The network is to be opened in stages, starting with the Madrid–Valencia/Albacete section, which was opened in December 2010, followed by Albacete–Alicante in June 2013, Valencia–Castellón in January 2018, while Valencia–Alicante is expected to follow in 2019 and finally reaching the city of Murcia by 2020 with a branch line to Cartagena.