BREAKING: Malaga recovers direct high-speed trains to Madrid on 30 April

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Work on the damaged stretch in Álora requires postponing the reopening by a few days, but right on time for the May bank holidays

Ignacio Lillo

Malaga

Thursday, 23 April 2026, 09:53

The high-speed rail line between Malaga and Madrid now has an official reopening date, likely the last one after a couple of previous deadlines that couldn't satisfy expectations: 30 April.

On the first day of the reopening, trains will depart from 12pm onwards, right on time for the start of the May bank holidays. Thousands of people can take advantage of the opportunity to travel by train and go somewhere during the long weekend (Friday is a public holiday).

Due to a slight delay in the construction work on the damaged stretch in Álora, the line will not be able to open on Monday, 27 April, which was the last date state infrastructure company Adif announced weeks ago.

Although private operators Iryo and Ouigo had already started selling tickets for Monday, they will have to cancel those and provide refunds. State operator Renfe also offered tickets for the days between 27 and 30 April for a few weeks. On Wednesday, however, the website showed only one direct train to Madrid and four to Malaga.

From Thursday, 30 April, trains will be able to pass through the tracks in Álora, which suffered serious damages during this winter's storms.

Regarding the late start on Thursday, Adif has said that it is because the morning will be the time to perform several "test runs" to ensure the track performs well after the extensive repairs.

What both passengers and the three operators in Malaga must be aware of is that there will initially be a limited number of slots, which means that the companies will have to divide them among themselves.

It will no longer be necessary to change buses between Antequera-Santa Ana and María Zambrano, which substantially reduced travel time.

Almost three months of waiting for the AVE in Malaga

Almost three months after that fateful 4 February, when a series of storms triggered a serious landslide near Álora, the Malaga-Cordoba high-speed line is nearly ready to reopen. However, the exact date of this milestone remains unknown. The only timeframe currently available is the one government subdelegate Javier Salas recently mentioned. He stated that direct trains would resume "next week", without providing further details.

Once it happens, the return of the high-speed trains to Malaga will be gradual, as the damage has been far greater than initially anticipated. This has led to several miscalculations regarding the timeline, with two announced dates that were not met.

Initially, the closure in Álora overlapped with the line closure further up, which had been in place since 18 January following the tragedy in Adamuz (Cordoba). The Ministry of Transport subsequently announced that trains might resume services on 8 March. The next date was 23 March, just a few days before the start of the Holy Week. That long-awaited milestone could not be confirmed either, sparking a bitter row between the government, the opposition and businesses in the tourism sector.

Head of Adif Pedro Marco de la Peña visited the Álora construction site on 16 March and announced that they would reopen the rail "no earlier than the last week of April".

Journey times

Once it reopens, the line will remain only partially operational for several more months. Initially, service will run on a single track (the track further from the slope). This has two direct consequences: first, there will be significantly fewer trains than before the incident. The number of services will drop from the usual 26.

The second obstacle will be the speed limits. Passing through this stretch of barely 500 metres will require travelling at a limited speed and the same applies further up, at the site of the Adamuz accident.

Ideally, the journey should take between two and a half and three hours and 15 minutes, depending on whether the train makes stops. It's also worth noting that in the early years of the AVE high-speed train, the journey used to take two hours and 15 minutes.

At least it will be much better than the more than four hours Renfe currently provides with a bus transfer at Antequera Santa Ana.

Fewer and slower journeys until normality returns

Iryo is currently offering three frequencies in each direction (half the number before the suspension) starting next Monday. The second private operator, Ouigo, has scheduled two departures between the two cities for the same day.

Renfe is currently updating its online service. It will likely have to extend the alternative road transport plan between Malaga and Antequera for a few more days.

According to the schedule Marco announced in March, the double track could reopen in June, but a 54-kilometre stretch requires travelling on a single track.

This is because the landslide damaged a major piece of track equipment in the affected area. Replacing the part requires between five and seven months for manufacturing, followed by installation. Therefore, the complete restoration of the infrastructure to its original condition (and capacity) will take at least until the end of the year.

Rail connections between Malaga and Madrid are facing a tough summer. Until the equipment is replaced, trains will have to run on a single track, as there is no possibility of trains crossing from one track to the other on that extensive stretch.

This will result in a clearly vulnerable infrastructure with little room for manoeuvre, especially in the event of a train or track failure in that area. Should such an incident occur, the entire line will be blocked, with no option to use the other track as an escape route.