But the ambitious expansion of the European country’s high-speed rail service appears to be going full speed ahead this year.

Spanish state operator Renfe’s low-cost service Avlo will whisk passengers the 500 kilometers (300 miles) between Madrid and Barcelona in just two and half hours, with prices starting at €5 (about US$6). 

The Avlo service, which travels at speeds of up to 330 kilometers an hour and has 438 seats, will begin operating four daily return journeys between the two Spanish cities from June 23.

While most journeys will take at least three hours, with additional stops in Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza, Lleida, Tarragona and Girona, the fastest trains will reach their final destination in around 150 minutes.

Renfe has converted its 112 high-speed trains for the new service, which had been scheduled to launch in April 2020.

However, this was delayed due to the coronavirus crisis.

Avlo’s new launch date coincides with Renfe’s 80th anniversary and the operator opted to mark the occasion by offering €5 tickets for journeys up until December. Standard prices range from €10 to €60 for a single journey.