Ouigo wanted to enter the Madrid-Galicia AVE but he already sees it impossible before 2030

“We have no problem in competing (…) but whoever wants to come, to make the investments that it has to do and that competes on equal terms”

Thus, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, president of Renfe, in the past Executive Forum where the manager approached the open door for the competitors of the trains company in Spain to take the first steps to reach Galicia, has sounded.

Galicia. Renfe has entered the line between Madrid and Galicia. Although the company has had to face criticism for Do not meet the expected times and skip some stops in Zamora To reduce travel times, the Madrid-Galicia axis is working very well to the company.

Only a few days ago we knew that Renfe was taking more travelers than ever. A semester of record in which this line has been key, where the train has begun to make shadow even the plane because it has better time connections if you want to travel in the day or make night and return to the origin early in the morning.

The competition. A few months ago, Adif launched the Second package in liberalization of high -speed tracks. The runners are Madrid-Galicia, Madrid-Asturias/Cantabria and Madrid-Cádiz/Huelva where Ouigo, Iryo or any other company can present Renfe battle.

However, this It is not expected until the next decade Because there are no trains available. Talgo has already compromised all its production of the Avril trains that work there and is aware of which roads the new owners of the company will take.

This has caused a bottleneck impossible to solve if it is not renting the company’s rolling material. According to The reasonOuigo would have contacted Caf and Talgo to buy the trains but they are already committed. The only solution is to rent Renfe’s rolling material.

“And if possible”. This possibility has been completely denied by Fernández Heredia, president of Renfe, with the words mentioned above. But not only that, the manager has launched a dart to his competitors, although he has not mentioned them directly, emphasizing that the one who enters the corridor will have to “compete in equal terms. And if possible, not to losses“

Public Service. Renfe’s dart is not causal. The company has long accused Ouigo of operating at losses in Spain and although the French company ensures that it is the usual strategy when entering a market and that they foresee short -term profits, the government has reached Threatening to report to the French before the European Commission.

Renfe, unlike the French or Iryo, have the obligation to operate in some lines as a public service, which he weighs his results account. A good example is the Oscar Puente lamentMinister of Transportation, following his obligation to pass through Extremadura, emphasizing that this way of acting does not guarantee clean competition.

More liberalizations. Renfe, for the moment, seems to be insured by the Galician corridor. The problem of the lack of trains is that anyone is worth it. Vehicles are needed that can change between Iberian and international width. This peculiarity leaves Renfe as a competitive advantage because he has some Avril who, Although not exempt from problemsnobody has.

But also, Spain has to face new liberalizations very soon. Among them that of Cercanías, a very controversial area because these services are of public obligation. Only in its public services (nearby, medium distance, metric width and Avant), Renfe moved in the first semester of 2025 to 259.5 million passengers.

Photo | Jose Luis Cernadas Iglesias and Patrick Janicek

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