How to take the rail journey from Madrid to Alicante

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Madrid to Alacant / Alicante by train

Due to construction work at Atocha station, most of the trains between Madrid and Alacant/Alicante are currently departing from and arriving at Chamartín-Clara Campoamor station.
The AVE trains at 06:30 on Monday to Saturday and 14:25 daily are still departing from Atocha.

Travellers can choose between four different train high-speed services when taking the train to Alacant /Alicante from Madrid.

The services have been ranked below according to their frequency.

These four high-speed services have similar journey times, the variations are because of the differences in the number of station calls - the fastest trains are non-stop from Madrid to Alicante.

Aside from the ticketing the core differences between the four services are:

  • the on-board experience
  • luggage policies
  • and that the luggage policies impact on boarding procedure

These contrasts impact on ticket prices.
The avlo and Ouigo services have the more basic on-board experiences and more restrictive luggage policies, because they are intended to be low-cost alternatives to taking the AVE trains.
Though the competition on the route is resulting in lower prices for many of the AVE and iryo departures.

So it's a good idea to compare the prices per departure carefully on your travel dates - all four services, AVE, avlo, iryo and Ouigo are available on Trainline.

Routes you can take to go from Madrid to Alacant / Alicante

When travelling between most cities by train there is only one logical option, though on other journeys there is a choice between different trains or alternative routes. If different options are available you can use the info to decide which is best for you.

Choose one of the following options:
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Route Information

Option 1: taking the AVE trains operated by Renfe
Travel Time (approx)

2hr 20min - 2hr 55min

Frequency

Daily

Travel Info

AVE / Alvia departures:
Mon - Friday = 9 x trains per day
Saturday = 7 x trains
Sunday = 8 x trains

Route Information

Option 2: taking the avlo trains operated by Renfe

Route Information

Option 3: taking the Ouigo trains

Route Information

Option 4: taking the iryo trains
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