History
Main article: History of rail transport in Spain
The first railway line in Iberia was built in 1848 between Barcelona and Matar in 1852 the first narrow gauge line was built, in 1863 a line reached the Portuguese border. By 1864 the Madrid-Irun line had been opened, and the french border reached.
In 1911 the first line to be electrified was the Gergal-Santa Fe line
In 1941 RENFE was created.
The last steam locomotive was withdrawn in 1975, in 1986 the maximum speed on the railways was raised to 160km/h, and in 1992 the Madrid Seville high speed line opened, beginning the process of building a nationwide high speed network.
The current plans of the Spanish government plans to link all the provincal capitals with high speed rail, with a total estimated length of over 9000 km of high-speed railways for 2020.
Operators
EuskoTren units in Amara station, Donostia / San Sebastin.
Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm Iberian gauge and 1435-mm European gauge networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF (Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias).
FEVE (Ferrocarriles Espaoles de Va Estrecha, meaning Narrow-Gauge Spanish Railways) is a state-owned Spanish railway company, which operates most of Spain's 1,250 km (780 mi) of metre gauge railway.
EuskoTren (Eusko Trenbideak/Ferrocarriles Vascos Basque Railways) operates trains on part of the narrow gauge railway network in the Basque Country.
Ferrocarril de Sller or FS operates an electrified 914 mm narrow gauge railway on the Spanish island of Majorca, between the towns of Palma and Sller.
Serveis Ferroviaris de Mallorca or SFM operates the metre gauge railway network on the Spanish island of Majorca.
Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana or FGV operates several metre gauge lines, in the Autonomous Community of Valencia.
Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Government Railways), or FGC operates several unconnected lines in Catalonia, Spain. It operates 140 km (87 mi) of metre gauge, 42 km (26 mi) of standard gauge, and 89 km (55 mi) of broad gauge route, two metre gauge rack railways and four funicular railways.
Acciona Rail Services, subsidiary of Acciona. Operates a cargo line (coal) between Asturias and the province of Len.
COMSA Rail Transport, subsidiary of COMSA, a partner member of European Bulls RailFreight Alliance. Operates a cargo line (clinker containers) from the Port of Gijn to Valladolid and other work.
Continental Rail. Is dedicated to bringing materials into the gorges of the high-speed lines in Progress

Metro/light rail systems
Bilbao metro.
Alicante (Alicante Tram)
Barcelona (Barcelona Metro/Barcelona Tram)
Bilbao (Bilbao Metro/Bilbao Tram)
Madrid (Madrid Metro)
Valencia (Valencia Metro)
Malaga (Malaga Metro) under construction
Granada (Granada Tram) under construction
Palma de Mallorca
Vitoria-Gasteiz (Vitoria-Gasteiz tram)
Seville (Seville Metro) under construction
Parla (Parla Tram or VaParla)
Vlez-Mlaga under construction due to open September 2006
Rail links with adjacent countries
Andorra - no
France - yes - break-of-gauge 1,668 mm (5 ft 5+23 in)/1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) (new high-speed lines will link without any break-of-gauge)
Portugal - yes - same gauge
Gibraltar - no
Morocco - no - proposed undersea tunnel
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rail transport in Spain
Transport in Spain
References
^ CIA - The World Factbook - Spain
^ a b c d e Significant events in the history of Spanish infrastructures and railways www.fomento.es
^ http://www.fomento.es/MFOM/LANG_CASTELLANO/_ESPECIALES/ALTAVELOCIDAD/ Descubre la Alta Velocidad]
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Categories: Rail transport by country | Rail transport in Spain