What could be better than an extensive high-speed rail network? Three or four competitors, who seem to not only improve options for travelers, but also reduce prices.
Friday (25th) saw the launch of Iryo – the most recent company to enter the fast train market in Spain , which is already quite crowded. State-owned carrier Renfe joined French upstart Ouigo in 2021 and promptly launched its own low-cost arm, Avlo, in response.
With the arrival of the Iryo, there are three official competitors, but four competing brands – making Spain the first country in Europe to have so many high-speed options.
Iryo is owned by some of the main players: the Italian state rail operator Trenitalia, the Spanish infrastructure company Globalvia and Air Nostrum, a Spanish airline.
Trenitalia brought the trains to Spain: no fewer than 20 Frecciarossa or “red arrow” trains – Italy’s flagship, which can operate at speeds of up to 358 km per hour. Italy’s high-speed rail project is such a success that it played a major role in the demise of the national airline. 🇧🇷
Iryo launched on Friday operations between Madrid, Barcelona and Zaragoza and will continue on December 16 with Madrid, Cuenca and Valencia 🇧🇷 More routes are expected in 2023: connections to Seville, Malaga, Córdoba and Antequera on March 31st, and Alicante and Albacete on June 2nd.
The company has signed agreements to offer combined tickets and travel experiences with Cercanías (regional metropolitan train systems) and Air Europa. It will operate 30% of Spain’s high-speed services and aims to carry eight million passengers a year.
Billing itself as centered on “customization and flexibility”, the trains have four classes of travel – they are Initial, Singular, Singular Only You and Infinite. Three of them are tailored for business travelers, the company said in a statement, but all seats on board will have USB sockets, individual armrests and free 5G Wi-Fi.
The on-board menu, created by Haezea (meaning “wind” in the Basque language), will be full of seasonal ingredients and “healthy options”, freshly prepared, says the company.
A maiden voyage on Monday (21) was attended by Spanish politicians. The train was hailed as a “decisive step in advancing towards a new mobility in Spain” by Ximo Puig, president of the Generalitat Valenciana.
Luigi Corradi of Trenitalia called the launch a response to the “environmental and social sustainability targets set by the European Union to improve travel in all countries”.
As Nick Brooks, secretary general of ALLRAIL (the Alliance of Passenger Rail New Entrants in Europe, representing independent rail passenger companies), said ahead of the launch.
“It’s great to see how commercially oriented open access services – such as Iryo – are making long-distance rail transport more attractive and luring travelers away from less sustainable modes of transport such as airlines and cars,” said Brooks.
The group called for “competition between different operators on all high-speed rail routes in Europe” in a statement, calling companies such as iryo “the future of passenger trains”.
As for prices, looking at availability in December, tickets for the 614km, 2 hours and 45 minutes journey from Barcelona to Madrid start at just €18 (R$101), although most journeys are around €50 (BRL 281). A car trip between two cities would take more than six hours.
Source: CNN Brasil
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