It is now possible to travel from Barcelona to Paris by train in less than 6.5 hours.<br /><br />A new, direct high-speed rail service has been launched between the two cities, with trains operated by France’s SNCF and Spain’s RENFE.<br /><br />Jean-Louis Conte, a passenger on the first train, said: “It’s a very good thing. We gain time – and it’s is also a way to bring two countries closer in a very effective way.”<br /><br />Antoni Prat, another customer of the new service, complained: “We’ve been waiting for this for 20 years now. The Spanish government still works like it’s in the last century.”<br /><br />The cross-border trains had been scheduled to launch in the first half of the year, but technical problems held up the start-date.<br /><br />France’s SNCF said it needed extra time to adapt its trains to run on Spanish track. While Spain’s RENFE reportedly had similar issues preparing its trains to operate in France.<br /><br />There will be two daily services between Barcelona and Paris, covering the journey in 6 hours and 25 minutes.<br /><br />Other routes offered by the service include Madrid-Marseille (7 hours), Barcelona-Toulouse (3 hours) and Barcelona-Lyon (5 hours).
