AVE – Hot or Not?
Thursday, February 21st, 2008
By Maja Gojkovic
Opening the newspaper this morning i came across an interesting article regarding the new AVE train. This is the new high speed train that will run direct from Madrid to Barcelona. The newspaper sent two reporters to compare the time it would take for the journey to be done on the new train service and on a plane.
Both of the reporters left from Puerta de Alcala at 5.30 am and both catching a taxi without a problem. One reporter headed for Atocha where the high speed train will be departing from with the taxi journey costing him only 3 euros. The other reporter made his way to the airport and although without traffic the journey only took 20 minutes the journey cost him 25,25 euros.
On arrival to Atocha the reporter made his way through security taking him only 2minutes whereas over at the airport checking in and security checks took around 15 minutes. Once on the train if you are in tourist class you will not be served breakfast but you can make use of the on board Cafe where you can choose from a variey of services such as purchasing a variety of hot and cold drinks as well as snacks. By 7.30 am the train has made its way through Cataluna and is well on its way to Barcelona. The train arrived into Barcelona 10 minutes earlier than expected. The reporter caught a cab into the centre of Barcelona arriving at Sants by 8.55 am. Meanwhile the reporter travelling by plane arrived also before schedule and caught a taxi into the city and arrived at 8.30 am.
Looking at the time differences between the services there is not a massive difference (15 minutes) but taking the plane means the service does arrive earlier than the jorney made on the AVE train.
Both services have there advantages and disadvantages. For example you can catch a taxi into Atocha station and you are travelling by the AVE train, it is cheaper to catch a taxi from somewhere in the city than to the airport which is on the outskirts. The airline service have at least three scheduled daily flights that fly to Barcelona and arrive by 9 am whereas there is only one AVE train that leaves from Madrid at 6 am and arrives in Barcelona at 8.43 per day.
Another disadvantage of taking the plane is that the costs are much higher, early morning flights are normally more expensive than other time slots during that day therefore for regular commuters from Madrid to Barcelona and that may be wondering which service to choose from , the AVE train is more cost efficient.
We have given you the facts now you make up your minds on what you think is the better mode of transport and which in future you might be more likely to use.
