Spain has the largest high-speed railway in Europe, with a massive variety of fantastic
trains. Amongst these, there's one that stands out - the bizarre looking Talgo 350. Today I'll
be taking this train in First Class on a super fast trip through southern Spain, and checking
out just what makes this train so unique. Join me for a beautiful high-speed ride through Andalusia.
Hello, and welcome back to another video. Today I'm here at Sevilla-Santa Justa in Spain,
and I'm going to be catching the Renfe AVE high-speed train
up to Madrid. I'm travelling in First Class for this journey, so let's go!
Welcome to Sevilla-Santa Justa, the main station here in the city of Seville.
Despite being the third busiest station in Spain by passenger numbers,
coming in just behind Madrid and Barcelona,
the design is pretty uninspiring, somewhat resembling the exterior of a modern airport.
Moving through to the station's main hall,
and much like the outside it reminds me a lot of smaller airports.
Now I'd love to say there was a great choice of food outlets and shops here,
but unfortunately these were all shut when I visited at 7am, which isn't exactly early.
It's a good thing the train has a café on-board, which we'll check out later on.
Also in the main hall, you can find the ticket office, which unlike everything else here was
actually open, though personally I'd suggest booking in advance online to guarantee a seat.
Sevilla-Santa Justa has twelve platforms. Six of these are Iberian broad gauge,
for the slightly wider trains designed specfically for Spain, with the other
six being exclusively for high-speed trains that run on international standard gauge.
So my train today will be number AVE 02071, departing for the Spanish capital
at 07:33. This is a high-speed train, so it leaves from the standard gauge platform 2.
Despite travelling in First Class, my ticket does not grant me access to Renfe's Sala Club lounge,
though more on the complex travel classes later on in the video. Instead,
I'll just head down to the platform for a look at the very strange train I'll be riding today.
Or at least so I thought. That'll have to wait, as it seems there's a bit of a queue.
Continuing with the airport theme,
all long-distance train journeys in Spain require an airport-style security check.
Though don't worry, you can still take your liquids through.
Hey! How did that get in here?
Anyway, after collecting my items, it's time for a ticket inspection prior to boarding.
Personally I don't really like this, it only adds extra hassle to the station experience,
though let me know what you think in the comments!
At last, we're through to the train itself, and it certainly has a distinct look.
This is one of Spain's Talgo 350 trains, and as its name implies,
it's technically capable of an impressive 350km/h (217mph). As the train is built by Talgo,
it of course features their unique wheel system, each carriage having just a single axle -
I'm personally looking forward to seeing how smooth the ride will be at full speed, especially
considering the only other single axle train I know of is the infamous British Rail Pacer.
Today's train will be an AVE service. Standing for Alta Velocidad Española, this is the most
prestigious train operated by RENFE, Spain's nationalised train operator.
Until fairly recently, they enjoyed a monopoly over all routes in the country,
with private train companies competing on the busiest routes since 2021.
These power cars have earned the name 'Pato', which is 'Duck' in Spanish.
As you may have guessed, that's thanks to their beak-like cab...though perhaps
ugly duckling may have been more accurate.
So as I mentioned earlier, Renfe's travel class system is a little bit complex. I'm travelling in
what they refer to as a 'Comfort' seat, which is laid out in a First Class style 2+1 configuration.
But of course it's not just Second and First Class. The cheapest option is Básico,
that will put you in the Standard seating, and has the least flexibility.
Next up is Elige, where you can travel in either Standard or Comfort seating, with some
flexibility. Finally, the most expensive option is Premium, which puts you in the Comfort seating, as
well as granting lounge access and complimentary meals on-board. Whew, keep up at the back...
My ticket is an Elige Comfort ticket, meaning I travel in First Class without the meal service.
Now if you're anything like me, then you probably enjoy trying new things. I'm
really excited to be on this train, as it's my first ride on a Talgo high-speed unit!
Departure today is on-time at 07:33.
For this journey we'll be travelling on the Madrid to Sevilla high-speed line,
first opened in 1992 to better connect the region of Andalusia in southern Spain to the capital,
cutting the average journey times by over 50%! This trip is scheduled to
take two hours and 51 minutes to cover 470 kilometres or about 292 miles today.
Spain's high-speed network is very expansive, it's actually the biggest in Europe,
and one of the biggest in the world, even beating Japan's Shinkansen network.
Of course it's not long before we're putting that track to good use,
with the train accelerating up to 250km/h (155mph).
Time
to have a look at what the seat has to offer here in First Class.
Well, it takes the form of a comfortable leather armchair. There's plenty of padding here,
with great support too. A soft headrest cushion is provided for extra comfort.
Also, each seat gets a pair of folding armrests, which even have some good padding of their own.
Beside your seat, you can find the recline lever, and it actually offers a great amount of recline.
Thankfully the seat's generous legroom allows all
passengers to enjoy the journey, even when the seat is reclined.
On the seat in front, there's a folding footrest. Above this, you can find a small storage pocket,
though it was very rigid, making it not very convenient. Just next to this is a small bin.
I've saved perhaps the coolest feature to last,
just look at this seatback table! With its foldable wings,
it's the largest one I've ever seen. No doubt it would be great for getting some work done.
It's clear that these carriages have an interesting design,
both technically as well as visually, and we'll look more at that later,
but first let's turn our attention to outside the train.
The keen-eyed amongst you will notice that the sun is only starting to rise.
Well the reason for this is that Spain uses the standard European timezone,
despite being very far west of the other countries that use it. This
means that its sunrises and its sunsets are both late in the day.
Still, I guess the plus side of this is you can enjoy a beautiful sunrise,
even now at around 8 in the morning!
About 40 minutes through the journey, we arrive at our first station today. This is Córdoba Central,
in Spain's eleventh biggest city, and the hottest place in Europe. In the peak of summer,
temperatures here can reach 47°C (116°F) - I don't know about you, but that's too hot for me!
Just outside of Córdoba, we can briefly catch a glimpse
of a unique feature on the Spanish railways.
This is a Talgo-RD gauge changer, which allows specific trains to transfer between high-speed
lines and Iberian gauge mainlines. Whilst changing gauge isn't exclusive to Spain,
it's certainly more common here than anywhere else in the continent.
It's a beautiful day for rail travel, but in case you're not in the mood for
viewing the scenery, then there are of course adjustable window blinds.
And if you need reading lights, then a bright one can be found above each seat.
Next up is the on-board entertainment system.
This includes the free WiFi, but annoyingly it's unnecessarily complex to connect.
If you plan on travelling with an Interrail pass, then I recommend signing up to Renfe's
loyalty scheme before travelling, as you need to verify your identity to use the WiFi.
Though I'm not sure exactly who out here would be stealing the connection...
Anyway, if you can't be bothered with the WiFi service,
then all AVE trains are fitted with at-seat radio systems.
To my surprise, these actually worked, with quite a few channels to connect to.
Of course when in the more remote areas of the country,
you may struggle to get a signal, but there's not a lot you can do about that.
Finally, there's a European style plug socket for each seat,
found either beneath or between the seat cushions.
Luggage storage on the train is somewhat limited, with an overhead luggage rack found
throughout the carriage, and a single small luggage stack by the entrance vestibules.
As everything back at the station was closed,
I'm beginning to get pretty thirsty, so a visit to the café car is in order.
As you can see, the carriage length on these Talgo trains is uniquely short,
at just 13 metres, half of what most long-distance carriages are.
Here in coach 6 is the cafetería area.
I really liked this carriage, the design actually felt modern, despite the oldest
example from this fleet now being well over fifteen years old. It was also really airy
and spacious feeling, thanks to the large high-up windows and clever use of lighting.
No full meals are on offer, but a selection of snacks, drinks and sandwiches can be purchased.
I just got a cup of hot chocolate, which cost me €2.30, a fairly reasonable price.
And best of all it was actually nice too!
Oh, and by the way, isn't the visual design here in First Class pleasant?
It feels reserved, yet also smart and modern.
Now moving on to the rather fancy circular toilet.
This complements the rest of the interior design, with a metallic and frosted glass theme.
The soap dispenser was working fine, as was the very powerful tap.
Finally, there's an equally strong hand dryer.
We're soon on the approach to the next city en-route. Puertollano has an industrial history,
as evidenced by the mine and abandoned buildings on the outskirts of the city.
Not all trains stop at the station, as it only serves a smaller city. However,
due to the curvature in the track, all trains slow to just 140km/h (90mph).
Just a few minutes later, we pass by something quite unusual,
in the form of the mothballed Ciudad Real airport. This troubled airport is
currently used to store various passenger aircraft, in the face of reduced demand.
One rather turbulent aspect of my journey today has to be the ride quality. Talgo trains only
have a single axle per carriage, and it seems that it isn't quite up to the job compared to
other high-speed trains. Though I must admit, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I was expecting!
Our next station is Ciudad Real. The name translates as 'Royal City',
but the settlement was first founded as Villa Real (or 'Royal Town') in the 13th Century.
Despite being a fairly small city, with a population of roughly
70,000 people, it enjoys a frequent service of at least one train per hour to Madrid.
That is with the exception of a nearly four hour gap in the
middle of the day - but PLEASE don't get me started on Spanish train timetables.
Ciudad Real is actually our final stop before Madrid, with under an hour left until arrival
at the Spanish capital, but there are still some interesting sights to come.
But before we get to that, let's take a look at how much you can expect to pay on a journey
like this. I used an Interrail pass, so I just paid a €10 reservation fee. However,
booking a couple weeks in advance, you can expect to pay somewhere around €64.25 - which I think
is good value for money considering the speed and comfort on offer here.
As we close in on Madrid, be sure to take a quick look at La Sagra depot,
which contains some interesting trains.
Firstly, there's a large amount of Renfe's newest train,
the Talgo Avril. This new very fast train is expected to enter service in a few years,
running on high-speed routes around Spain, as well as into France.
Some old Trenhotel sleeper sets can also be found here, sadly abandoned due to Renfe's
short-sighted choice to abandon overnight trains, in my opinion an unthinkably poor idea.
We're now in the City of Madrid, so it's time to finish up,
but first take a look at these shiny new red trains. These are operated by Iryo,
an Italian train company that's expected to start operation in just a few weeks. I'll
have a video of this exciting new service soon, so make sure to subscribe so you don't miss it.
Anyway, my thoughts on Renfe's strange high-speed trains. Well,
despite having an unfortunate appearance and unconventional technical design,
I found these trains to provide an overall good service, with comfort and speed as standard.
Most importantly, we arrive into Madrid-Puerta de Atocha station
just a few minutes behind schedule, at 10:28.
This station is just perfect for anyone who
likes high-speed trains, the variety is truly unparalleled anywhere in Europe.
So there we have it, Seville to Madrid in under three hours. And what did you think
of the journey on this funny looking train? As always, let me know your thoughts in the comments.
After Spain, many travellers go on to visit Portugal, so click up here now to
see a video on what it's like to travel on the high-speed train from Lisbon to Porto.