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Andalucia trains... are they not running due to repairs?

Hi, I'm in the midst of planning my trip for next month to go from Toledo/Madrid to Granada then Seville. I was really counting on using trains to Move about that part of Spain like I did several years ago. It seems I'm hitting a brick wall when trying to buy train tickets..
After much checking, I finally, I found this below but its not dated... Does anyone know about this? Does anyone have any experience if indeed the info is accurate? Thank you,


"Due to works on the High Speed tracks, there’s currently no Altaria train to Granada. There are two temporary solutions: taking the AVE train to Antequera and a shuttle bus for the section Antequera – Granada, which takes around 4 hours, or a direct Talgo train running through Linares; this journey takes 5 hours 15 minutes.
If you're traveling with a Eurail Pass you don't need to buy a ticket and only pay a small reservation fee. We recommend you book your seats as far in advance as possible.
 Granada to Antequera long-term engineering works
Long-term engineering works are scheduled on the Granada and Antequera line. During this time, buses will replace trains from Granada to Antequera. 
Routes from Granada to Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Ronda and Algeciras are affected. The trains from Granada to Guadix and Almeria are running exactly as normal.
The train services from Seville, Madrid, Barcelona, Cordoba to Antequera will run as normal where passengers will need to transfer to a bus for the final part of the journey to Granada. The bus transfer takes between 70 and 85 minutes."

Posted by
8166 posts

That information may be outdated.
What specific routes and dates are you traveling? Sometimes and lately RENFE has not been making tickets available more than month in advance

Moreover the buses are a good way to go depending on which routes.
We took the ALSA from Seville to Granada and Granada to Malaga and it was pretty easy going hassle free.

Posted by
28085 posts

It's possible the bit about engineering work is outdated info. AVE service all the way to Granada began fairly recently. We have been assuming the lack of bookable AVEs for much of the fall was simply Rdnfe being its infficient self with respect to getting all the schedules online. It's possible we are wrong; maybe they've discovered a problem on the recently-opened AVE line between Antequera and Granada. But I am doubtful.

Posted by
13 posts

Hi,
I would really be elated if the both of you are correct. I'm leaving Toledo on 11/14. I was hopefully traveling back to Granada via Madrid
via the train. Traveling to Seville from Granada on 11/17 where I fly home. Am I checking too early for trains???
Thank you.. Irene

Posted by
4656 posts

I bought my tickets on the renfe site. It can be a bit finicky for building tickets. For example, there may ve one scheduled train from Toledo to Granada a day, but if you buy Toledo to Madrid one ticket (and doesn't have big discounts on that line, BTW) then Madrid (any station) to Granada, numerous options a day. 2 years ago, the note you coppied was correct, so I just took the cheaper bus from Granada to Seville. Even then the bus train combo via Antequerra was only 3hrs 30 minutes.
I checked the Renfe site. I initially looked for Nov 17 had no trains available, but Nov 14 had 1 highspeed AVE train early morning, or numerous slower trains throughout the day. So, I would say you are just too early. I would look at the day of the week you want in Nov, but several weeks earlier to see what is offered then.

Posted by
4656 posts

Glad we could contribute to the happiness factor...but I know it takes patience and a little trust for Spanish tickets.

Posted by
28085 posts

It looks like they have the trains loaded only through November 4 as of now. Even when tickets are available, I suspect you'll need to check for the Toledo/Granada trip in two separate segments, Toledo/Madrid and Madrid/Granada. It seems that Renfe often cannot cope with connections.

Posted by
2545 posts

Im planning a trip for late Nov. from Madrid to Granada, then to Sevilla. I use the Trainline app and check for trains every day or two. I’ve been getting nervous also because they aren’t posted yet.

I’ve read on this forum that new times may be added to the Madrid- Granada route, since it was just recently opened. Maybe that’s why they haven’t been posted yet. I just keep watching and hoping!

Posted by
13 posts

Hi, I just finished using chat on Rail europe. The rep confirmed that there is work on the tracks but indicated that there are tickets available for my travel date between Madrid and Granada on 14/11/19. He suggested i wait 2 weeks for the schedule.