Renfe, the Spanish rail company, has carried one million passengers since the launch in July 2023 of its two routes linking Lyon to Barcelona and Marseille to Madrid. The three most successful routes, in order, are Lyon-BarcelonaBarcelona-Montpellier and Lyon-Montpellier. The Marseille-Madrid corridor accounts for 60% of its overall traffic," says the carrier.
The Trainline distribution platform, which competes with SNCF Connect, notes that these new services have led to a surge in bookings in 2023 of 140% on the Lyon-Barcelona route and 263% on the Marseille-Barcelona route compared with the previous year, when the figures were admittedly very low and required several sections. Trainline then notes a fall in average prices on these routes of -17% and -67% respectively.
Lower fares according to Trainline
The trend continued for the distributor in 2024 with a new Average price down 21% on the Barcelona-Lyon ticket since summer 2023, with an increase of 244% in the number of passengers using its services. The price on the Barcelona-Narbonne route has fallen by 28%, while the number of passengers has risen by 27%. And -18% in fares between Perpignan and Barcelona for an increase of 50% in pax on its booking site. Trainline sees these results as a further benefit of opening up rail competition in France, after Trenitalia cut fares on the Paris-Lyon route.
However, these two lines are only the first step for Renfe, which still has ambitions to send its AVE high-speed trains to Spain. from Paris-Lyon station. It was a dream that the carrier toyed with for a while last summer during the Olympic Games in Paris. At the time, the Spanish government accused the French authorities of putting obstacles in its way to slow down its development in France, despite the fact that the SNCF has a strong presence in Spain with its low-cost carrier Ouigo.
The Toulouse-Barcelona route opens in mid-April
While waiting for this green light from Paris, Renfe will launch three TGV links in the second quarter of 2025, i.e. 6 trains a day, between Toulouse and Barcelona via Carcassonne, Perpignan, Figueras and Girona. These trains will initially run on a seasonal basis, from mid-April to mid-SeptemberThe long-term viability of these services will depend on traffic levels, particularly among business travellers. These business customers could be attracted by a journey time of 3.5 hours between Toulouse and Barcelona. " With the entry into service of this third international AVE line, Renfe will consolidate its position as the leading operator of cross-border connections between Spain and Portugal." said the Spanish airline.
