Madrid–Lisbon high-speed line delayed to 2034

The roughly 600 km high-speed connection between Madrid and Lisbon (via Extremadura, Elvas and Évora, part of the Atlantic Corridor) will, according to a plan adopted by the European Commission on 30 October 2025, not be finalised before the end of 2030 but is now targeted for full completion by the end of 2034; travel time is expected to fall to about 5 hours by 2030 and to roughly 3 hours by 2034. Several sections are already operational or nearing completion, including Badajoz–Plasencia in Spain (electrified in 2023) and Évora–Elvas in Portugal. The EU is supporting the project with approximately EUR 985m in grants. Update (12 Jun 2026): At the end of May 2026 the Transport Ministry put the supplementary information study for an interim link near Bargas (Toledo) between the high-speed line to Seville and the existing Madrid–Valencia de Alcántara line out for public consultation in the BOE official gazette (30-day period). The link is planned as an electrified double-track line for 350 km/h, for passenger trains only, is meant to connect Madrid and Badajoz in under three hours and to bring forward the journey-time cut, while the connection via Toledo continues to be studied. According to a LOK Report column it runs over a loop of about 10 km at Pantoja to the line to Andalusia, and only so can the line be in service by 2030; Portugal's new Évora–Elvas line (80 km) is due to open at the end of 2026 or early 2027 (LOK Report, 29 May and 12 Jun 2026). Update (6 Aug 2026): The 80 km single-track Évora–Elvas–Badajoz new line (designed for 250 km/h, construction cost EUR 460 million, co-financed by the EU and Medway) has been structurally finished since January 2026 but is still waiting for acceptance and certification by the authority IMT; no opening date has been set, and no start is expected in 2026. An electric test train reached Elvas for the first time on 4 August 2026, and trials at up to 200 km/h are under way on the line. The route from Sines to Badajoz becomes 140 km shorter, with freight journey times due to fall from eight to four and a half hours and transport costs by 30%. The EU decision of 30 October 2025 had still envisaged commissioning of the Évora–Caia section in 2026 and required studies for the Lisbon–Évora section, including a new Tagus crossing, by the end of 2027; works were still under way in October 2025 (visit on 22 October 2025). (LOK Report, 6 Aug 2026; earlier 4 Nov 2025, 10 Nov 2025 and 3 Jul 2026)