Ouigo from SNCF continues to weave its website in Spain. After starting Madrid-Barcelona on May 10, 2021, the operator inaugurated the Madrid-Valencia line this Friday.
Every day five round trips are offered between the two cities, two more than those foreseen in the initial offer. “In total, more than 35,600 travelers will be able to benefit, every week, from a sustainable, affordable and fast trip, which will connect the Valencia-Joaquín Sorolla station and Madrid-Chamartín-Clara Campoamor in 1h50, from 9 euros”, celebrates the SNCF .
“Today we write a new page in Spanish railway history. We launched a second line and a new destination, Valencia, which will benefit all travellers. Ouigo Spain thus contributes to the high-speed offer in Spain. Valencia, through its history, culture and economy, closer to other Spanish regions”, said Hélène Valenzuela, general director of the low cost brand in Spain.
A very profitable competition for the consumer
This launch illustrates the effervescence of competition in the Spanish rail industry in a country where the automobile has reigned for a long time. The arrival of new players has profoundly boosted the market.
Which attracts more and more operators. Thus, on the Madrid-Barcelona line, a 4th player will be launched on November 25. This is Iryo, a new brand that combines the Spanish airline Air Nostrum and the Italian operator Trenitalia, also present in France on the Paris-Lyon-Milan high-speed axis.
The opening of the Spanish iron market is almost a textbook case. It was allowed to increase rail traffic by 13.7% in one year, and by 37% for the most popular TGV lines, which at the time of the Renfe monopoly were mainly used for business travel as a price. students.
Prices have also melted at the same time by 49% on the Madrid-Barcelona line, in particular under the impetus of SNCF’s Ouigo. Spain is, in fact, a great success for the French airline claiming 3 million travelers in less than a year and a half.
New lines in 2023
With this validated strategy, SNCF continues its development in Spain. It will open a new link with Alicante in the first half of 2023, with a stopover in Albacete. Then, Ouigo Spain will arrive in Andalusia with Madrid-Seville and will offer five round trips with a stopover in Córdoba. Eventually, the operator will offer up to 30 daily departures throughout Spain, capable of transporting up to 10 million passengers each year.
In France, the effects of competition are a little less palpable. Because historical prices have always been lower than in Spain and because there is only one SNCF competitor on a national high-speed line.
Nevertheless, a trainline study finds a total average increase in ticket sales of 58% on the Paris-Lyon line, “showing that everyone wins in a competitive market”.
On the price sidethe ticket purchase platform indicates that the average price of a Paris-Lyon trip, all trains combined (TGV, OUIGO, Frecciarossa/Trenitalia) has gone from an average of 45 euros to 42 euros since the opening to competition, a decrease of about 7%.
Source: BFM TV
