Rail travel in Spain, on the whole, is comfortable, reliable and often cheaper than many other EU countries, with Spain’s excellent rail network linking the major towns and cities. The trains are modern, with many being high speed.

RENFE is Spain's national railway company, controlling the majority of local, regional and national routes; there is an online booking system which includes instructions written in English. More details can be found here.

If you travel first class, which is frequently cheaper than many second class trains in the UK, lunch, dinner or a snack will be served, depending on the time of day; and all long distance trains, where you need to reserve your seat, will have a bar selling drinks and snacks.

Spain’s high speed service is known as the AVE. The trains are luxurious, well maintained and with AVE’s 'commitment to punctuality' charter, they provide an efficient way to get around the country, so much so that if your train arrives more than five minutes behind schedule, you get a complete refund of your ticket price.

The downside is that despite this service slowly being extended across the country, with more and more cities being connected to Madrid, it is still relatively early days; thus it unfortunately doesn't yet connect to Granada. However, a list of the current services can be seen below:

Madrid - Sevilla
Madrid - Córdoba
Madrid - Zaragoza
Madrid - Toledo
Madrid – Málaga
Córdoba – Sevilla

In addition to the high speed trains there is the long distance (grande linea) service, which operates from both Madrid and Barcelona directly to Granada and the following major cities in Andalucia:

Huelva
Sevilla
Cádiz
Jerez
Sevilla
Algeciras
Málaga
Córdoba
Almería
Linares / Baeza

Regional (regionales) trains have a network of routes that stop at smaller stations, with the main routes within Andalucía being:

Granada to Almería
Granada to Linares / Baeza
Huelva to Sevilla
Huelva to Merida
Sevilla to Merida
Cádiz to Sevilla
Sevilla to Córdoba to Jaén
Sevilla to Bobadilla to Málaga
Algeciras to Ronda to Bobadilla to Málaga
Sevilla to Bobadilla to Granada
Málaga to Bobadilla to Córdoba

The residential areas in large cities are served by suburban trains known as 'Cercanías'; tickets can be bought from the ticket machines situated in the stations, thus avoiding the need to queue at the ticket office. Whilst sharing their main stations with those of RENFE, cercanías often stop at different smaller stops, so it is wise to check when you purchase a ticket.