MADRID, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The historic city of Granada in southern Spain is now connected to the Spanish capital and Barcelona by AVE high-speed train after the inaugural service on Wednesday.
The line opened after an investment of 1.675 billion euros (1.902 billion U.S. dollars) and 10 years of work which saw the construction of 31 viaducts and seven tunnels, as well as the laying of a track able to carry trains travelling at speeds of up to 300 kilometers an hour.
Although it is approximately 360 kilometers between the two cities in a straight line, the rail link uses a less direct route, through Ciudad Real, Cordoba and Antequera, using existing high-speed rail lines, before branching off at Antequera in southern Spain to travel the last 122 kilometers to Granada.
The opening of the high-speed line has cut around one hour and 20 minutes from the previous journey time with the trajectory between Madrid and Granada reduced to slightly over three hours.
There will be three trains a day between Granada and Madrid and one to Barcelona, meaning a total of 2,730 seats every day between Granada and the Spanish capital and 730 to Barcelona.
This will make the city much more accessible to visitors who want to see monuments such as Granada's world famous Alhambra, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Meanwhile the addition of the 122 kilometers of high-speed line between Antequera and Granada means that Spain now has 3,410 kilometers of high-speed track, more than anywhere in the world other than China.
Work is still continuing to expand the high-speed rail network to the region of Galicia in northwest of Spain, as well as the Basque region in the north and Extremadura in the southwest of the country.
