Spain’s Development Minister Ana Pastor was joined on 8 January by the Prince Felipe of Asturias, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and President of the Catalonia Regional Government Artur Mas to officially open the high speed line between Barcelona Sants and Figueres Vilafant.

Nine high speed services will operate daily in each direction on the new line, eight of which continue to and from Madrid. The promotional train fare between Barcelona and Figueres is available at € 20.20 (€16.15 for each return journey).

The European Commission representation office in Barcelona has released a communiqué in which it states that the high speed line has been implemented thanks to “firm support” from EU cohesion funds.

The cost of the Madrid-Barcelona-French border line (804 km, that is 673 from Madrid to Barcelona and 131 from Barcelona to Figueres) has amounted to 12.5 billion euros, 3.5 billion of which has been provided by EU cohesion funds.

On 9 January, the day that the Spanish high speed trains entered revenue service between Barcelona and Figueres, a total of 2,400 passengers were reported to have taken the rail services that followed the inaugural AVE high speed train.

Please click on this Photo Gallery to access the official pictures of the launch: