High speed Renfe output Low Cost In Madrid-Barcelona it is the chronicle of an announced death. The company was not obtaining bad results in the corridor with the AVE but the problems with the Avril trains have removed it from the race for the price.
The company renounces high speed Low Cost In this corridor. This is all that has happened.
Goodbye to Madrid-Barcelona Cheap. It will be from September 8 but the decision is taken, as confirmed by The country. Renfe Saca Avlo, its high price of low price, of the corridor that moves more traffic in Spain. It is a decision that backed by the failure of their Avril trains, which had to be removed a few weeks ago in this line.
The company will relocate in birds to those who buy an avlo ticket for the dates after September 7, so they will get a small Upgrade without doing any disbursement.
What happened? At the end of July, Renfe paralyzed the sale of tickets of the Avlo trains in Madrid-Barcelona. The decision, which seemed surprising, soon shows its true face: the Avril trains that provided this service had suffered damage during a trip. The information was revealed by The economistwho assured that cracks had been detected in the trains.
Then a pull and loosen between the media and renfe. The company began denying what happened, speaking of reorganization. Time later he confirmed that trains had suffered damage and that would circulate at a lower speed. Subsequently, Some leaked photos They demonstrated the seriousness of the damage. Finally, Renfe withdrew the Avril from the line.
Because? The causes that have caused the damage to the Avril trains built by Talgo are about to be revealed. In fact, a strip and loosen between both companies have already begun to settle who takes care of the damage. Trains are under guarantee Because they delivered just over a year ago.
The Avril trains were sold as a milestone of the engineering of the Spanish trains. Ra take high speed to Galicia. The latter too suffered problems with the change of year and also accumulated delays in their first days In Galicia and Asturias.
But, in addition, the Avril trains have also been criticized for their Low quality in interior materials or by the Strong shakes that occur when they are in motion, far from the best European high -speed trains.
In the hands of Ouigo and Iro. With the departure of the Avlo, Renfe renounces the high cheap speed. Or, at least, to a good part of it because the company ensures that it will continue to offer “Competitive prices”. However, it is difficult to think that the latter is not a specific strategy, taking into account that the Avlo seat cost an average of 37 euros, for the more than 61 euros on average of the bird, According to CNMC data.
In addition, the impact of Avlo was not less on the line. It is true that Renfe had a market share of 60.1% between Madrid and Barcelona in 2024 but 12.2% of the total market share was borrowed by Avlo. That is, most passengers already moved in AVE but the Avril trains allowed them to compete in a market that will now be more complicated, with trains with less available places.
The second company that has been taking over Madrid-Barcelona is Iro, which accumulated 23.7% last year, while Ouigo stayed at 16.2%. Renfe, in addition, had managed to remove customers from Ouigo because both Avlo and Iryo grew two percentage points compared to 2023.
A clear bias. However, Madrid-Barcelona is a corridor marked by high prices. As we have seen, most of the travelers continue to opt for the bird despite the fact that their tickets are, on average 25 euros more expensive than those of Ouigo, always According to CNMC data. Avlo, in fact, offered cheaper tickets than those of Iro (37.8 euros compared to the 40.3 euros of the Italians).
This issue had caused Ouigo itself, which offered the cheapest tickets and yet had the slightest market share, would opt for some time to remove some of its trains and boost the Andalusian corridor, more price sensitive. Now he has a new open door to insist again on the high speed Madrid-Barcelona.
Photo | Phil Richards
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