Uber continues to explore different modes of carbon-free mobility and announces that it will launch “Uber Trains” in Spain in June.
As its name indicates, the service will allow you to purchase medium and long-distance train tickets for all the railway companies present: Renfe (the historical operator), Ouigo (SNCF) or even Iryo, a joint venture of Air Nostrum and the Italian operator. Trenitalia.
The American giant intends to take advantage of a Spanish railway market where competition is fierce and where the number of train trips has skyrocketed thanks to huge price cuts.
Uber has signed an agreement with Omio Group, a digital platform that makes it easy to search, compare and book train tickets, just like Trainline in France.
“The price of the ticket is the same as if it were purchased elsewhere, but the user will benefit from a 10% discount for its use with Uber and Uber Eats,” Felipe Fernández Aramburu, general director, explains to the newspaper El Español. Uber for Spain and Portugal. However, this reduction will be temporary and it will not be possible to combine the purchase of a train ticket and an Uber car trip.
In France, Trainline considers that competition is distorted
Uber has not specified whether it wants to extend this service to other European countries, but the group has committed to becoming a zero-emission mobility platform in 2030 in Europe and the United States and in 2040 worldwide.
We also do not know the commercial conditions obtained by Uber. In France, the online train ticket sales market is divided between SNCF Connect, Trainline and even Omio and Kombo. But for the latter, market conditions do not allow competition to be viable and fully expressed.
Main complaint: The commissions paid by SNCF Voyageurs for the sale of each ticket are considered too low. Another criticism is the limited access to railway data.
“In Europe there is currently awareness of the asymmetry of power between railway operators and distribution platforms. Therefore, a solid legislative framework is necessary that guarantees reasonableness, equity, transparency, proportionality and discrimination between different actors in the sector,” commented Alexander Ernert, director of government relations Europe Trainline, last December.
Source: BFM TV
