is Ryanair on wheels.
Extra charge for anything larger than cabin-size luggage.
Does not include Combinado Cercanías (free local train ticket to Madrid airport)
But... you can board the train 2 minutes before departure.
Interesting fact: some AVLO trains seem to leave from Vigo, unlike regular trains that usually leave from A Coruña.

 

[LeslieC]

But not from Santiago

The new trains originate in Vigo but certainly seem to stop in Santiago. Although the Avlo/RENFE booking form linked in Ivar's message above doesn't seem to offer Santiago as a selection, the one at www.renfe.com/es/en/viajar/prepara-tu-viaje/quiero-avlo/conocenos does.

I remember taking the train to Madrid from Santiago back in 2001. Not a bad trip, but it took most of the day. The high-speed link will be fantastico!

 

[Sirage]

The new trains originate in Vigo

That seems odd unless the track gauge has been changed in the last 12 months?

""This is subject to correction from people with local knowledge as I don't know the current complete details and Wikipedia does not appear to be up-to-date.""

Vigo is the southern end of the Atlantic Axis rail corridor with the other end in A Coruna. That line has been Iberian Gauge ("about" broad gauge in the English speaking world). It is planned to be converted to Standard Gauge like most of the Spanish high speed network. When I travelled from Vigo to Madrid last year it bypassed Santiago and there was a change of gauge from Iberian to Standard near Ourense I think, and the train was only 250 kph max I think all the way to Madrid, whereas the new trains will be 330 kph for much of the route from Santiago to Madrid whilst any train on the Atlantic Axis track is speed limited to 200 or 250.

It is unlikely the 330 kph trains would have a gauge change like the 250 kph trains, so (guessing) the service from Vigo will still be Iberian gauge and then a change of train at Santiago rather than the previous train that bypassed Santiago. Also Portugal now wants to extend the Atlantic Axis track to Porto and that would only happen (coincide ?) with standard gauge all the way A Coruna to Porto.

So shorter travel time Santiago to Madrid and at cheaper prices: win-win.

 

[Tortilla]

Vigo has a great, super modern train station, Vigo-Urzáiz, where the high-speed trains have been arriving for quite some time. Vigo-Guixar is where the narrow gauge trains arrive. They are in two different parts of the city. Urzáiz is built into a multi-story shopping center. I literally got lost trying to find a way out!

Vigo-Urzáiz railway station - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org