Post #4493396
2026-08-11 08:39 UTC
The Siemens Velaro-E is one of Renfe’s nicer long distance trains. Other than the much maligned (for good reason) S106, all of Renfe’s multiple unit long distance trains are pretty comfortable, but this one definitely
This train is basically an :ice_3: ICE 3 (407), but with a Renfe interior, modified for the Spanish climate, where 45-50° temperatures are not unheard of, and an acceleration and speed boost up to 350 km/h, even if we go no higher that 310 on this line.
That being said, the customer experience is definitely not up to DB standards, especially not in the on-board dining experience, which has no sit down are and the food is mostly limited to sandwiches and snacks. And for some reason, baton-wielding security guards walking up and down the carriage.
And that's without the absolutely crazy security and "check-in" system that is the spanish high speed station experiece. Today with added Identity checks.
Replies (1)
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@moof@cupoftea.social 2026-08-11 10:08
Whilst I haven’t been on this part of this line much over the past couple of years, it’s not unfamiliar to me. It was opened in stages, starting on Madrid-Lleida in 2003, reaching Barcelona in 2008, and the French border in 2013. It is known, in typical unimaginative Spanish style, as the Madrid-Zaragoza-Barcelona-French border line, or simply as line 050. And when it reached Barcelona in 2008, it caused a revolution in national travel.