Renfe has just announced that it will open an AVE train service to Spain from Paris Gare de Lyon in the second quarter of 2025. between Toulouse and Barcelona. On this route, the Spanish company's high-speed trains will stop at Carcassonne, Perpignan, Figueras and Girona. The trains will run at normal speed in France, but at high speed on the Spanish TGV line. The 3.5-hour link between the Ville Rose and the Catalan capital will operate seasonally until mid-September, with one train a day in each direction. However, Renfe reserves the right to extend this service on an annual basis.
Renfe will shortly be announcing the launch dates for this route and the sale of tickets as soon as it has received safety certification from the European Union Railway Agency (EUAR). At Barcelona Sants station, business travellers will have the opportunity to jump quickly to another AVE to Madrid, Zaragoza, Madrid Valencia, Lleida and Castellón. The timetables will also be optimised to offer good connections at Toulouse Matabiau station, according to the company.
When will there be a direct service between Paris and Barcelona?
Renfe entered the market in the summer of 2023. competing in France with SNCF on its Lyon-Barcelona and Marseille-Barcelona-Madrid routes. Over one year, the carrier claims 620,000 passengers and an occupancy rate of 80%. Thanks to this third line in 2025, 11 French towns will be connected to Spain by AVE. However, Renfe has still not received the go-ahead to start a service between the Gare de Lyon and Barcelona, a route on which it would be competing head-on with SNCF. The Spanish national airline had hoped to launch this summer, during the Paris Olympic Games, but no date has yet been announced.
Last September, the Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente accused the French authorities of hinder the development of Renfe in France. "It is clear to everyone that France is doing everything in its power to prevent a genuine process of liberalisation of its rail market." he told the Spanish daily El PaisSNCF has already gobbled up 20% of the Spanish high-speed market with its low-cost Ouigo offer, launched in 2021. The minister even expressed scepticism about the possibility of the project being completed by 2025.
