High speed train to León

[peregrina2000]

The AVE to León has started operation. The maiden voyage left León at 7 am this morning and arrived in Madrid at 9:07.

According to local reports, they've sold 22,000 tickets in the weeks leading up to the first day of actual service.

Prices will be around 40€ round trip, with some fares going as high as 50€ (special peak demand times). But the RENFE guys say you will usually be able to get a one way fare for 16-20€ . I imagine web specials will be even cheaper. AMAZING!!!!

 

[Mycamino Maya]

The AVE to León has started operation. The maiden voyage left León at 7 am this morning and arrived in Madrid at 9:07.

According to local reports, they've sold 22,000 tickets in the weeks leading up to the first day of actual service.

Prices will be around 40€ round trip, with some fares going as high as 50€ (special peak demand times). But the RENFE guys say you will usually be able to get a one way fare for 16-20€ . I imagine web specials will be even cheaper. AMAZING!!!!

Do you know if it goes on to Oviedo?

 

[peregrina2000]

In the true spirit of capitalism, Alsa, which stands to lose a lot of traffic to the new train, has started a price war with RENFE, with bus fares as low as 5 € between Madrid and León and Asturias.

http://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/2015-09-29/renfe-ave-palencia-leon-valladolid_1042023/

 

[peregrina2000]

Do you know if it goes on to Oviedo?

I am pretty sure that this AVE stops in León, but the overall trip from Madrid to Oviedo will be reduced substantially because of the AVE's inauguration. According to this article, the Oviedo-Madrid trip will be cut to under four hours. I'll leave it to Castilian and other travel experts to fill us in on the details.

http://www.lne.es/asturias/2015/03/21/viaje-oviedo-madrid-tren-hara/1730133.html

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[Castilian]

Prices will be around 40€ round trip, with some fares going as high as 50€ (special peak demand times). But the RENFE guys say you will usually be able to get a one way fare for 16-20€ . I imagine web specials will be even cheaper.

The 40 Euros round trip is a special inauguration fare. Once the special fare is out, I don't know what will be the standard fare but it will be way more expensive (I guess roughly 40 Euros one way) although it'll be some discounted fares (I don't know how low are going to be those discounted fares but they might be the 16-20 Euros fares you quote).

In the true spirit of capitalism, Alsa, which stands to lose a lot of traffic to the new train, has started a price war with RENFE, with bus fares as low as 5 € between Madrid and León and Asturias.

I'm not surprised with it but I must say I've seen on the web of Alsa 5 Euros fares on routes that aren't covered by high speed train like Bilbao-León.

Do you know if it goes on to Oviedo?

Not yet and there isn't yet a fixed date for the arrival of the AVE to Oviedo. However, as peregrina2000 said, the opening of the line till León will reduce the travel time from Madrid to Oviedo (and to Gijón) because the Alvia trains that make the route from Madrid to Oviedo and Gijón use the high speed line where is available and change to the standard line (using a widths exchanger) where the high speed line ends so any increase made on the number of kms made on a high speed line means a reduction of times. In addition, RENFE offers some trains that make the route from Madrid to Oviedo without stopping in León that make the route quicker than those stopping in León (the current provisional train station in León means the trains have to exit backwards what takes time...).

Travel time will be reduced even more once the high speed line to León is working at full service (i.e.: once the braking system allowing the trains to go safely traveling as quick as the line allows is in installed and in service) but that won't be till next year at best.

The opening of one of the tunnels of Pajares of the under construction high speed line between León and Oviedo and Gijón will reduce the travel times even more (it's estimated something like 45 minutes more). It was expected to open one of them before the end of this year but, for years, there have been tons of problems with those tunnels so delays are possible/likely (i.e.: we won't know for sure when it'll be opened till an exact date for it is announced).

 

[peregrina2000]

The opening of one of the tunnels of Pajares of the under construction high speed line between León and Oviedo and Gijón will reduce the travel times even more (it's estimated something like 45 minutes more). It was expected to open one of them before the end of this year but, for years, there have been tons of problems with those tunnels so delays are possible/likely (i.e.: we won't know for sure when it'll be opened till an exact date for it is announced).

Ah, yes, the tunnel near Pajares. This brings back memories of a long discussion about the trains that go near the Salvador. Look at this thread, from #11 or so on down. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...ares-on-the-salvador-part2.20828/#post-162420

 

[OTH86]

The AVE to León has started operation. The maiden voyage left León at 7 am this morning and arrived in Madrid at 9:07.
According to local reports, they've sold 22,000 tickets in the weeks leading up to the first day of actual service.
Prices will be around 40€ round trip, with some fares going as high as 50€ (special peak demand times). But the RENFE guys say you will usually be able to get a one way fare for 16-20€ . I imagine web specials will be even cheaper. AMAZING!!!!

Thank you, Laurie, for posting this! Last night I bought my ticket (on the Renfe site with NO problems using PayPal) from Leon to Madrid for 25€ - preferente since it was only 1€ more than turista! ~ ~ 2 hours 20 min! I'm HAPPY!
Terry

 

[Castilian]

Ah, yes, the tunnel near Pajares. This brings back memories of a long discussion about the trains that go near the Salvador. Look at this thread, from #11 or so on down. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...ares-on-the-salvador-part2.20828/#post-162420

The tunnels of Pajares on the under-construction high speed line from León to Oviedo and Gijón are more to the West than La Perruca tunnel and other tunnels on the Iberian gauge line from León to Oviedo and Gijón. Telledo, on the North mouth of the tunnels of Pajares on the high speed line, is roughly 5 or 6 kms away (as the crow flies) from Pajares town. The South mouth of the tunnels is South of Pola de Gordón. Take a look at www.ferropedia.es/wiki/Variante_de_Pajares for a map of the area (high speed line to your left -dotted; includes the dark green line dotted with red points. Look for Telledo and Pola de Gordón to put on the map the starting and ending points of the tunnels-; Iberian gauge line to your right -black line-) and some info about the tunnels of Pajares on the high speed line and the stretch where they are located (the stretch is known as the Variante de Pajares). You can also take a look at http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Túnel_de_Pajares for some info about the tunnels.

 

[LauraK]

The AVE to León has started operation. The maiden voyage left León at 7 am this morning and arrived in Madrid at 9:07.

According to local reports, they've sold 22,000 tickets in the weeks leading up to the first day of actual service.

Prices will be around 40€ round trip, with some fares going as high as 50€ (special peak demand times). But the RENFE guys say you will usually be able to get a one way fare for 16-20€ . I imagine web specials will be even cheaper. AMAZING!!!!

Booked a one way on the Avia train from Madrid to Leon (starting the Camino Del Salvador) for 20€ In 2 hours 15 minutes! The ALSA bus was double the cost and double the travel time. Wonderful!

 

[peregrina2000]

Booked a one way on the Avia train from Madrid to Leon (starting the Camino Del Salvador) for 20€ In 2 hours 15 minutes! The ALSA bus was double the cost and double the travel time. Wonderful!

Just a quick question, LauraK -- did you pay with your credit card or did you use paypal? And more generally, was it easy to complete the transaction? Thanks, Laurie

 

[tyrrek]

Is this new service the reason why I'm struggling to find trains to Sahagun? There used to be a direct one at about 10.30am, but they seem fewer and further between this year and involve changing in Palencia/Valladolid. Thanks!

 

[Castilian]

Is this new service the reason why I'm struggling to find trains to Sahagun? There used to be a direct one at about 10.30am, but they seem fewer and further between this year and involve changing in Palencia/Valladolid.

Yes, the opening of the high speed line till León meant a reduction of trains making the route from Madrid to León using the Iberian gauge line (i.e.: the ones that stop in Sahagún). Right now, there are just two direct trains from Madrid to Sahagún departing from Chamartín station in Madrid at 16:27 and 18:35 respectively (both of them run daily). Some options involving a high speed train from Madrid to Palencia and a non-high speed train from Palencia to Sahagún are, overall, quicker than the direct trains though and, right now, with the special fares for the high speed line, they are cheaper too.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The new service will definitely improve getting to the Camino! I will take it at first opportunity.

 

[peregrina2000]

Is this new service the reason why I'm struggling to find trains to Sahagun? There used to be a direct one at about 10.30am, but they seem fewer and further between this year and involve changing in Palencia/Valladolid. Thanks!

I've also seen a lot of complaints from people who live in Ponferrada, also, who are now frequently going to have to ride a bus instead of a train. High speed trains to big urban centers are great, but it's pretty frustrating that it's done at the expense of the people in the smaller places who now have fewer options.

 

[Castilian]

I've also seen a lot of complaints from people who live in Ponferrada, also, who are now frequently going to have to ride a bus instead of a train.

AFAIK, they have the same few direct connections to Madrid than they had before the opening of the line. OTOH, they were affected by the reduction of medium haul trains made, if memory serves me right, in 2013 although smaller towns were even more affected by that one because to offset the effects of the reduction of medium haul trains, RENFE offered (and still offers) a reduced amount of seats on some long distance trains at medium haul trains fare for some medium haul routes but those long distance trains don't stop at the smaller towns/villages... so nowadays some villages just have one train in each direction (when before the 2013 reduction, they had several trains in each direction) and a few other villages and towns like, for example, Lubián (on the Camino Sanabrés) don't have any passenger train service at all nowadays (when before the 2013 reduction -well, for them closure- they had a daily train in each direction).

 

[LauraK]

Just a quick question, LauraK -- did you pay with your credit card or did you use paypal? And more generally, was it easy to complete the transaction? Thanks, Laurie

Laurie: It was a very easy transaction. I initially tried to use a credit card but I received a message that my bank did not approve the transaction and recommended I contact the bank. It processed immediately using PayPal. I was able to print my ticket and also download electronically to my iPhone. So much easier than waiting to buy my ticket when I arrive!

 

[tyrrek]

Thank you Castilian and Laurie. My flight arrives late evening so I booked a hotel in Chamartin anticipating that I'd be able to hop on the train the next morning. At first the Renfe website didn't come back with anything before the 16.27, but now it says there's a slow one with a change that arrives late lunchtime.