A DIRECT high-speed train (AVE) is now available between Alicante and Ourense in Galicia, meaning that passengers no longer have to change at Chamartín in Madrid.
The service – which covers some 900km from one end of the country to the other – started on Tuesday, with one train in each direction per day, the first leaving Alicante at 07.10 and arriving at 12.20, in time for lunch, and the return leaving Ourense at 14.25 and arriving at 21.21.
Both journeys are significantly quicker without the change at Madrid, with the northbound service being cut by an hour and the southbound one by 37 minutes. By the time this service started, public rail company RENFE had already sold over 17,800 tickets for trips between Tuesday and October 31.
Tickets are on sale through all the usual Renfe channels: ticket offices and machines in stations, the Renfe app and its website renfe.com, and by telephone on 91 232 03 20.
Full report in Friday’s Costa Blanca News
