PROPERTY SEARCH
Low-cost trains linking Spain and France get underway this summer
Tickets from Madrid and Barcelona to French destinations will start at just 19 euros
In the coming weeks, Spanish train company Renfe promises to launch two new high-speed, low-cost railway routes between Spain and France. Tickets for the Madrid to Marseille line will start at 29 euros while passengers can travel from Barcelona to Lyon for as little as 19 euros. In addition, the rail operator will run trips between several French cities for 9 euros.
At these bargain-basement prices, Renfe hopes to become the train company of choice linking the two countries, directly competing with the French provider SNCF, which operates under the hugely popular Ouigo brand in Spain.
“With this resolute, determined policy, initially in this case in France, we have a clear objective, which is to reach Paris, but also with the intention of taking advantage of all the opportunities that this change offers,” Renfe president Raül Blanco said.
However, tensions are still bubbling under the surface regarding the Madrid-Vitoria-Dax-Paris line ever since a document emerged back in February suggesting that the French section of the AVE won’t be finished until 2042.
In any case, the Lyon and Marseille connections should be up and running “shortly, in a few weeks,” according to Blanco, who said that the routes are only pending the last technical details which “will take very little” time to complete.
In Spain, Renfe has invested 245 million euros in its services over the last five years and employs around 16,000 people, but the operator has its sights set on the wider market too.
The company’s move into France comes just weeks after the national government put a stop to short-haul flights where reasonable rail alternatives are available, but the Renfe boss believes there is enough demand to keep both air traffic and rail services going.
Image: Renfe
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