The prime minister of Spain, Mr Pedro Sánchez, joined development minister Mr José Luis Ábalos, Renfe president Mr Isaías Táboas, and Mrs Isabel Pardo, president of infrastructure manager Adif for the inaugural trip from Madrid.
Direct services between Madrid and Granada via Antequera were suspended in April 2015 pending the opening of the new 300km/h line, which was due to be inaugurated in August 2015.
Renfe will initially operate three AVE services a day between Madrid Atocha and Granada with a journey time of 3h 5min. There will also be a daily Barcelona - Granada Ave service, which will complete the trip in 6h 20min.
Avant regional high-speed services from Granada to Seville and Malaga are due to begin operating in September.
The line has seven tunnels and 31 viaducts and 2525m long, and there are two new intermediate stations at Antequera AV and Loja. The line is equipped with ERTMS with the legacy Spanish ASFA train protection system as a back-up.
