El RENFE

[ValenciaSon]

If I recall, el RENFE is the train system in Spain. Is it still or does it have a new name? How is the train system in Spain? I heard there was high-speed rail being used in parts of Spain. Does anyone have info on it such as where and how much?

[greytop]

If I recall, el RENFE is the train system in Spain. Is it still or does it have a new name? How is the train system in Spain? I heard there was high-speed rail being used in parts of Spain. Does anyone have info on it such as where and how much?
Try http://www.renfe.es/productos/index.html

You can see a map of where each service runs. Also they sell tickets on-line in another part of the site. The cercanías are the local trains - for instance Gandia to Valencia.

[Brian]

Try http://www.renfe.es/productos/index.html

You can see a map of where each service runs. Also they sell tickets on-line in another part of the site. The cercanías are the local trains - for instance Gandia to Valencia.

Can you imagine? They have a train that goes over 200 km per hour!?!? I've read that some people actually commute to Madrid from Zaragoza and further.

[ValenciaSon]

That is awesome! Has anyone ridden the high-speed rail between Madrid and Valencia?

[osvaldo]

The high speed train is called AVE. It has routes from Madrid to Sevilla, and the newest is to Zaragoza, and soon that route will extend to Barcelona

I've used the Renfe system on numerous occasions, and it's a very efficient one. I found the route from Madrid to San Sebastian to be very beautiful, but extremely slow.

[ValenciaSon]

When I was a kid I rode it from Madrid to Valencia and it took forever! Then again I was a kid.;)

[osvaldo]

In the late 60's my family & I travelled extensively in Spain by train, and I remember it taking forever, but it was so much fun ;D !

[Bolboreta]

I did! It takes 3 hours and a half now, if I remember correctly. I went to Valencia in first class (because I changed my tickets, and there weren't other places left) and ate a really good dinner ;D (oh, and I drank a shot of liquor, being 17). The way back was a bit worse because I was in "tourist" class, and my seat was facing the back of the train (which I don't like, but half of each car was like that). But the one that does the Madrid-Vigo trip takes 8 hours and it's much worse (I took it when I did Valencia-Vigo), so I'm not going to complain. But if you want a truly awful train, take the Vigo-Barcelona one, that's hell, I thought I was going to die when it stoped in the middle of nowhere, at noon, under the blazing sun and without AC, in July.

I've never taken the AVE, though (I took the AVE rail track to do Madrid-Málaga, but it only goes through the AVE rail until Córdoba, so the train was a "Talgo 2000"). And the construction to the one to Galicia is still in the air, so I'm not holding my breath. Also, I think the French TGV is even faster than the AVE, isn't it?

I like trains, though, specially for longer trips, because at least I can walk around as much as I want (and I tend to take the night ones if I can anyway, because that way I sleep through most of it). But this might be my "I can't aford a plane" small budget speaking.

[osvaldo]

My brother & his wife took the high speed train from Paris to Marseilles, and they loved it. I do believe that the German & French trains are faster than the AVE.

[Brian]

I've taken both RENFE and bus from Madrid to Valencia fairly recently. It's still 3 1/2 hours by train, and 3 by bus, so go figure. Bus is cheaper, too.

[ValenciaSon]

You would think that a Madrid to Valencia AVE and Madrid to Barcelona would already be in place, followed by a Valencia to Barcelona AVE. But then who am I criticize, look at our crummy AMTRAK!

[Brian]

You wouod think that a Madrid to Valencia AVE and Madrid to Barcelona would already be in place, followed by a Valencia to Barcelona AVE. But then who am I criticize, look at our crummy AMTRAK!

You would think, yeah. I think the high-speed isn't coming to Valencia until 2010, but it will allow you to get to Madrid in 70 minutes!!!!!

[intrepida1981]

If I recall, el RENFE is the train system in Spain.

We don't call it "El RENFE" but "La RENFE" :).

And as for the local trains or cercanías they are used by some of my friends to commute between Valencia and Gandia and I'm afraid that they don`t always work so well: power cuts, breakdowns in the middle of nowhere and almost without any explanations...

But again, I was told that tickets are cheaper than tickets for "Trenes Regionales" and you can also ride to commute a special kind of train that makes less stops called the Civis.

As for myself, aside from the cercanías, I rode long-distance trains several years as a child between Santiago to Barcelona. But now that I'm living in Valencia you must change trains in Madrid. :mad:

[Brian]

We don't call it "El RENFE" but "La RENFE" :).

And as for the local trains or cercanías they are used by some of my friends to commute between Valencia and Gandia and I'm afraid that they don`t always work so well: power cuts, breakdowns in the middle of nowhere and almost without any explanations...


Not to mention the removal of certain lines. My family in Riba-roja just had their train station deactivated, so it's much more difficult to get to Valencia now. :mad:

[ValenciaSon]

[quote=intrepida1981]We don't call it "El RENFE" but "La RENFE" :).



Not that I doubt you but how is it decided that RENFE is a feminine subject? :confused:

[Bolboreta]

Because it stands for "Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Españoles", and since "red" is feminine, the acronym is too :D It wasn't as much of a "decision" (although I won't deny we do asign random genders... to me "internet" [which is a "red"] is masculine when I talk in Spanish)

[guapo]

That is awesome! Has anyone ridden the high-speed rail between Madrid and Valencia?

I have taken the AVE several times from Madrid to Zaragoza and I have to say I was very impressed. I have travelled both first class and normal coach class and both were pleasant experiences. Having got used to low cost airlines travelling first class on the train was great!

You can book the tickets on-line which also makes things easy. The trains are fast, clean and so far have been very reliable. It makes me ashamed of the state of the train service in the UK....

[Marina]

That is true, I find the price of the trains in England is ridicusly expensive compared to the quality. Here the ave to Seville is quite expensive, but at least is usually on time and the trains are really good.

I've been in the Ave to Seville a few times and I absolutely love it. The views to the olive trees are amazing and then you get to Cordoba or Seville en un periquete (=very fast).