The Madrid–Málaga AVE is finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. After weeks of construction and shifting dates, two private operators, Iryo and Ouigo, have decided to make a move and are now selling direct tickets between the two cities starting Monday, April 27, while Renfe has stopped offering the bus leg via Antequera on its routes as of that day, which in practice brings forward the end of the alternative transportation plan.
The date did not come out of nowhere: it is the same “last week of April” that Adif had been using as a provisional target since mid-March, when its president, Pedro Marco de la Peña, acknowledged in Congress and to the media that it was “impossible” to reopen on March 23 and set April 27 as the target for restoring direct high-speed service, provided that work on the Álora embankment proceeded as planned.
The companies are getting a head start on Adif’s official announcement
Now it is the companies that are getting ahead of the official confirmation and filling their schedules with trains for that day, with timetables already in place: Iryo is scheduling at least three daily departures between Málaga and Madrid, with a travel time of around 2 hours and 43 minutes, while Ouigo is starting with two departures on Monday the 27th (1:46 PM and 9:10 PM from Málaga) and adding a third at 6:29 AM starting Tuesday the 28th.
The big difference for travelers is that, if this scenario plays out, starting April 27, the road transfer between Málaga and Antequera Santa-Ana—which Renfe has relied on as a stopgap measure over the past few months— will disappear, and direct high-speed trains will once again run along the entire corridor. It will not, however, be a return to full normality: Adif has warned that the reopening will be partial and “precarious, ” with only one of the two tracks operational on the affected section and a speed limit that will reduce the line’s capacity and force adjustments to schedules for much of the year.
As for the eternal question—will the work be finished or will there be another delay?—there are nuances. On the one hand, it is emphasized that April 27 is, in the words of Adif’s president himself, an “absolutely provisional” date, which is reviewed every two weeks and could change if any setbacks arise in the slope stabilization or safety tests. On the other hand, the decision by three different operators (Renfe, by eliminating the bus leg, and Iryo and Ouigo, by already putting tickets on sale) points to a high level of confidence that this single-track reopening will be possible on the scheduled date.
