Liberalization

Liberalization brought us the lowest prices in the history of high speed. Everything indicates that it is about to end

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A high-speed runner that is becoming more expensive and others that seem to have hit the ground. The arrival of competition to Renfe promised to reduce the price of train tickets. In fact, it reduced them. But the big question is knowing when they will rise again. Or, if necessary, how far they will end up going up. spring. It is the data that it collects the latest report published by the CNMC. It analyzes the price and occupancy of high-speed trains in our country. Specifically, the data refers to the months of April, May and June, which are the last recorded by Competition. It is an interesting study as it covers dates in which rail traffic increases, with passengers opting for this type of transport for their Easter holidays and first summer trips. The impact of both events is clear because despite offering 0.6% fewer seats, the number of travelers has increased by 4.4% compared to 2024. What do the data tell us? That we travel faster and faster. Because the previous data breaks down the high-speed markets open to competition and reflects that in the second quarter of 2025, a total of 11.8 million passengers boarded the high-speed long-distance train, 16.1% more than in the previous quarter and 15.2% more than in the same quarter last year. The data also tells us that clearly Spain moves at two speeds. One is represented by Madrid-Barcelona, ​​which increases its prices and remains the main corridor in the country. The other is the Andalusian or Valencian high speed, whose prices are already beginning to remain stable. The cheapest. The brokers who reduce their prices are, as we said, the Andalusians and Valencians. Traveling from Madrid to Seville was, on average, 8.6% cheaper than the previous year, boosted by the arrival of Ouigo as Iryo reduced its prices by 2%, AVE by 3.8% and AVLO raised prices by 3.4%. The average price of the trip was 49.47 euros. Below is the Madrid-Málaga corridor, which maintains a price about two euros cheaper but which barely changes its prices compared to the previous year (-1.2%). Again it is Ouigo who presses down. For their part, Madrid-Valencia and Madrid-Alicante have also significantly reduced their price compared to the previous year. In the first the decrease is estimated at 8.3% and in the second 8.7%. The (almost) cheapest. Although prices are lower In these corridors than in the same period of 2024, the truth is that the average ticket price has been lower. In all the previous cases, the average ticket price was lower in various months last year. In the graphs, in addition, a certain stagnation and slowdown in the fall is observed. It must be taken into account that, except for Madrid-Málaga, Renfe has considerably lowered the ticket price on its AVE. In the Sevillian corridor it has fallen by 3.8%, in the Valencian corridor by 10.6% and in the Alicante corridor by 11.6%. These falls, despite being partially offset by the increases in AVLO where the AVE falls, have a great impact on the average price of the ticket since a percentage drop in the AVE is more money than the same reduction in Ouigo, Iryo or AVLO, which are lower cost for the customer. That is, we have cheaper general prices, yes. But above all because Renfe seems to be pressuring customers to “jump” to the AVE, with an increase in the prices of AVLO and an evident drop in the price of its most expensive option. The most expensive. The corridor that has experienced the most increase in cost has been Madrid-Barcelona. Since competition entered, traveling between both cities has never been so expensive. At the beginning of 2024, the average price hit the bottom, standing at around 40 euros. On the same dates in 2025, that same bill was already looking at 50 euros. Between April and June, the average price reached 63.14 euros. All companies have made their tickets more expensive and no small feat. The cheapest average price was that of Ouigo, with 50.11 euros and despite this it became 18.7% more expensive. The second, that of AVLO (offer that no longer existswhich will continue to increase prices) with 51.95 euros and an increase of 14.5%. Between the two Renfe options is Iryo, with 56.01% and an increase of 22.5%. The AVE closes at the top with an average price of 73.91 euros and an increase of 13.1%. Have we hit the ground? It is the big question that arises now for the client. Although year-on-year prices have fallen, the truth is that we continue to see a slight increase in the overall price for the year or, at the very least, stagnation where the three companies operate at full capacity. Only the entry of Ouigo in Andalusia seems to have moved the market a little. But Iryo and Ouigo have been sending more or less clear messages that they are beginning to move away from the price war. Everything indicates that this was not sustainable to maintain these companies and both the italian as the french they seem to take new directions (with changes in address) now that its landing seems consolidated. “We will follow them”. Renfe, for its part, has been clearer. The company defends that the situation is not profitable for the companies and that sooner or later their competitors are going to raise prices. And the company does not seem to want to compete with them on price. Its president has already announced that if its rivals raise prices “we will follow them”anticipating a growth in the cost for the user that has already been seen in Madrid-Barcelona. Photo | Xataka In Xataka | Ouigo and Renfe have found a new way to make life impossible: torpedo repairs

Renfe is choking the liberalization of high speed. With vicinity you have another plan: delay it as much as possible

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Spain has to liberalize the vicinity service. Not because the government wants, because it is a European commandment since the fourth rail package was approved, back in 2016. However, Spain is resisting as much as possible to apply these changes. Now, the CNMC has notified again: it touches liberalization. Obligated. Yes, Spain is obliged to liberalize the vicinity service. In fact, I was obliged that, as afternoon, on December 25, 2023, all services were tendered through public tender. Last year, in 2024, contracts should have been awarded. At least, if the deadlines had been met since In 2016 the fourth rail package will be approved. Last year, in the last part of the year, The CNMC pointed out which had “launched a public consultation to gather information on public traveler transport services on rail (near and medium distance) and their next tender.” The previous deadlines could be extended as long as there is already a contract in force on the previous dates. In secret? That detail about the deadlines is important. According to ABCthe current Renfe contract extended from 2018 to 2027. Arrived 2026, at least 3% of the value of the contract related to the Cercanías service should be taken to public tender. However, they say in the newspaper that the Government and Renfe signed (without making it public) an adend to the current contract to delay this first step of liberalization to 2028. The intention is, therefore, to maintain the service of nearby in possession of Renfe. It calculates this means that the value of that 3% of the contract now exceeds 1,000 million euros. What dates are handled? If everything follows its course and there are no more news, the intention is that the liberalization of the service begins in 2028. First with a pilot test, they explain in The economistwhich would last until 2033. From then on, liberalization should be definitive. To carry out this addendum, it was assured that “it has not been possible to determine the public service obligations that will be bidding before January 1, 2026”. Therefore, this extension was signed in the contract that takes liberalization for a year beyond what was initially planned when it was expected that Cercanías would have been liberalized in 2032. Although the Government was already aware that in 2023 this fourth European rail package began to apply that is committed to liberalization, in 2018 signed the agreement with Renfe that maintains its monopoly until the next decade entry. It is not the first time. The delay in the liberalization of vicinity is not the only case in which the government moves in gray spaces for the liberalization of a rail service. Nor Óscar Puente, Minister of Transportation, has been in favor of this type of interventions. In the Madrid-Galicia line, for example, great results are being achieved for Renfe, to the point they have managed to do Go back the offering of airline tickets. However, the government knows that Renfe will keep the monopoly for a while in the corridor since the particularity of the road jump forces to produce very specific trains that Renfe has monopolized. Now companies like Ouigo have a huge waiting list if they want their own. And as we said, Bridge has been the first to criticize the system. He points out that as Renfe has the obligation to operate as a public service is at a disadvantage because Ouigo or Iryo, the two companies that have entered to work in Spain, can choose the most profitable runners but Renfe is obliged to serve in, for example, the Madrid-Extermadura line that is less profitable. Damage. The arrival of Ouigo and Iro to the Spanish railways has hurt Renfe, especially as far as prices are concerned. Yes it is true that Puente does not lack reason when it points out that, really, the three companies do not operate in exactly the same conditions but also should be remembered other data. The arrival of both companies has punctured the bubble of the High speed prices by train. Never before has it moved so much volume of passengers in this type of lines but we must bear in mind that, since the arrival of the French and Italian company, prices have fallen and have never been so cheap. Are there cases in Europe? Yes, Spain would not be the first country to liberalize its vicinity services although there are important nuances because the prominence of the companies that until they were not so long ago is very strong. In Germany, Berlin S-Bahn that operates 15 lines was awarded in 2021 through public tender … which took a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn (the German Renfe). However, The Saale-Thüringen-Südharz network (STS) It has 575 kilometers operated by Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland GmbH, a private operator. In France, Renfe lost the tender in the Nantes-Burdeos and Nantes-Lyon who took SNCF (the French Renfe). In the Italian Piedmont, Renfe has managed partially. However, in the United Kingdom they have had a liberalized system for decades. Now, tired of the bad state of trains and the bad service offered The government is trying to reverse the situation and return to a monopoly to resume public service reins. Photo | Germán Poo-Caamaño and Jornal.cat In Xataka | With high speed in war, the French owner of Ouigo and Renfe are already preparing for the following battle: Cercanías

torpedoed the liberalization of merchandise transport

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We wrote in Xataka Just a few hours ago Ryanair had on his head The most expensive fine (more than 107 million euros) that had imposed a company in our country. The figure almost tripled the second classified, dump, which He was also sanctioned by the government in relation to its hand luggage policy. Now, it is possible that the list made by Facua Have to update. Because the Supreme has confirmed the penalty of 50 million euros that the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) imposed Renfe for torpedoing the liberalization of merchandise transport. The figure, they say in The confidentialhas been confirmed by the magistrates and leave the possibility of increasing the sanction by 15 million euros in the hands of the National Court. Therefore, the fine could reach up to 65 million euros. A fine and two payments According to the Supreme Court, the CNMC acted correctly when it imposed a sanction of 49.9 million euros to Renfe accusing it of “incurring a collusion infraction by participating in a market distribution strategy that hindered competition in the railway transport of goods.” That punishment came in 2017. Then a sanction of 49.9 million euros was imposed on Renfe Operadora and 15.13 million euros to Renfe merchandise that should be paid separately. In addition, a sanction of 10 million euros also imposed on the Deutsche Bahn group. According to the CNMC, Renfe and Deutsche Bahn, the first and second market operator, signed in 2008 an agreement that distorted the liberalization of merchandise transport in Spain “reducing the competitive pressure between them and consolidating the existing situation prior to liberalization.” With these agreements, “the public entity agreed to more beneficial conditions with the Deutsche Bahn group exclusively. Among them, the offer of traction services in a generalized way or the absence of penalties in the event that Grupo Deutsche Bahn annulled railway traction services. Renfe submitted the rest of the operators to more burdensome conditions, denying their requests for traction services for regular traffic services.” The same is what the Association of Private Railway Companies (AEFP) argued, who promoted demand At first, when they understood from the private sector they were receiving discriminatory treatment and less beneficial than that of Deutsche Bahn. Until now, the National Court has issued two sentences in which it ratifies the fines. In the second of them it made it clear that a violation of the principle was not being incurred non bis in idem. That is, Renfe was not sanctioning twice for the same fact. Given these setbacks, Deutsche Bahn imposed a appeal that has resulted in the Supreme Court. The same did Renfe, who also imposed cassation resources that should be valued by the Supreme Court and that in 2022 began to receive setbacks from the High Court. On this last occasionaccording to it The confidentialthe National Court did not correctly value the arguments of the plaintiffs and did not motivate why he rejected his allegations. Therefore, as regards Renfe, he has confirmed the sanction of 49.9 million euros but sends the second part of the fine, the 15.13 million euros, back to the National Court to value it again. Photo | Nelson M. Silva In Xataka | In his most fateful summer, Renfe’s ambitious bet for the Avril trains has begun as one would expect: regular

Train liberalization in Spain has been a success for travelers. The problem is that companies are losing a money

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Railway liberalization has reached cruise speed with spectacular results for passengers … but demolving for operators accounts. Why is it important. The train price war is changing the transport map in Spain. Users earn with more low options and prices, but companies are bleeding money in a battle that has also begun to question the sustainability of the current model. In figures: Almost 40 million travelers They used high speed in 2024. That is 77% more than in 2019, before pandemic. Prices They have fallen up to 42% On some routes. Passenger income is 35% below the levels prior to liberalization. The context. Ouigo has become the undisputed EY of low prices. In the first quarter it was the Most economical operator in four of the five liberalized runners: Madrid-Barcelona (18.59 euros). Madrid-Sevilla (29.09 euros). Madrid-Málaga (26.89 euros). Madrid-Aliante (20.80 euros). Only in Madrid-Valencia surpassed him Avlo, and it was for just 25 cents. This aggressive strategy It is giving results. The French subsidiary has managed to capture 36% of the market in Madrid-Aliante, 25% in Madrid-Valencia and 15% in Madrid-Barcelona. Yes, but. Profitability is another issue. The sources do not indicate the concrete losses of each operator in 2024, but The data They indicate that the average income remains far from the levels that Renfe achieved alone. The operators have increased only 6% the average income in Madrid-Barcelona, to the 8 cents per traveler and kilometer, a figure that remains 35% lower than the era of the monopoly. Deepen. Beyond numbers, liberalization is changing mobility habits. The train has won the battle to the plane bluntly: In Madrid-Barcelona, the rail share went from 65%to 81.5%, while other routes exceed 80-90%. And now the financial sustainability of the sector is at stake. If current margins do not allow long -term profitability, something will have to give in: either prices, or some operators will end up withdrawing from the market. In Xataka | Renfe trusted the Avril trains to face the Low Cost of Ouigo and Iro. They do not stop giving problems Outstanding image | Dani guitar

France and Italy are passing over Renfe. Your income and benefits are huge thanks to a liberalization to the letter

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Forced by the European Union in a process that began in the 90s and that ended up consolidating in 2005, Renfe and Adif separated their paths. 20 years ago the separation that divided the management of trains and passengers (Renfe competition) of infrastructure maintenance (Adif competition), with the aim of fulfilling European obligations to liberalize the rail transport of people and goods on Spanish soil. That liberalization of passenger transport did not have consolidated until 2021 when Ouigo started operating On Spanish roads. Shortly after more competition with Iro would arrive. Along the way, Renfe launched his avlohigh speed Low Cost of the Spanish company. Since then, the four companies (and their three operators) They have fought their particular battle to conquer the public … inside and outside Spain. And it is where, everything indicates, France and Italy are passing over Renfe. France, far ahead of any competitor The data of the unequal result that Spain is obtaining in front of the Italian FS Italiane and, above all, the French SNCF brings them electionomista.eswhere they echo the income and, above all, the financial result they are obtaining and those that are noticed in the future. Analyzing the financial results presented by companies, the sum of Renfe and Adif (Then we will see why this is important) have generated benefits of 280.15 million euros in 2024. However, they do not compensate for the losses of almost 353 million euros they signed in 2023. Among the big European companies, Spain and France are the only ones that have had benefits in 2024 but it must be taken into account that the figure of FS Italiane in 2023 was extraordinarily good. And it is that its 208 million euros of losses are well compensated with the 1,100 million euros that obtained as a benefit in 2023. That is, between 2023 and 2024, Renfe and Adif lost around 73 million euros. In that period, Italy won almost 900 million euros with its company for the exploitation of rail services. Although the true winner is the French SNCF. The 1,310 million euros that they won in 2023 fell short if we take as a reference 2024 when the company accumulated a benefit of 1,557 million euros. The gap It can be even greater if we take into account the volume of income. Spain adds with Renfe and Adif 5,526.45 million euros. Compared to any other country of competition is a very small figure. Germany added with DB 26,211 million euros in revenue (although it is by far the country that loses more money, with 1.8 billion spatched in 2024). Italy stayed at 16,529 million euros but, as we have seen, the balance in the last two exercises is very positive. And France breaks the graph with 43,354 million euros of income. A liberalization to the letter that is decisive Although European liberalization was aimed at being talking about companies here and not countries … the truth is that we do not have to. As we said, in Spain Renfe and Adif took separate roads in 2005. We have already seen, a company in charge of infrastructure management and another of trains and trips because, in theory, they could not be the same company to guarantee competition. However, in Germany, France and Italy Companies that manage each type of business They have stayed together in the same group Business, which facilitates operations within the same country and serves as a barrier to entry to foreign competitors. A way of acting that, in fact, has been criticized by the European Union but has remained standing despite everything. Among those investigations is the one that The European Commission opened To determine if the state aid received by SNCF in 2007 and 2019 comply with the legislation. The verdicts are important because Spain (which did comply by separating Renfe and Adif from root) has accused France and SNCF from dumping. According to the government, it is the French aid that allows Ouigo to operate in Spain despite collecting losses what would reaffirm his complaint against Europe. From ouigo they have reiterated that These results are the usual in a company that is entering a new market. This way of working has also been key to putting all possible brakes at the Spanish entrance to the French market. Renfe assures that from the Gallic country The deadlines have been dilated as possible And they have squeezed the regulations to certify that the Talgo trains with which they want to operate are not valid to reach Paris, where the great business of the French railways is located. The obstacles are so many that Renfe, as he collects The avant -gardehe would be evaluating the neighboring country. Paloma Baena, general director of Renfe Operadora Global Strategy, arrived at demand in the French Senate equal treatment and pointed out that they did not expect to function normally until 2029 if everything followed. In 2024, Renfe demanded To the French transport regulator the same and SNCF took a pull of ears by its compatriots. However, nothing has changed. In Germany, Italy and France, the operators of services and railway lines are working under the same business group. This, according to electionomista.esfacilitates its expansion to other areas related to public transport and other countries. Keolis is a SNCF subsidiary and receives income abroad for services in urban and interurban transport. Eurostar squeeze the European monopoly. At this time, 38% of SNCF income They arrive from abroad. France plans to take ouigo to Italy, plan to operate in Canada and have a high speed line in Morocco. Italy, on the other hand, has managed to enter the Lyon-Paris route and stay in the Milan-París. He intends to connect the gala capital with London and Brussels while his expansion for Germany, in Munich and Berlin is scheduled. In addition, it already has services in Spain, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and operates four subway lines in Riad (Saudi Arabia). For its part, Spain barely receives income that … Read more

Renfe and Ouigo prepare their artillery against the Railway Liberalization of Cercanías

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The first battle has already occurred but there is a lot (a lot) for the war to end. Because after the liberalization of the high Spanish speed, the opening of the market arrives in vicinity and medium distance. A space that is still Monopoly of Renfe but which should be able to arrive new actors in the coming years. Among those actors is, of course, ouigo. Liberalization. In 2021, the Spanish roads lived a historical moment: Ouigo began to operate in our country. For the first time, Renfe had competition and came from the hand of a French origin company. Later it would arrive Iro From Italy. They are currently the three companies that offer high -speed services in the Spanish roads. Liberalization was forced with the guidelines of the Fourth Rail Package of the European Union with the idea that competition will help offer more efficient and cheap services for the user. High speed liberalized, Spain has to take the next step: near and medium distance. A delicate theme. High speed liberalization has already meant a clash between the government, Renfe and Ouigo. But opening the doors to near and medium distance is an even more thorny issue because we talk about rail services that have public service obligations. They explain in Five days that in 2023 these services transferred 492 million passengers and that most of them have revenues below the average. Entering this market is a real risk for companies since they must deal with accessible prices and, at the same time, costs that allow them to earn money. A first advance. Following the railway services provided with public service obligations, government and ouigo have already collided for this reason. From the Executive They lamented in April 2024 that the new operators had the advantage of deciding where they wanted to be, while Renfe did look at the obligation to reach many more cities. According to Óscar Puente, Minister of Transportation, this prevents Renfe from competing in the same conditions as its rivals that can afford some flexibility when playing with prices. A flexibility that from the government consider excessive in the case of Ouigo to those who have directly accused throw prices below cost sustained by the French state. Yes, but. What we expect with the liberalization of near and medium distance is a new battle between Renfe and operators that are about to be revealed. We already know that one of them is an ouigo but the rest (at least three) remains in anonymity. They explain in 20 minutes that now the battle to define what aspects are key to getting the future tender has begun. In Ouigo they already press to make it clear that they will only be presented to the contest if they can have access to the rolling material and the staff, which would be subrogated. In this way, the risk to run would be much less. From Renfe they have another proposal: commission the work to the operator “that is in a better disposition to provide the service”, in words collected by the Digital newspaper. The company fears that competitors choose to offer too low prices and then cannot fulfill their obligations Yes, but (part 2). In addition to the above conditions, Ouigo would have put another condition: compensation of one million euros if, finally, the tender would not be taken after being presented to the contest. They defend that the cost of preparing for this tender already involves a cost of three million euros, so they require being able to recover part of the investment if it goes wrong. In The Spanish They pick up that the company also wants the first tenders to open the door to simple and little complex services. That is, start with lots that do not present cross -border circulations, for example. When? At the moment, what we have left is to wait because the liberalization of near and medium distance can still take several years. At the moment, The Renfe contract is active until 2027 and contemplates an extension of another five years. However, the services that barely suppose 3% of the contract, can be liberalized as of January 2026. Therefore, we would be talking that the bulk of the amounts and medium distance services operated by a player other than Renfe would not reach up to 2028 or, even, 2033 if the contract that he has right now is reached. The CNMC, yes, has already opened a Public Consultation Phase so that interested operators register their claims. Photo | Renfe In Xataka | While Europe launches into the arms of the competition, the United Kingdom nationalizes its trains. The reason: they were a disaster

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