The governments of Portugal and Spain have reached an agreement to establish the first-ever direct train connection between Lisbon and Madrid, with a high-speed service expected to launch by 2034, officials announced on Thursday.
According to Portugal’s infrastructure ministry, the rail line itself should be completed by 2030, initially offering a five-hour service between the two capitals. Once the high-speed trains are operational four years later, the journey time will be reduced to around three hours.
At present, there are no direct rail links between Madrid and Lisbon. Travellers currently rely on about 40 daily flights that take roughly one hour to cover the 600 km separating the two cities.
The agreement, signed by the two governments in cooperation with the European Commission, marks a significant milestone in cross-border infrastructure.
‘This project is more than just a railway connection – it represents a step towards the future of sustainable mobility and European cohesion,’ said Portugal’s Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz.
The two countries have also committed to completing a study by 2027 on the possibility of converting their railway gauge to the European standard of 143.5 centimetres, replacing the wider 166.8 cm track currently used across most of the Iberian Peninsula. Should they decide to adopt the change, a ‘coordinated’ transition plan will be proposed by both governments, the ministry said.
At the moment, travelling by train from Madrid to Lisbon takes more than nine hours, and the route has been described as ‘the worst in decades’. While much of Western Europe enjoys multiple cross-border train links, including numerous high-speed connections, the rail infrastructure between Spain and Portugal remains among the weakest on the continent.
Madrid and Lisbon are, in fact, the only European capitals without a high-speed rail link. The last direct route between them was scrapped in 2020 when Spain’s Renfe cancelled the overnight sleeper service during the pandemic.
Since then, passengers have had to make at least two – and often three or four – changes, with the quickest rail option still taking about nine hours and limited to just three trains per day.
By comparison, a bus journey between the capitals takes around seven hours, while driving can be done in about six.
Other cross-border routes are equally poor. Travelling from Andalusia to Portugal’s Algarve, for example, still requires a bus, as there are no train connections between the regions.
Currently, only two direct rail services exist between the two countries: one linking Vigo (Galicia) to Porto and another connecting Badajoz (Extremadura) to Entroncamento.
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Portugal e Espanha ligam Lisboa a Madrid por ferrovia até 2030
— Infraestruturas e Habitação PT (@iestruturas_pt) October 30, 2025
Viagem direta em 5h e alta velocidade em 3h até 2034
Menos voos, mais mobilidade sustentável
Investimento europeu, interoperabilidade e compromisso climático#MIH #MinistériodasInfraestruturaseHabitação #LisboaMadrid pic.twitter.com/sFKOuEsTpC
Madrid ↔️ Lisbon in just 3 hours – we’re on board 🚄
Today, we adopted a plan to complete the Madrid–Lisbon high-speed rail connection by 2034.
This is a key step in fully integrating Portugal and Spain into the European high-speed rail network.
More → https://t.co/19iSnUr8NC pic.twitter.com/YqH63PUzUv
— European Commission (@EU_Commission) October 30, 2025
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