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Date Published: 26/01/2023

New Antequera AVE station opens to rail passengers after 8 years in the pipeline

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The Andalucian town now has 22 new frequencies to connect with Granada, Malaga, Seville, Cordoba, Madrid or Barcelona

New Antequera AVE station opens to rail passengers after 8 years in the pipeline

The new 16.7-million-euro Antequera AVE station welcomed its first passengers on Wednesday January 25 in a major leap forward for the town's transport links.

After eight years of waiting, the high-speed AVE trains and the Avant trains will once again stop in the El Torcal area, meaning the town now has 22 new frequencies to connect with Granada, Malaga, Seville, Cordoba, Madrid and Barcelona.

People in Antequera can now reach Spain's capital in two-and-a-half hours and Barcelona in six-and-a-half hours.

Passenger Tatiana Almanza from Antequera was the first traveller to use the Avant train. "It's great," she said. "I used to take the bus down to Malaga twice a week to get to work, and now I can take the faster train."

However, it was the high-speed train the Barcelona that has generated the most excitement, with scores of passengers gathering on the platform for the first AVE connection.

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"This is a great improvement for the area," said Francisco García who was travelling to Barcelona to spend a few days with relatives.

"I'm from Antequera, but I live in Barcelona and now it's so much easier because you don't have to travel to Santa Ana, which is a 15-minute journey," he said.

Wednesday's inauguration was attended by Antequera Mayor, Manuel Barón, who stressed the importance of "bringing the train closer to the city centre and the opening of a connection with Malaga, since until now the city had no connection with the capital or with Granada".

Together with Madrid, Antequera is one of the only places with two high-speed train stations, one close to the centre and the other next to the future Puerto Seco (Dry Port) close to the Bobadilla district. The port is currently under construction and is expected to host a large number of top level logistics companies.

The travel time between Antequera and Malaga has been reduced to just 26 minutes, with tickets costing 11.20 euros and links to Granada will take less than an hour, priced at 8.80 euros. Ticket prices to Seville start at 33.75 euros and travelling from Antequera to Barcelona costs 99 euros.

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Image: Ayuntamiento de Antequera

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