Madrid–Hendaye railway

The Madrid–Hendaye railway, also known as the Madrid-Irún railway, General del Norte Line or Imperial Line, is a 641.6 km railway line linking the Spanish capital of Madrid with the French border at Irún and Hendaye, serving important northern Spanish cities including San Sebastián, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Valladolid.

Madrid–Hendaye railway
A Renfe Class 252 train on the line near Vitoria-Gasteiz, in the Basque Country.
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Adif
Termini	Madrid Chamartín Hendaye
Service
Operator(s)	Renfe Operadora
History
Opened	1864
Technical
Line length	641.6 km (398.7 mi)
Track gauge	1,668 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in) Iberian gauge
Operating speed	200 km/h (120 mph)
Route map km 641.6 Hendaye France Spain border 639.4 Irún 622.5 San Sebastián 535.5 Alsasua 492.4 Vitoria 459.0 Miranda de Ebro 373.4 Burgos-Rosa de Lima 285.3 Venta de Baños 248.5 Valladolid-Campo Grande 206.3 Medina del Campo 120.6 Ávila 0.0 Madrid-Chamartín Madrid-Hendaye lines to Madrid Atocha 0.0 Madrid Chamartín line to Guadalajara 2.5 Ramón y Cajal AVE line to Segovia line to Colmenar Viejo Madrid-Ávila Paco de Lucía 6.2 Pitis Manzanares river arroyo de Trofa end of right-hand traffic line to Príncipe Pío start of left-hand traffic 20.4 Pinar 24.0 Las Matas Los Peñascales 30.1 Torrelodones 34.0 Galapagar-La Navata Guadarrama river 37.8 Villalba line to Segovia 40.5 San Yago 41.6 Las Zorreras 50.2 El Escorial 56.6 Zarzalejo 65.9 Robledo de Chavela 71.8 Santa María de la Alameda 73.0 El Pimpollar Community of Madrid Castile and León 83.7 Las Navas del Marqués 88.5 Navalperal 97.8 Herradón-La Cañada 102.9 Navalgrande 114.3 Guimorcondo 120.5 Ávila line to Salamanca Ávila-Matapozuelos Ávila-Medina del Campo 133.5 Mingorria 144.6 Velayos 151.0 Sanchidrián 156.4 Adanero 160.4 Adanero-Muñoz 164.4 Orbita-Espinosa 171.1 Arévalo A-6 Adaja river 179.9 Palacios de Goda 187.5 Ataquines AVE line A-6 line to Olmedo line to Salamanca line to Zamora 206.3 Medina del Campo 215.0 Pozaldez AVE line to Segovia Matapozuelos-Valladolid 222.4 Matapozuelos 230.3 Valdestillas 234.8 Viana de Cega Cega river Douro river line to Tudela de Duero 248.5 Valladolid-Campo Grande Valladolid-Burgos 251.6 Valladolid-Universidad Pisuerga river Valladolid-Venta de Baños 261.1 Cabezón de Pisuerga 265.1 Corcos-Aguilarejo 271.2 Cubillas de Santa Marta 278.8 Dueñas 278.8 Venta de Baños line to Palencia AVE line to Palencia 293.9 Magaz Pisuerga river 306.0 Torquemada 316.9 Quintana del Puente Quintana del Puente-Burgos Arlanza river 327.7 Villodrigo 333.3 Los Balbases 339.4 Villaquirán 350.2 Estepar Urbel river 359.8 Quintanilleja line to Aranda de Duero Arlanzón river 373.4 Burgos-Rosa de Lima Burgos-Miranda de Ebro Vena river 386.1 Quintanapalla 394.1 Barrios de Colina 401.8 Santa Olalla de Bureba 407.7 Castil de Peones 416.7 Briviesca 428.0 Calzada de Bureba 439.4 Pancorbo 448.9 Bujedo line to Logroño 459.0 Miranda de Ebro line to Bilbao-Abando Miranda de Ebro-Irun Miranda de Ebro-Vitoria-Gasteiz

Services

The line is used by the Cercanías San Sebastián commuter rail line between San Sebastián and Irún, and Cercanías Madrid lines C-3, C-8 and C-10. Direct Madrid to Irun services often use the Madrid–León high-speed rail line between Madrid and Valladolid-Campo Grande and switching to the Madrid-Hendaye line for the rest of the journey as Alvia services. Various Renfe Media Distancia services operate on different stretches of track, mostly in Castile and León, and an Intercity service operates between A Coruña and Hendaye.

The mostly single-track Casetas–Bilbao railway to Bilbao-Abando forms a junction with the Madrid–Hendaye route at Miranda de Ebro. At Venta de Baños, the line to Gijón begins.