Madrid–Extremadura high-speed rail line

The Madrid—Extremadura high-speed rail line is a rail line under construction in Spain, intended to link Madrid and Badajoz.

, the Badajoz–Mérida stretch had begun electrification.

In 2016 the European Union's European Regional Development Fund, gave Spain €205.1m towards the €312.1m needed for the track between Navalmoral de la Mata and Mérida.

The tentative finishing date for the Plasencia–Navalmoral de la Mata stretch pushed forward to 2025. The Oropesa–Madrid stretch is the least developed part of the project, only in the informative study phase . The local government of Talavera de la Reina have lobbied for the undergrounding of the railway as it would pass through Talavera de la Reina.

Once finished by 2030, the Badajoz–Madrid line is expected to provide high-speed rail services linking both cities in 2 hours 31 minutes.

Segments Badajoz–Plasencia The infrastructure is built with multi-purpose railroad ties, set for Iberian gauge but allowing for a future switch to standard gauge. It is single track from Badajoz to Mérida and double track from Mérida to Plasencia.

The Badajoz–Plasencia new railway line entered in service on 19 July 2022 after its institutional inauguration in June 2022, but was not yet electrified and the speed was limited to , planned to be increased to when the line will be electrified.El 'tren rápido' entre Plasencia y Badajoz entrará en servicio el 19 de julio ("The 'fast train' between Plasencia and Badajoz will enter service on July 19"), RTVE.es, 23 June 2022."Extremadura high speed line inaugurated", Railway Gazette International, 21 July 2022. The first phase of the electrification is scheduled to be completed in September 2023, when a first test train will circulate between Plasencia and Cáceres (the same will be done later on Cáceres–Badajoz, where the electrification work is also being finalized).Adif AV aborda las últimas pruebas de la electrificación del tramo Plasencia-Cáceres (Adif AV addresses the latest tests of the electrification of the Plasencia-Cáceres section), ADIF, 12 September 2023.

Plasencia–Talayuela (Oropesa) The Oropesa segment of the track will be long.

Oropesa–Madrid long, it will consist of a passenger only double track segment between Madrid and Talavera de la Reina and mixed passenger-freight traffic from Talavera de la Reina to Oropesa.

Extension to Portugal The extension to Portugal, the Lisbon–Madrid high-speed rail line, forms part of the Trans-European high-speed rail network, which in turn is one of a number of the European Union's Trans-European transport networks (TEN-T). It was defined by the Council Directive 96/48/EC of 23 July 1996.Council Directive 96/48/EC of 23 July 1996 on the interoperability of the trans-European high-speed rail system Retrieved 7 March 2012 Although in 2012 the project was formally cancelled on the Portuguese side of the project as not being financially viable, it was brought back in 2020 as the Portuguese government saw new opportunities.

The current plan is to open the line by sections on the "South International Corridor", between the Spanish border and Lisbon via Évora (and with another branch from Évora towards the port of Sines). As of March 2023, the line between Badajoz and Lisbon was planned to be opened in 2024, with a journey time between Lisbon and Badajoz of 1 hour 50 minutes. The line is currently planned to fully open by 2030.

Badajoz–Elvas The border section Badajoz–Elvas is composed of : a Spanish section. a Portuguese section Elvas–Caia (), whose modernization was achieved in 2020.Linha de Évora, Troço Elvas – (Caia) Fronteira. Corredor Internacional Sul (Évora Line, Section Elvas – (Caia) Border. South International Corridor). Medium-term plans include a large Badajoz bypass and a new cross-border/on-the-border station in Caia which will serve both Badajoz and Elvas.

Elvas–Évora From Elvas to Évora, a single-track section of new line is currently under construction, named "New line of Évora" (Portuguese ), which will allow operational speeds up to . As of March 2023, this section, designed for a maximum speed of , was planned to be completed by the end of 2023. This will be the first high-speed line section to be opened in Portugal (the high-speed sections opened until then were upgraded lines with lower speed). The completion date has since been revised to be near the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027.

Évora–Lisbon The line from Évora to Lisbon via , with a new bridge over the Tagus River (as in the original plan) is planned to be upgraded. of upgraded railway is in service where Intercity trains run at on the upgraded single track.

A new double-tracked high-speed line for the section between Évora-Norte and Poceirão is planned, but given lower priority over other sections of the high speed railway network, with completion predicted not earlier than the mid-2030's. As an intermediate upgrade, planning is underway for the duplication of the current line between and .

Madrid–Extremadura high-speed rail line

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