December means a new train schedule all over Europe and also a time where new rail lines usually are opened. Next week, the last part of the Madrid-Galicia high speed line will open, a new high speed rail line through the mountains of north east Spain. (No, the claim that The train in Spain stays mainly on the plain is false :-) ).
The new line will cut the travel time between Madrid and Santiago de Compostela from 4:40 today to 3:20 by direct train, and just a bit over 3 hours with a change in Orense. The trains currently used to Santigo has a top speed of only 250 km/h but Renfe is supposedly working on upgrading them to 330 km/h which should cut the travel time for direct trains to below 3 hours.