Iryo

Renfe makes its position in the workshop war clear to Iryo and the CNMC

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The Iryo-Renfe soap opera continues. Every day that passes we have a new chapter, a new exchange of statements, new figures on the table. And with each passing day, Iryo continues to find the door to the workshops closed. Although the CNMC obliges them, Renfe is clear: “they have no obligation.” The (pen)last chapter. It is the one that brings us the response from Renfe. And it is that, to questions from Xatakathe company tells us that the obligation imposed by the CNMC to open its workshops to Iryo has a “disproportionate impact” and there is a “technical impossibility.” The company assures that “adapting the workshops to the regime that the CNMC wants to impose” would take them a year. For now, the company has kept the Italian company’s workshops closed. And although Renfe clearly feels harmed, the company assures us that “we are studying how to do it (open the workshops) to carry out the CNMC’s decision, as it could not be otherwise.” Heavy or light. That’s the question. And since the liberalization of Spanish roads began, Renfe already knew that it would have to leave its workshops to Ouigo and Iryo to carry out light maintenance work. That is, routine checks of little significance. The problem is that these “light maintenance” operations are not clearly specified even in the Directive 2012/34/EU nor in the standard EN 15380-4:2021. This friction is what has led Renfe to deny passage to Iryo since it considers that in the proposed operations part of the train must be dismantled and that falls into the category of heavy maintenance. It must be remembered that Renfe already encountered this problem a few months ago. The Spanish company reported that Ouigo was carrying out heavy maintenance work at its facilities and that it had not previously reported this. Something that was proven, according to the company itself, by documents provided by the French company. The CNMC, on that occasion, also sided with Ouigo, forcing Renfe to lend its facilities for unforeseen interventions. Is it that big of a deal? Well, obviously, the versions differ here. No, it’s not that big a deal: Iryo is clear that the operations to be carried out in the Renfe workshops would not involve many problems. They assure that they would only occupy 7% of the infrastructure and that, since maintenance is scheduled weeks in advance, it is all a matter of organization. Yes, of course it is a big deal: Renfe, on the contrary, assures that these maintenance tasks seriously affect its schedule. They say that space is already operating at almost full capacity, that the impact of Iryo would be 10% of the infrastructure and that it would force them to withdraw 1.2 million seats from the offer because there would be no room to maintain their own trains. More than one million of these seats correspond to the lines in which it is handled as a Public Service Obligation (OSP) and this would result in a drop of 60 million euros in income. The CNMC is clear. The problem for Renfe is that the CNMC is clear about it and is on Iryo’s side. The regulator has already received a complaint that Renfe did not allow the Italian company to enter its workshops and issued a resolution forcing Renfe. This resolution was appealed before the National Court, which has decided to force Renfe to make way for Iryo in their workshops as a precautionary measure but with the notice that it will study the case in particular. The sticking point is that Iryo would need to send its trains to Rome for scheduled maintenance. That would force them, they say, to stop providing service with the trains involved for two months, a compelling reason for the CNMC despite the fact that In France Iryo was forced to take its trains to Italy despite the cessation of activity and despite the fact that the company announced that I would set up some workshops in Spain for these cases but nothing is known about them. Those are the cards that, for the moment, are on the table. Photo | Sergioorozco96 and Renfe In Xataka | There is a fight between the railway operators to get the best drivers and Renfe is winning it

Alsa has gone ahead of Iryo and Ouigo with a radically different proposal

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Alsa, one of the most important companies in the transportation of passengers (if not the most important) is getting back on the tracks. The company, beyond buses, has a lesser-known business that also goes on wheels but off the road. They are their tourist trains. And now the CNMC gives it the go-ahead to operate yet another service. There is no competition. It’s what the CNMC has concluded about the new Alsa tourist train and the possibility of it competing with Renfe on its new Galician route. For regulators, Alsa’s new business “does not affect the economic balance of Renfe’s public service contract.” It is concluded that although Renfe provides services in the same place or to reach the same locations, both proposals “do not compete with each other” since Alsa trains will only be available in summer and are “between three and seven times more expensive” than Renfe trains. For now, Alsa has indicated in its documentation that the tickets will have a price of 17.28 euros while Renfe public services range between 2.51 euros and 5.40 euros. New historic train. During the summer months, Alsa will put into service a new historic train on two Galician routes that will have the following route: Orense – Barra de Miño – Os Peares – San Estevo de Sil – Canaval – Monforte de Lemos Monforte de Lemos – San Coludio-Quiroga – Montefurado – A Rúa-Petín The train, for which specific schedules and details are not yet known, is known as Galaico Expreso and Alsa Rail, the subsidiary that operates its trains, took it out last April from Galician Railway Museum (Muferga), based in Monforte de Lemos. The train was towed by an Alsa machine to pass the exam in Renfe workshops. They explain in The Voice of Galicia that the material consists of two first-class apartment cars, one with restaurant service and a generator van. This last car is property of the museum and the others were donated by Adif with the condition that they be used for tourist services. The Galaico Express. This train that is being reviewed in the Renfe workshops is, as we have seen, a historic one in our country. At the beginning of the last decade, an attempt was made to resume a tourist service with a walk through the Ribeira Sacra that you can see in this link but its use was discontinued in 2011. In his previous attempt To offer this tourist service, the line only made two stops between Ourense and Monforte de Lemos and had a maximum of 200 passengers. Furthermore, they explain in Vigo Lighthousewas an opportunity to revitalize local tourism since train tickets were sold with additional packs to buy or eat at associated businesses. It’s not the first. By no means is this Galician train the first tourist experience in Spain that takes you back to the past aboard trains operated by Alsa. The company has different offers and packs available with trains of all types for prices starting below 20 euros. This is the case of the one known as Blue Train to link Zaragoza and Logroño through the Ebro valley and the 80’s trainwith which you can travel between Madrid and Cáceres and from Cáceres to Valencia de Alcántara. It also has a round trip train to San Lorenzo del Escorial from Madrid known as the Philip II Train and the Train of the Three Wise Men in Madrid and Zaragoza. Other type of tourism. As we said, these tourist train offers in Spain are affordable and are perfect for spending a day with the family. However, there is another type of tourism that has found a rich source in Spanish historic trains. Specifically, luxury tourism. Probably, The most famous case is that of the Transcantábricowhich departs from Santiago de Compostela to reach San Sebastián (with bus routes) and prices that start above 2,000 euros but can reach 10,000 depending on the room. But the latter is not the only one nor the most expensive. Renfe has its Al-Andalus availablewhich in seven days passes through large Andalusian, Extremaduran and Castilian cities such as Cádiz, Seville, Córdoba, Cáceres and Toledo, before arriving in Madrid. Its price, from 5,000 to 14,000 euros. And also operated by Renfe you can get on the Costa Verde Express or the La Robla Expreso. Of course, prepare thousands of euros. Photo | Muferga In Xataka | The AVE to Galicia has achieved what seemed impossible in a Santiago-Madrid: airlines that throw in the towel

In the “war of the workshops”, Iryo defends himself. And he has already made it clear to Renfe why he will use its facilities

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The battle for the use of Renfe workshops continues to give us new chapters. From the closed door and the complaint to the CNMC we have moved on to appeals to the latter’s decision and a crossroads of statements in which numbers are beginning to be put on the table. The last to speak was Iryo. What is happening? Iryo and Renfe have an open battle over the use of the latter company’s workshops. To understand all the keys: What does Renfe say? What Renfe says is that the regulations only require them to hand over part of their facilities to their rivals to carry out light maintenance, but that is not the case when the work involves heavy maintenance. Iryo’s actions fall under this last definition and Renfe already reported in October that Ouigo was performing heavy maintenance on their facilities without their permission. In addition, they point out that giving space to these trains from the Italian company will have a direct impact on their offer. If Iryo is occupying a space that Renfe had planned to use, the Spanish company estimates that they will have to withdraw from their offer around 1.2 million seatsof which more than one million fall within its Public Service Obligation (OSP). They estimate 60 million losses in income. What does the CNMC say? The CNMC considers that Renfe would obtain a substantial competitive advantage if Iryo has to send its trains to Italy to carry out heavy maintenance. They consider that, if this happens, it would stop providing service with the affected trains for weeks. (as has happened in France) and that maintaining them without performing said maintenance is a danger to the safety of passengers. For this reason, it forces Renfe to open its facilities and allow the Italian company to carry out these jobs with the employees it considers. In exchange, the Spanish company receives compensation as if it were a rental of the facilities. What does Iryo say? Until now we have known the version and calculations of Renfe but not of Iryo. The Italian company assures that moving its trains to its country would mean a extra cost of 17 million euros and defends that they would only be occupying 7% of all Renfe facilities. To estimate this extra cost, they calculate that if Iryo has to take the trains to Rome, they would stop being operational for about two months each, although, they point out in The Economistwhich on other occasions the company reduced this time horizon to one month. This operational stoppage, Iryo points out, would be key in the market because they compete with 19 trains available in our country, while Renfe has 270 high-speed trains at its disposal. And they culminate their complaints by pointing out that these actions are scheduled based on mileage and that Renfe was aware that they would have to carry out these operations for months. A music that sounds familiar to us. The truth is that railway liberalization in Europe has created a constant fight between operators that, as we are seeing, sometimes goes far beyond the tracks. Renfe has pressed everything it can to prevent Iryo from carrying out these maintenance tasks at its facilities but has also recalled that the company has to work on all high speed lines and not only in the most profitable since, unlike Ouigo and Iryo, they work as a public service operator. Furthermore, remember that upon arrival Iryo committed to building his own workshops but no steps have been taken in that direction. At the same time, it is logical that Iryo tries by all means to carry out its maintenance work in Spain to minimize its impact on the offer. And, as we said before, in France they have already forced the company to take your trains back to Italy to perform this type of maintenance. Country where Renfe has also encountered countless obstacles to deploy your servicesespecially in everything related to his arrival in Pariswhere the most profitable lines start. Photo |Smiley.toerist and Renfe In Xataka | If the question is when Ouigo was going to be profitable, the answer is: now. And that makes Renfe suspicious

Renfe already calculates how much it will cost to leave its workshops to Iryo

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Renfe will have to give up part of its workshops so that Iryo can carry out its heavy maintenance. It is the decision that the CNMC has imposed on the Spanish company and that it will have to comply with until, at the earliest, the National Court rules. But it will have its consequences. What has happened? When Ouigo and Iryo entered to compete in our country, Renfe already knew that it would have to give up part of its workshops so that both companies could carry out maintenance work. In exchange, both the French and Italian companies have to pay the company to be able to operate in their facilities. These maintenance tasks were “level 1”, the name used to define “light maintenance” operations. However, Renfe reported a few months ago that Ouigo was performing heavy maintenance workwhich is outside the agreement. And a few months ago it closed the door on Iryo, because the company planned to do the same. However, the CNMC has forced Renfe to open its doors to the Italian company. According to Competition, failure to do so puts Iryo’s business strategy at risk, which would give Renfe an unfair advantage. The company has filed an appeal against this decision but the National Court has concluded that it will study the case but that, as a precautionary measure, Renfe must open the door to its facilities. What does each one defend? From the Spanish company they assure that Iryo had a project to build its own workshops in our country and thus not having to take their trains to Italy. However, these workshops have not seen the light and Renfe believes that they should not pay the consequences of one of their rivals not complying with its roadmap. For its part, the CNMC assures that forcing Iryo to undergo maintenance in Italy would leave them with less rolling stock available for weeks and, therefore, at a disadvantage in the market. And keeping that rolling stock in operation is a bad decision because the deadlines are met and it would lead the company to have vehicles on Spanish roads that could be unsafe. Iryo’s parent company, Trenitalia, has already experienced this same thing. in France when they had to suspend their services for a month because SNCF prevented access to its workshops to carry out maintenance work. Consequences. Knowing the situation, Renfe has put on the table the consequences that opening its facilities to Iryo may have to carry out heavy maintenance work. And, without that space for their own work, the entry of the Italian company into their space forces them to reduce the number of jobs they can carry out on their own material. That is to say: they would have to reduce the number of trains that are currently in operation. According to the company, in words collected by elDiario.es“the immediate consequence would be fewer trains available each day and, therefore, the suppression of public services in the usual schedule. The lower capacity for heavy maintenance would also have a chain effect and could lead to a progressive paralysis of the fleet in a few weeks.” And in numbers? In total, the company believes that it would affect around thirty daily circulations distributed in different corridors depending on the trains used, which would be the affected by giving space to Ouigo and Iryo in the workshops. They assure that the Madrid-Barcelona (Serie 103), the most profitable corridor today, would have two fewer daily circulations per direction. In total, they would have to reduce 10% of the seats offered and they estimate the impact at 650,000 kilometers per year that would no longer be traveled, some 1,100 circulations eliminated and 450,000 fewer seats on offer. As for the Galician corridor, the trains to Huelva and the Basque Country (Series 120 and 121), together they would add a reduction of 1.5 million fewer kilometers per year, more than 3,300 circulations eliminated and some 800,000 fewer seats available. In total, each day it is estimated that there would be 16 trains inoperative on these lines. And in the Avant of Valladolid they calculate a suppression of six daily trains or the reduction of the double trains that are currently operational during rush hour. In total, Renfe estimates that there are 1.2 million of its own seats at stake. Of them, more than a million are part of what is known as Public Service Obligation (OSP) and they believe that it can impact with a decrease in income of up to 60 million euros. Aggrieved? The feeling of grievance is not new within the company and the Ministry of Transportation. In April 2024 they already made it clear that they considered that the rules were not fair because while Ouigo and Iryo only have to serve where they consider it beneficial to their interests, Renfe is obliged in going to brokers where economic viability is not guaranteed. Added to this is that the company feels doubly harmed. And Renfe has been trying to expand its business in France for some time but Many obstacles have been found in the neighboring country to reach Paris, the most economically juicy link in the neighboring country. And from the Ministry of Transportation they have repeated on several occasions that Ouigo is a company supported by the French State and that it would not be able to operate if it had to face its debts on its own. Diffuse. The problem, explained in Chain Being is that the Directive 2012/34/EU (RECAST) on the single railway space and the standard EN 15380-4:2021 They do not clearly specify what is considered light or heavy maintenance. In the first it is pointed out that heavy maintenance is all those tasks that are not routine and in the second it is defined as the works in which the train has to be dismantled. However, these definitions do not seem to be sufficient for competitors as they have different perspectives of what is and is … Read more

steal talent from Ouigo and Iryo

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Hundreds of train drivers are looking for a position at Renfe. This is to be expected after the company announced the opening of a call to hire 550 new machinists, within its replacement plan and with the aim of expanding its workforce. Although there is no concrete data on the impact on Ouigo and Iryo, previous calls anticipate a flight of workers to the Spanish company. 550 seats. This is the number of train drivers that Renfe expects to hire in the coming months. The call is already underway and is part of a larger employment plan with which it is expected to hire a total of 2,000 workers. The deadline to register ended in March and the process consists of three phases. In the first, it will be verified that the minimum requirements are met and the merits of the candidates will be assessed. The second phase consists of an in-person test and, finally, the third will be a test in a simulator. A flight of train drivers. It is the fear that Ouigo and Iryo can have. Both companies offer higher salaries than Renfe but the stability of a publicly owned company is still very attractive. In fact, it is not the first time that there has been a massive transfer of these companies to the Spanish side. In 2023, Ouigo and Iryo saw how a third of its staff He joined Renfe’s lists, according to the CNMC, after a call to hire new train drivers. This led the regulator to require Renfe to notify of these calls to their rivals a month and a half in advance before making them public and they cannot incorporate new workers into the workforce until three months after the resolution of the process, with the aim that these companies have enough time to replace the possible departure of their machinists. Because? The flight of train drivers is not a question of money. Or, at least, it is not in the short term. And the Spanish company’s machinists earn less starting money than in rival companies, but their future projection does promise more attractive salaries. Furthermore, it must be taken into account that both Ouigo and Iryo can never offer the same stability as Renfe for years to come. And the Spanish company has a greater number of vacancies available throughout the country and, furthermore, it is a public service so You will have to be present no matter what, wherever this obligation binds you.. How much does a machinist earn? As we said, an “entry train driver”, as new train drivers are described, earn less money on Renfe if we talk about base salary. According to the signed agreementa driver starts at 21,973.56 euros to which must be added a supplement of 1,286.64 euros per year for the “driving” concept and another 192.99 euros under the training category. These figures make up a base salary of about 23,500 euros per year to which must be added travel allowances to the place of residence and for minutes worked. Those minutes are paid more expensively the more minutes they have been used. For its part, an Iryo cobra machinistbase, 23,374.78 euros. To this figure we must add a bonus for minutes worked, as in the case of Renfe, or kilometers traveled. If we talk about Ouigothe base salary in this case is 18,000.00 euros and is increased to 21,693.00 euros with two years of seniority, to which bonuses such as days away from home or overtime must be added. It’s not just money. Union representatives point out The Country that the salary differences in favor of the private company (the bonuses are paid better and, therefore, they charge more from the start) are not being sufficient to compete with Renfe since the latter also allows the choice between Medium Distance or Cercanías trains and high-speed trains, so the possibilities within the company are greater. In addition, seniority weighs heavily in the Spanish company, which is why it rises quickly in the salary tables. These improvements due to seniority are reflected in the base salary but, in addition, the bonuses also grow as they add years to the company. So, a level A chief engineer (the highest range) is close to 60,000 euros gross before applying the bonuses for minutes worked. A first (and expensive) filter. Of course, aspiring to be part of the staff of Renfe or any other company in the sector is not easy. Obviously, the new driver must have the required qualifications that are obtained through theoretical and practical tests. But perhaps the biggest filter comes from economic limitations. And the courses to acquire these skills are expensive. The one from Renfe, specifically, It lasts one year and is offered for 21,200 euros. Photo | Andre Marques In Xataka | Iryo already knows what the cost of competing with Renfe on the AVE lines is: losing tens of millions of euros

Renfe has found a new way to make life impossible for Ouigo and Iryo. And it has nothing to do with lowering prices.

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Renfe maintains a hidden war with Ouigo and Iryo. Beyond the headlines and the exchanges of more or less high-sounding statements, the Spanish company and its rivals fight on all types of grounds. Also outside the train tracks and the most obvious sources of business. And here, the use of workshops has a lot to say. What has happened? Renfe has prevented Iryo from using its workshops so that the company can carry out heavy maintenance on its trains. The information is brought The Economist and it states that the Spanish company has rejected Italians’ access to its facilities because they consider that the activity to be carried out there exceeds the obligations they have towards their rivals. In Xataka We have contacted both companies but as of this writing we have not received answers to our questions. The obligations. Although the facilities belong to Renfe, the Spanish company has the obligation to allow access to its workshops at specific points in Spain so that Ouigo and Iryo can carry out their maintenance operations. However, this obligation is limited to light maintenance, known in the sector as “level 1” maintenance. This scale of what falls within “light” or “level 1” maintenance and what are “heavy” or “level 2” maintenance interventions are those that have been questioned by Renfe. The company is clear, Iryo wants to carry out operations of this second category and they are not obliged to give access to their workshops for this type of tasks. The CNMC. Given the denial of access to the workshops, Iryo went to the CNMC to mediate the matter. The National Markets and Competition Commission ruled in March that Renfe had to give Iryo access to its facilities where Hitachi employees would carry out maintenance services on Iryo trains. Although Renfe, Iryo and Hitachi seemed to have reached an agreement for the latter company (manufacturer of Iryo trains) to carry out maintenance at Renfe facilities, the Spanish company indicated that this could not be carried out because heavy maintenance activity related to Renfe trains had skyrocketed and there was no space left for such actions. Given this situation, Iryo requested provisional measures from the CNMC to access “an operational pit at BMI La Sagra or, subsidiarily, at BM Santa Catalina, on a self-provision basis, for the execution of heavy maintenance (R2) of the ETR 1000.” An access that the CNMC decided to give. The reasons. The CNMC pointed out in its resolution that denying Iryo access to the workshops directly damages the business plans that it has for our country since it would force the trains to be taken to Italy to undergo said heavy maintenance. For Renfe, this should not be a problem but the CNMC rejects this position of the Spanish company. Iryo trains approach the mileage limit before passing through workshops for a thorough inspection. When Iryo arrived in Spain, it stated that it would have its own workshops where it would carry out its maintenance. However, this has not occurred. However, the CNMC forces Renfe to provide access to its facilities to carry out these tasks, with the rates that were negotiated in the summer of 2025. Not compliant. In clear rejection of the CNMC’s decision, Renfe requests the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the National Court to stop this decision and asks the CNMC to quarantine the decision until the National Court confirms what measures should be taken. The National Court, however, does not find it serious enough to apply precautionary measures, although it does confirm that it is opening a file to study the matter in depth. With this decision, the CNMC remains firm and once again forces Renfe to make way for Iryo trains in its workshops so that Hitachi workers can carry out scheduled heavy maintenance. It’s not the first time. Although we have talked about Iryo so far, the truth is that Renfe is not the first time that it has denied entry to its workshops to one of its rivals or, at the very least, has put up all possible impediments. In October of last year, the situation was very similar although, on that occasion It was Renfe and Ouigo who led the conflict. The reason was the same, according to Renfe the activity that Ouigo wanted to carry out in his workshops exceeded his company’s obligations to lend its facilities to carry out light maintenance. The fight between the three companies is tough because if Iryo and Ouigo do not get access to the Renfe workshops, they have to send their trains to Italy and France, respectively, where they do have their own workshops. That, of course, temporarily takes some of its trains out of circulation, which undoubtedly benefits its competitors. Photo | Investing Spain and UGT In Xataka | Spain has thousands of kilometers of AVE: the question after the Adamuz accident is whether it is investing in maintaining them

Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo raised prices wildly in 2025. Now they are suffering the foreseeable consequences

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Demand on trains has fallen. We could think that it is the direct consequence of railway chaos that has set in in the first months of 2026. But no. The last quarter of 2025 already anticipated turbulent times for high speed. And between October and December 2025, prices skyrocketed and demand fell. Now it is the operators who have to walk a tightrope. What has happened? That demand for high-speed trains has fallen significantly in recent months. According to data from Trainlinetrain ticket price comparator, the demand for these trips plummeted 30% after the accident in Adamuz (Córdoba) in the middle of last January. The data could indicate a distrust among travelers as a result, but not everything is explained by the possible fear that those who travel by train may have. And the volume of travelers at the end of 2025 had already fallen. It is something we know now with the publication of the latest report from the CNMCwho collects market movements with a quarter delay or so. Madrid-Barcelona. The consequences in this report are clear, the volume of travelers fell between October and December 2025 in the Madrid-Barcelona corridor, where prices have settled and there is a smaller difference between companies. According to the CNMC, the main data are the following: Decrease in travelers of 13% compared to October-December 2024. Fall of the companies with the most expensive prices: -19% Renfe (95.58 euros) and -13.9% Iryo (76.89 euros). Rise of Ouigo (+12.8%) which has the cheapest prices (61.42 euros). The recorded data shows a brutal increase in prices. Renfe has been left without AVLO to fight for the floor price, which has triggered its average ticket but Ouigo and Iryo also multiplied the price of the average bill. In fact, the following increases were recorded compared to the previous year: Renfe: +40.2% Iryo: +69.0% Ouigo: +40.9% (Much) more expensive, less travel. The increase in prices in Madrid-Barcelona explains several trends: This broker is the least sensitive to price variations. Although the volume of passengers has been reduced, the increase in price has been much greater, so it is to be assumed that there are many travelers who continued to use it as round-trip transportation during the day for similar situations. The operators have finally had to raise prices to stop making losses. This has meant a reduction in passengers on Renfe (which, as we said, You no longer have AVLO service) and Iryo. Ouigo has grown by 12.9% but its places offered have also grown by 16.1%. In the rest of the corridors, only the Valencian has had a substantial price increase (+22.3%) and it has not suffered. Madrid-Seville (-1.9%), Madrid-Málaga (-5%) or Madrid-Alicante (+6.6%) have remained at similar prices. None of these corridors have lost travelers. What can we expect? A drastic drop in the volume of travelers. That is what we expect from the next CNMC report in which the results for January, February and March 2026 will be noted. There are many reasons that explain the result we expect. To begin with, the railway chaos that Spanish roads have become since the fateful Adamuz accident: The most affected. We already know that demand for trains has to fall irremediably given the cuts and speed restrictions that were recorded in the following days, but we must bear in mind that passenger confidence has been eroded since the accident. And not only because of a lack of trust in security, the problem is delays and inconsistency in arrival times. According to ABC65% of the trains arrived late last February. But it is that The Madrid-Barcelona corridor has been the most affected since clients relied on their Swiss punctuality for business trips. That has been diluted in recent weeks, with speed restrictions that are now permanent and road works. This has triggered air travelers, skyrocketing the price the same to the point that Iberia capped the prices of the Air Bridge at 99 euros. It remains to be seen if the companies’ alternative has been to lower prices. We will know that when the next CNMC report arrives and we can have a complete picture of how the market behaved and how operators dealt with these inconveniences when they were already rubbing their hands to raise prices. Photo | Alan Grant In Xataka | 150 years ago, Spain made a unique decision in the world. Ouigo and Iryo believe that Renfe is using it against them

150 years ago, Spain made a unique decision in the world. Ouigo and Iryo believe that Renfe uses it to get them out of the market

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They have no rolling stock. And the worst of all (for them) is that they are not going to have it. Ouigo, Iryo and a third rolling stock company have raised their voices before the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) to make it clear that the current system with two gauges of track reduces their competitiveness in our country compared to Renfe. And it doesn’t seem like it’s going to change in the short term. What has happened? The CNMC has published a document with the name “Report on technical barriers to the provision of railway services”. It sets out the challenges and interventions that Spain should carry out in the coming years. It specifies that the Spanish railway system has the obligation to improve interoperability with its neighboring countries, both to facilitate the flow of passengers and goods. But there is a drawback: the track widths. And this inconvenience has a very relevant economic impact. They complain. In the document the different postures are collected of those involved. And it states that “Ouigo, Iryo and a rolling stock manufacturer (which is not specified) warn that the uncertainty regarding the schedule and details of the Gauge Migration Plan, as well as the unification of the electrification system and the implementation of the ERTMS signaling system, makes decision-making on strategic investments difficult, and they ask that the Gauge Migration Plan be prepared and published as soon as possible.” In short: the two operators and the rolling stock manufacturer complain that Adif does not have a clear plan as to whether the Iberian high-speed track gauges are going to adapt to European standards, which move in standard gauge. The same happens with the unification of the electrification system and the definitive implementation of the ERTMS system. And they defend themselves. The position of Adif and Renfe is set out in the same document. Both companies “point out that incorporating gauge change technology in the rolling stock and infrastructure is less expensive and entails fewer interruptions in traffic than the migration of the infrastructure. On the other hand, both the AESF and the DG of the Railway Sector indicate that, in addition to Talgo, there is a second manufacturer of variable gauge rolling stock for high speed, CAF, although they admit that it is currently only approved to operate at 250 km/h.” In short: neither Renfe nor Adif They believe that adapting to the standard width is economically profitable given the high economic impact. The bottleneck. What Ouigo and Iryo defend is that the current situation and the commitment to trains with wide gauge technology leaves them behind. They have two reasons to maintain this. CAF can supply trains with this technology but they are only approved to travel at a maximum of 250 km/h. Talgo is the only company with this technology with approval to circulate up to 350 km/h. They are known as Talgo AVRIL but their production is committed to Renfe. And the results are not satisfactory either.. Beyond these two manufacturers, no one seems to want to get involved in the production of trains capable of changing tracks between standard and Iberian gauge. And the fact is that their production means meeting a demand that is still a niche or a rarity in the world railway system. Very juicy. The reluctance of Adif and Renfe is not strange either. For Adif it would mean a huge investment that has to be able to make profitable with the rest of the operators when the vast majority of current corridors in Spain already operate with standard gauge. For its part, Renfe does not want to let go of this trick either. Right now, the high speed to Galicia needs trains that are capable of moving between the Iberian gauge and the standard gauge if you do not want to transfer and the Spanish company is the only one that has the trains for this. The Galician corridor has also emerged as one of the most profitable. Travel has grown so much that it has made airlines retreat and now that they have to liberalize the line, maintaining the current situation guarantees that they will continue to be the only ones that will be able to offer this trip without transfers, which is a clear competitive advantage. Photo | Falk2 In Xataka | “Whoever wants to come, should invest”: Ouigo wanted to enter the Madrid-Galicia AVE but now sees it as impossible before 2030

If your Madrid-Barcelona train now takes five hours, Renfe and Iryo have a message: there is no compensation

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What used to be two and a half hours has become recurring trips of more than four hours. The Madrid-Barcelona line lives between speed limitations that are multiplying travel times. Adif is working hard to correct the alleged defects on the road. And, in the middle, some passengers who bought a ticket that promised a 150-minute trip that is now impossible to fulfill and who are not going to receive a single euro in compensation. The Madrid-Barcelona line. Since the occurrence of fateful train accident in Adamuz (Córdoba)the Madrid-Barcelona line is in focus. After months of complaints from train drivers, and self-imposed speed limitations, as they have confirmed to XatakaAdif strives to review all avenues to verify that there are no defects or, if there are, fix them. The company in charge of managing and maintaining the roads began applying temporary speed restrictions in the most controversial sections. These limitations they rose and applied punctually in the days following the Andalusian accident, with the vibrations being the focus of controversy. More, many more. As the days go by, the controversy has grown. To the reviews of Adif facilities a storm has joined which has complicated the service even more. The result: trains that were supposed to take 150 minutes between Madrid and Barcelona have been arriving regularly after four and a half hours. The latest news is that Adif has asked Renfe, Ouigo and Iryo to eliminate the last services of each day in order to be able to work for a greater number of hours and reduce the planned days of track inspection. These works will study the complaints reported by the train drivers and, if necessary, fix the damage on the tracks if the technicians consider that intervention is necessary, they point out in The World. No compensation. These warnings from the train drivers and the subsequent reviews by Adif are what are causing the continuous delays in the journeys. Delays that, however, will not be compensated by Renfe and Iryo, companies that already report on their websites that this situation does not fall within the reasons for returning a ticket partially or in its entirety. So much Renfe as Iryo They emphasize that these delays are unrelated to the service provided by the operators and, therefore, will not be reimbursed. In the case of the Italian company, this decision affects tickets purchased after January 28, while in the case of Renfe it will not be a reason for refunds for tickets purchased after January 31. An exception. What travelers from these companies do have the right to be relocated to another shift by the operator if their trains have been canceled as a result of Adif’s latest request. In the case of Renfe, which has issued its decision in statements that it has collected The Countrythe trains to relocate those affected will be of double composition to double the number of seats and the possibility of canceling the trip has been opened at no cost to the traveler. A new controversy. These delays and the decision not to compensate travelers, understanding that they are due to reasons unrelated to their services, deepen the controversies that have been surrounding railway compensation for months. And Renfe, by order of Congresshas the obligation to compensate again for delays of more than 15 minutes and return the money if the train arrives 30 minutes above the scheduled time. These deadlines were extended to 60 and 90 minutes respectively. in 2024 and They should have returned to their original deadlines in 2026 but this has not happened yet. Photo | trenduck and Renfe In Xataka | Spain has put so many passengers on the train that the Government is already toying with an idea: that we travel standing

the leaked audio of the Adamuz accident between the Iryo and Atocha driver

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“There’s no train coming.” It is the key phrase of the audio that elDiario.es has been published exclusively and in which the conversation between the driver of the Iryo train and the command post is heard. The audio is extracted from the black box of the Italian train that, according to what is knownwould have derailed and seconds later would have been hit by an Alvia that was traveling in the opposite direction, being thrown to the side of the track and to the bottom of a four-meter embankment. The conversation between the driver and the control center traffic has raised all kinds of speculation but, for now, it is part of an investigation that is expected to be very long and that can extend for months. Therefore, trying to conclude what happened or what elements caused the first and second derailments are mere speculation. In fact, the president of Renfe himself, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, pointed out in the first hours that could not be definitively stated that the Alvia train had collided with the Italian vehicle. Audio and its implications In the leaked audios, Iryo’s driver contacts the command center in Atocha to which he explains that he has had “a hitch” on the track. From there they ask him for a contact telephone number and to lower the pantographs, to which the driver responds that he has already carried out the operation. The pantographs are the elements that connect the train with the catenary and, therefore, with the electrical network. A hitch occurs when there is a problem with the pantograph or catenary. In that case, the train is stopped and may suffer a strong deceleration, like a kind of anchor that prevents it from continuing to move forward. In fact, the driver himself explains in the audio that the train is completely blocked. At that point, the communication is cut off and (if there is no skipped audio in between) the driver informs Atocha that has suffered a derailment and is occupying the adjacent track. At that moment, he requests that traffic be stopped immediately and from the command post they assure him that “there is no train arriving.” Next, the person in front of the Iryo train requests that they send emergency services, from ambulances to firefighters, because there is a car on fire and there are injured people on board. The driver then reports that he is leaving the cabin and the audio cuts out. From the audio it is striking that no reference is made to the Alvia (Renfe) train which, it is assumed, would have collided with the Iryo cars and subsequently derailed. Neither the driver nor the command center are aware that this has happened, which opens up two possibilities. With no official information still on the table, what we have remains mere speculation. One possibility is that the impact of the Alvia occurred almost immediately after the derailment with the Iryo and hit it slightly but enough so that the driver, in a stressful situation trying to emergency brake his vehicle, did not notice it. A blow, however slight, at more than 200 km/h could have caused the second derailment and explains why the trains were found 700 meters apart. If this is the case, it is also possible that the driver did not realize at first (in that period between communications in which he announces that he is going to verify the situation of his train) that there is a second accident vehicle because the distance and the fall to the embankment would have hidden the Alvia. Two competing theories This possibility is what the Minister of Transport himself, Óscar Puente, has pointed out. Initially, a time gap of about 20 seconds was targeted between the departure of the first Iryo and the impact of the Alvia. The proximity between both trains would not have allowed the security system warn of the obstacle on the track and stop the train. Now, Puente believes that barely nine seconds passed between the derailment of the Iryo and the impact of the Renfe train. The head of Transportation ensures This would explain why the driver is not aware that a second train has collided with his vehicle. The other possibility is that the Alvia had not yet reached the accident area when the engineer contacted the command post on the second occasion. However, Puente has indicated that the second communication occurs “between three and four minutes after the first”. This means that, if the Alvia train had not collided or had not passed next to the Iryo at the time of the accident, it would have to be more than 13 kilometers from the event, which is the distance a train travels at 200 km/h in four minutes. Tweet from Óscar Puente showing the map of the command post with the situation of the trains In Xataka We have contacted SEMAF (Spanish Union of Railway Machinists) who explain that the LZB system sends information with the position of the train to the command post. There, the train appears on a map like the one shown in this image uploaded by Minister Óscar Puente. On this map you can see how the trains move forward, with their position updated every so often. On each line, they explain, there is a section manager who must remain attentive to the position of each train. For this reason, they say, there are several possibilities but they make it clear that the reasons can be multiple. They explain that there are two possibilities that resonate more strongly. One of them is that the Alvia sent its position past Iryo’s vehicle almost immediately after the crash and from the command post they believed that no train was coming in the opposite direction, which is what was mentioned to the driver of the Italian train. The second is that the Alvia “disappeared” from the map due to Particularities of the LZB system or because damage had occurred on the … Read more

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