Alta Velocidad Española (AVE) is a high-speed rail service operated by Renfe, the Spanish State railway company.. The first AVE service was inaugurated in 1992, with the introduction of the first Spanish high-speed railway connecting the cities of Madrid, Córdoba and Seville.. In addition to Renfe's use of the Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias-managed rail infrastructure in It takes an average of 1h 57m to travel from Barcelona to Collioure by train, over a distance of around 92 miles (147 km). There are normally 3 trains per day travelling from Barcelona to Collioure and tickets for this journey start from £19.98 when you book in advance. First train. b7R7Y0p.