Spain and France agree to form railway company which will build a high-speed train Paris and Madrid

It is expected that the journey time between Paris and Madrid is between five and six hours

Spain and France agree to form railway company which will build a high-speed train Paris and Madrid

The Spanish prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and his French counterpart, Francois Fillon, has already given their approval to the plan. It is expected that the journey time between Paris and Madrid is between five and six hours, and travellers may connect with Eurostar then if they wish to continue their journey to London, which would mean a total of just over eight hours to unite the Spanish and British capitals.

The two countries have yet to establish the company, that will be managed jointly by RENFE and SNCF, each of which would have a 50 per cent share, but its headquarters would be in Spain.

Renfe plans to invest $300 million in the purchase of new trains for the new line, which next year the supply of the rolling stock will open to public tender. One factor that could delay the launch of this service, however, is the fact that they still have not finished parts of the railway. Although works between Madrid and Barcelona and the AVE (Spanish high speed train), Figueras, on the French border is still under construction and will not be finished until 2012.

The high-speed link between Madrid and Paris are part of the strategy of expansion for Renfe international



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