The Madrid–León high-speed rail line (Spanish language: Línea de Alta Velocidad Madrid - León) was inaugurated on 29 September 2015. The line is built to standard gauge and gauge changers are provided at strategic points to allow interchange with older Spanish railways which were built to Iberian gauge. History The line was inaugurated in two stages. Its first section Madrid - Segovia - Valladolid opened for commercial service on 23 December 2007 and is the first instalment of a high-speed rail corridor in the north and northwest of Spain. AVE services reduced journey times between Madrid and Valladolid from 2½ hours to 56 minutes at an average speed of . The second section Valladolid-Venta de Baños-León opened on 29 September 2015 and was built at a cost of €1,62bn for operation at up to 350 km/h. Since then the journey time between Madrid and León was cut by 44 min to 2 h 6 min on AVE trains. Plan for 2015-2020 According to this, the line will be extended to reach the region of Asturias and will connect the cities of Oviedo and Gijón to the high-speed network via the Pajares Base Tunnel (Variante de Pajares). The line will be connected with the following other HSR (High-speed rail) lines: Madrid–Galicia high-speed rail line, and this in turn with the Atlantic Axis high-speed rail line HSR Valladolid - Burgos - Vitoria, and this in turn to the future HSR Logroño-Miranda de Ebro and the HSR Basque Y. Other high-speed lines departing from Madrid, with the future construction of a third tunnel with standard gauge tracks between Chamartin and Atocha stations. Features This line is constructed for trains running at up to . ERTMS type II signaling and ASFA digital diversion clearance of and a reduction of over (28%) compared to the general layout of the Northern or Imperial Line, due to the tunnels of San Pedro and Guadarrama through Sierra de Guadarrama, respectively. In the section between Valladolid and León the route comprises of double track and two single-track sections totalling . Gauge changers are installed at Chamartin Valdestillas, Valladolid, León and Villamuriel south of Palencia and this has reduced travel times on all routes between Madrid and Spain's north-northwest. Route (The figures indicate kilometres from Madrid) Gauge changer 345.450 León AV (166,141 km from Valladolid Campo Grande) 344.277 Junction Estadio Municipal 343.879 Classification changer 339.527 Vilecha changer 338.245 Junction Vilecha