SEVILLE TO CADIZ TRAIN ROUTE
By Fiona Flores Watson
Time: 1hr 45 mins (fast 1hr 38min)Frequency: 10-14 trains daily
Stops: Seville Santa Justa, Sevilla San Bernado, Sevilla-Virgin del Rocio, Dos Hermanas, Utrera, Las Cabezas de San Juan, Lebrija, Jerez Aeropuerto, Jerez de la Frontera, Puerto de Santa Maria, Puerto Real, San Fernando-Bahia Sur, Cadiz (Bold indicates stop used on long distance faster services).
This line heads south out of the Andalucian capital Sevilla, stopping first at the city stations of San Bernardo, near the Prado de San Sebastian and La Buhaira, then Virgen del Rocio, next to the hospital complex of the same name; both stations are also on Seville's Cercanias network. The line is single track but is overhead electrified and operated by RENFE Class 449 Electrical Multiple Units.
The following stop is Dos Hermanas, the satellite town to the south-east of Seville which has become a city in its own right; this station is served by the Cercanias service.
The train then passes through the Campiña, a fertile, rolling, sparsely populated lowland to the south and east of Seville, whose fields are planted with olive trees and cereals.
Next the line turns south-west, stopping first at Utera,an agricultural town with some impressive Baroque houses and an important Moorish fortress. The next station is the small hilltown of Las Cabezas de San Juan, on the eastern edge of the Doñana Park. The line then follows the route of the Guadalquivir river, and its next station is Lebrija, the last town before you enter Cadiz province; there’s a natural reserve between these last two towns.
The train passes and stops at the new station for Jerez Airport, the next stop is Jerez de la Frontera, city of sherry, horses and flamenco, after which the train arrives at the pleasant family resort of El Puerto de Santa Maria, also home to sherry bodegas (these towns are two points on the Sherry Triangle).
The line then crosses the estuary of the Guadalete river and circles the bay of Cadiz, via the towns of Puerto Real (which has a natural reserve made up of three lakes) and San Fernando, which sits on the same peninsula as Cadiz, before arriving at the historic city of Cadiz itself.