A high-profile opening ceremony and 50 percent introductory discounts mark the roll out of the new service which will slash travel times between Madrid and the coastal city of Alicante to just 2 hours and 20 minutes.
The new service linking Madrid, Cuenca, Albacete, Villena and Alicante will initially run nine times a day with extra trains at weekends, according to a report in Spanish online daily teinteresa.es.
The new journey time between Madrid and Alicante of 2 hours and 20 minutes is 50 minutes shorter than that of current connections.
Tickets for the route will cost €64.90 but there will be an introductory discount of 50 percent between June 18th and 25th.
In addition to the new high-speed link, Spain’s state-owned railway operator Renfe will introduce direct daily connections between Alicante and both Santander and Gijon as well as with Galicia at weekends.
Spain’s Crown Prince Felipe and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will be among the guests on Monday at the opening ceremony for the Madrid–Alicante high-speed link before it launches officially on June 18th.
María Dolores de Cospedal , the Popular Party Secretary General and President of Castilla-La Mancha, and Alberto Fabra,
