Madrid to Paris in seven and a half hours by train!

Yesterday, the King of Spain and the President inaugurated the new AVE train route between Madrid and Valencia. The train, which travels at speeds up to 320kmph, will carry passengers from the capital to Valencia in 95 minutes. The project means that Spain now has 2,665.kms of high speed track, more than any other European country. RENFE expect over 3 million passengers to use this route during its the first year.

At 11.06 from today the first French high speed train (TGV) will cross the border into the station-Vilafant Figueres, Girona. This will create the first high-speed connection between France. Barcelona and Paris and reduce the journey time to seven hours and 25 minutes saving an hour and a quarter of the previous time.

Renfe and the French National Railways (SNCF) will run two trains per day: at 11.06 and 15.02 from Figueres, arriving in Paris at 16.41 and 20.41. And from Paris Gare de Lyon, at 07.20 and 15.20, returning to Figueres at 12.47 and 20.48. From there to Barcelona you would add add up to two hours by conventional train (the high-speed section Barcelona-French border is expected to be ready by 2012).