After several years of construction work, the first line was inaugurated on 14 April 1992, coinciding with Expo 92, which was held in Seville. In its first two years of operation, the AVE connected Madrid with Seville in 2 hours 55 minutes.

On 23 April 1993, the AVE speed record was set at 356.8 km/h, and this meant that in 1994, commercial operation of long-distance AVE trains at 300 km/h could begin, reducing the journey time between Madrid and Seville by 40 minutes.