RENFE

The first activity is now the responsibility of a new public company, Administrador de Infrestructuras Ferroviarias (ADIF), while Renfe (full name: Renfe Operadora) owns the rolling-stock and remains responsible for the planning, marketing, and operation of passenger and freight services (though no longer with a legal monopoly). Following the incident, Trenitalia pulled 508 cars from active service and promised to maintain standards of cleanliness in the others. The Railway Sector Act of 2003 separated the management, maintenance, and construction of rail infrastructure from train operation. In October 2005, the company suffered a public-relations problem when customer complaints of bedbug and tick infestation culminated in passengers storming off a train in Genoa, resulting in police being called to restore calm. The line to Lleida is slower at present, though there are plans for eventual operation at 350 km/h on this route. The company operates the ETR 500 high-speed train, and is also a partner in the Cisalpino Italy - Germany - Switzerland link. Speed on the Seville line is 300 km/h. Trenitalia offers transport around Italy (including a service to Sicily), and also connects to Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland.

The high-speed lines are built to the standard European gauge. It is partially state-owned, and is part of the state-owned company Ferrovie dello Stato. The name is both an acronym of Alta Velocidad Española (Spanish high-speed) and a play on the Spanish word ave ( "bird"). Trenitalia is the primary operator of trains within Italy. The Spanish high-speed system is called AVE. Another high speed route from Madrid to Valladolid is under construction, and other lines to Valencia and Lisbon are being designed.

The last high-speed line opened is Madrid - Toledo, in November 2005. The greater part of the line, from Madrid to Lleida, was put in service on October 11, 2003, with connection to Huesca from Zaragoza; the extension to Barcelona is expected to open in 2007. The second high-speed rail, from Madrid to Barcelona, is under construction. In 1988 construction of the high-speed rail between Madrid and Seville began, and in 1991 operation of this line was started.

In the latter it is supplemented by the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Catalonia's rail system. The former was targeted in the March 11, 2004 Madrid train bombings. In addition to intercity transport, RENFE operates commuter train systems in a number of major cities, including Madrid and Barcelona. The company was formed on 24 January 1941 when Spain's railways were nationalized.

Certain through trains do run to and from France: they adjust the separation of their wheels at the frontier, so that they can run on both railway systems. A few years later this technical problem was solved, but the huge cost of a possible change of the tracks and the rolling stock to the European gauge left the Spanish network rather isolated from the rest of Western Europe, except for Portugal, which adopted the Spanish gauge. Because of this, a commission estimated that a gauge wider than the European one would allow bigger steam engines, which would make easier the ascent of the slopes. Spain is a country with many mountain ranges.

For historical reasons the tracks built up to 1988 are broad gauge tracks (1668 mm or 5 ft 5½ in), which is wider than the tracks of most other European countries. RENFE operates Spain's 15,000 km (or 9,500 mile) system of railways. The name RENFE is an acronym of Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Españoles (National Network of the Spanish Railways). RENFE is Spain's national railway operator.