With Europe's largest network of high-speed lines, the Spanish market is attracting a lot of interest from operators. After the SNCF and its OuigoNow it's Trenitalia's turn to join the battle under the name of the Iryo brand. The official trip took place yesterday between Madrid and Valencia, pending the opening of the first 2.5-hour commercial services on Friday. between Madrid Atocha and Barcelona Sants stations. With a stop in Zaragoza, now 1h30 from Madrid. With a 45% stake, Trenitalia is not alone in its Iberian adventure, however, since the ISLA consortium which oversees this project also includes the Spanish company Air Nostrum with 31% and, since mid-September, Globalvia, the infrastructure concession holder, with 24%.
As part of the opening up of high-speed lines to competition decided by Adif, the Spanish rail infrastructure administrator, Iryo has won the second of the three packages of services put out to tender. Since then, the company has increase the number of routes opened by June 2023. The timetable includes 16 daily Madrid-Barcelona rotations, followed by 8 Madrid-Valencia round trips in 1.5 hours from 16 December, 6 Madrid-Cordoba-Seville and 5 Madrid-Cordoba-Malaga round trips from 31 March, and 2 Madrid-Alicante frequencies from 2 June 2023. Iryo is aiming to 30% high-speed market share in Spain with 8 million passengers a year.
Priority given to business customers
The company intends to make its mark with 20 Frecciarossa 1000 trains, the now famous Red Arrows built by Hitachi and Bombardier (taken over by the French group Alstom). However, Iryo is aiming for CSP+ customersThe aim is to offer a wide range of services, particularly to business travellers, in order to stand out from the competition. The competition comes from the national company Renfe, with its high-speed trains AVE and its low-cost brand Avlo, but also from SNCF, which like Avlo is positioned on an entry-level offer with its Ouigo.
To appeal to business customers, not only on-board comfort, but also the technological aspect with a free 5G connectionare highlighted by the young company. Iryo offers four classes of travel. Firstly, Inicial (Standard), which offers the most economical price from €18 (excluding promotions), followed by Singular (Premium), which requires passengers to pay the difference between two tickets in the event of a change. Next come Singular Only You (Business) and Infinita (Executive)Infinita, two classes better suited to business travellers, as they can change (or cancel) their travel date or time at no extra cost. Infinita is the ultimate in comfort and service, including a meal tray with the Bistro option.
These two classes also give access to Casas Iryo, located not only in stations but also in hotels belonging to the Only You chain in Madrid (near Atocha station), Valencia and Malaga. It should be noted that, according to a study carried out by the European booking platform Trainline, the arrival of Ouigo, and now Iryo, has led to an average reduction of 49% in ticket prices on the Madrid-Barcelona route.
